Genius or Silly idea?

[bus_ter]

Would it be a silly idea to remove and sell my original cat and replace it with a cheap aftermarket unit?

Let me explain..
When your cat is stolen, it's normally the cost of new sensors and cut pipes that make the repair so expensive.. actual aftermarket cats are not hugely expensive.

So could I carefully remove and install a new cat. Then sell my original cat (the first person to ever sell one not stolen!), then pocket the cash (I've seen many prices quoted but it would be enough to keep the car on the road for many years to come..). As an added benefit the new cat is almost worthless to a thief so you're protecting yourself from future criminals who would see the aftermarket cat and probably not risk the effort to steal it.

Genius or silly idea?

[UKjim]

Funnily enough this has just been suggested to me by a Honda specialist when I enquired about fitting a Catloc or similar.

I am not convinced, do the thieves even bother examining the Cat before just moving in with their reciprocating saw or pipe cutters and if it's at night you couldn't tell the difference anyway?


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[culzean]

Would it be a silly idea to remove and sell my original cat and replace it with a cheap aftermarket unit?

Let me explain..
When your cat is stolen, it's normally the cost of new sensors and cut pipes that make the repair so expensive.. actual aftermarket cats are not hugely expensive.

So could I carefully remove and install a new cat. Then sell my original cat (the first person to ever sell one not stolen!), then pocket the cash (I've seen many prices quoted but it would be enough to keep the car on the road for many years to come..). As an added benefit the new cat is almost worthless to a thief so you're protecting yourself from future criminals who would see the aftermarket cat and probably not risk the effort to steal it.

Genius or silly idea?

The thieves do not care what CAT is fitted,  once they have gone to trouble of crawling under the car they will just nick whatever CAT is there ( will probably be too dark under there to see cat properly anyway ).  I would invest in a plate or one of the other anti-theft devices,  they don't like noise so unless that can get CAT off with their pipe cutter they will probably just give up.

[sparky Paul]

Agree with both UKjim and culzean, it's unlikely to put them off.

However, you could pocket a substantial amount of cash... 

Ebay is a very funny place to buy & sell cats, nobody seems to understand the value of them. I've seen genuine, complete (not cut) Jazz mk1 cats sell for the best part of £400, I've seen several sell for £50 on buy-it-now. I've also watched used aftermarket BM cats listed by breakers sell for £150, 3X what they are new. It's bonkers!

I don't know what people think they are buying, but it's very lucrative for the breakers.

[mj1sjc]

This is tempting me and I wonder how much avergely cost as to labour to remove the original and put a 2nd hand Cat in the UK roughly please?
I am not a mechanic, so I would need to use a garage for this.
Can someone pls give me a heads up with the labour costings pls kindly? Tia!

[sparky Paul]

Can someone pls give me a heads up with the labour costings pls kindly? Tia!

I'm afraid it's one of those "how long is a piece of string" type questions - it depends on the garage, state of the exhaust, and where you are in the country as hourly rates vary.

It should take no longer than an hour if the joints are serviceable, and the manifold bolts don't snap - all I can say is that my MOT man would charge £45 for an hour's labour, and that's about as cheap as it gets. Bear in mind that if the joints on the exhaust are crusty, you may end up buying more exhaust parts.

[Jocko]

My 2006 Jazz the garage couldn't split the middle section from the cat, so I ended up replacing both, though I only needed a middlebox.

[UKjim]

This is tempting me and I wonder how much avergely cost as to labour to remove the original and put a 2nd hand Cat in the UK roughly please?
I am not a mechanic, so I would need to use a garage for this.
Can someone pls give me a heads up with the labour costings pls kindly? Tia!

Can you explain why this is tempting, you will still have an unprotected CAT, which is just as likely to get stolen as the one you have now? Maybe it’s me but this makes no sense.

[culzean]

Can you explain why this is tempting, you will still have an unprotected CAT, which is just as likely to get stolen as the one you have now? Maybe it’s me but this makes no sense.

I agree - spend the money on CAT protection ( I don't mean a donation to the CAT protection league charity  ) and a sticker on front windows telling the crims you have fitted extra protection - and just hope they can read English.

[sparky Paul]

The only advantage I can see is cashing in the old cat. Seems a lot of messing about for a few quid!

[UKjim]

I have decided to buy the CATLOC, which seems to look like a good ‘visual’ deterrent and hopefully makes it much tougher to get at the Cat if they decide to have a go.

[E27006]

The only advantage I can see is cashing in the old cat. Seems a lot of messing about for a few quid!

The OEM Honda Cat is £1200,  and the two OEM sensors £290 each,  For £120 to £140  you can buy  a BM Cat and a pair of Lucas sensors,  if the BM Cat is stolen you only lost £140 of parts and not £1800.
I believe the thieves are only looking for the Honda Cat and will ignore a BM part, the thieves specifically target the Jazz and Prius over other makes, for the known high content of precious metals in the OEM cats, they know to avoid the non-OEM units

[culzean]

The only advantage I can see is cashing in the old cat. Seems a lot of messing about for a few quid!

The OEM Honda Cat is £1200,  and the two OEM sensors £290 each,  For £120 to £140  you can buy  a BM Cat and a pair of Lucas sensors,  if the BM Cat is stolen you only lost £140 of parts and not £1800.
I believe the thieves are only looking for the Honda Cat and will ignore a BM part, the thieves specifically target the Jazz and Prius over other makes, for the known high content of precious metals in the OEM cats, they know to avoid the non-OEM units

If the bad guys have gone to the trouble of jacking the car up they will take whatever is fitted.  Nobody can tell by looking at the car which CAT is fitted,  so a cheap CAT is no protection against it being nicked.

[E27006]

The only advantage I can see is cashing in the old cat. Seems a lot of messing about for a few quid!

The OEM Honda Cat is £1200,  and the two OEM sensors £290 each,  For £120 to £140  you can buy  a BM Cat and a pair of Lucas sensors,  if the BM Cat is stolen you only lost £140 of parts and not £1800.
I believe the thieves are only looking for the Honda Cat and will ignore a BM part, the thieves specifically target the Jazz and Prius over other makes, for the known high content of precious metals in the OEM cats, they know to avoid the non-OEM units

Once underneath the car, it is very obvious if the cat is an OEM or a pattern part,  my friendly scrapyard mechanic gave me the details, a Honda OEM cat is worth several hundred pounds at a recycler, and is the first part he strips from a Jazz,  he described non OEMs as having virtually nil value, it makes sense, on Ebay a new BM can be had for as little as £65,  finally, I have met 4 other owners who had their Jazz cats stolen, all were high value OEM,  the thieves never came back for a second bite of the cherry when the cars had been returned to the road with non- OEM  low cost cats, given the chance  I would have removed my Honda cat, replaced with a BM parts  and stored the original until time to sell the car, or if there were issues with emissions on the MOT test
 

If the bad guys have gone to the trouble of jacking the car up they will take whatever is fitted.  Nobody can tell by looking at the car which CAT is fitted,  so a cheap CAT is no protection against it being nicked.

[E27006]

This is tempting me and I wonder how much avergely cost as to labour to remove the original and put a 2nd hand Cat in the UK roughly please?
I am not a mechanic, so I would need to use a garage for this.
Can someone pls give me a heads up with the labour costings pls kindly? Tia!

Try and find a S/H Honda Cat at a breakers yard,  you will be very disappointed! a stolen cat is a reason the Jazz is being broken up  , the £2000 +  parts bill makes the car an insurance write off