Hello all. A question for the community of RWD owners here. Recently there has been an upsurge in the number of catalytic converter thefts on a global basis. Certain makes and models are usually targeted due to the ease of access, amount of precious metals, etc. My suburban neighborhood has recently been hit hard. My 1986 245 has a converter sitting there, easily accessible to someone with a cordless electric reciprocating saw or chain- type pipe cutter. Not touched, even though my neighbor's Ford F350 truck parked a street width away was hit. Do thieves not even bother with the old RWD Volvos because they assume they have cheap aftermarket cats? Or was I just lucky? Anyone here have a cat stolen from their RWD Volvo? Any experience with the various anti-theft devices? I am considering having the rods welded to mine....about $200 locally. Oh...BTW it IS the original cat on this car...~ 500, 000 miles on it.

 

Thieves are usually not the sharpest tool in the shed but they may have learned from experience that converters on old cars are not worth their time. Besides it's highly likely there is no catalyst material left in yours anyway.

 

Hehehe. It still passes California smog test every other year, with the proper preparation. I understand that the catalyst is never really "used up" but can become unavailable for use due to dirtiness, overheating, broken underlayment , etc. If the thieves pass on my car, that's fine with me.

 

Nobody steals old Vovos either.

 

i don't lock mine cuz i don't want busted windows lol... there is nothing to steal inside of any value anyway...

 

Trucks and SUVs are popular targets due to the ground clearance. Thieves don't need a jack to get underneath to cut out the cat.

 

My CAT was sawed off just last night from a 1989 245 with 300k. Had just listed it for sale two days prior. Now I’m screwed as I live in California.


My 1989 Volvo

 

The shop I use for general repairs is a Volvo-specific shop here in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Was dropping some parts off to the shop owner who was telling me two of the cars sitting out front waiting to be serviced had their cats stolen the night before. My '90 sedan was sitting very close to them, and he had just installed a brand new exhaust from the down pipe, all the way back (to include a new cat). I can only assume the thieves assumed perhaps these cars didn't come with them, or they're so old, the cat wouldn't be worth anything. The stolen items were off newer Volvo's. Made me a little edgy leaving it there for further work. When I asked if the shop owner had any responsibility to the car owners, he stated he did not. They had to file a police report and take it up with their insurance companies. I was a bit surprised by that.