Well me and the wife jumped into our NB aka ‘AVA’ to drive to Northampton on the National Rally Day last September only to find some kind people had stolen the CAT. Once I turned the key and heard a dune buggy I kind of already knew before looking down under. It would make you sick to your stomach at the best of times but after cleaning and polishing the whole day before ready to head off on the Sunday really rubbed the salt in. After dealing with the police for a crime number (Yes they won’t come and closed the case within 24hrs) and the insurance company I sat in the back garden and decided to calmly have a bottle of red (what else can one do?).
After two months and £300 lighter (my excess) I received AVA back with loving arms. I have subsequently hired a garage from the council less than a 3 minute walk away, I shouldn’t have to I have a perfectly concreted driveway but the stress of any noise outside our house after 10pm, well you get the picture. I have adapted and fixed magnetic PIR sensors that set off an ear splitting 130Db siren should anything even another CAT decide to get under the car. With steel cables running the length of the exhaust cold welded and clamped it’ll take the buggers much longer now to remove and I’m certainly more cautious as to where I park the car now. I could have sold AVA and bought a NC whose CAT’s they don’t seem to like but why should I? Yes all this expense and process I have to go through shouldn’t be happening, but I have woken up to the fact that there are people out there that mean our cars harm and don’t give a damn about the damage they do in jacking up the car to get the CAT let alone the theft itself. Let this be a warning to all of you who have an NA to an NB 2.5, hopefully this little cautionary tale will make you sit up and take note.
As one door closes another opens as they say, I was so pleased to be contacted by Iain Fleming last November just as AVA came back to be told that a picture I had submitted was going to be published in this years MX5 Calendar. I am so honoured and thank the judges for approving the photo at a time when I was feeling so low about our beloved MX5. If your interested I made February with my previous 5. I loved that car and I love the car I have now, even with the mental and physical damage I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just be mindful of your CATS!
Very sorry to hear about your stolen cat. This has been a problem for some time and although the precious metal driver, rhodium, is about a third of its peak price, these are still being stolen.
I hope you have not fitted an original Mazda replacement, because that will continue to be a target and a source of stress wherever you go.
If you have, I would seriously recommend you remove and replace with aftermarket to make life a little easier.
Thank you for your kind words, yes the CAT that the insurance company insisted on was an after market one. Firstly because Mazda originals are three times the price and they would have made the car uneconomically viable to repair by them had I insisted on it and secondly as you say they are less likely to be stolen although stories I hear now is they often rip them out and ask questions later
I am sorry to hear of this episode. What amazes me is that people who will stoop so low as to take the effort to remove and steal a car part, can actually tell the difference between OEM and after market devices. Another part of their misdirected education!
They can sniff the originals out with ease and to be fair these are all very distinguishable from aftermarket parts with just a cursory glance.
£3-500 for 5 minutes work would tend to concentrate the mind to degree achieving level.
Can anyone suggest some possible aftermarket cat makes/models and suppliers please for anyone who might be clueless but might like to heed this sage advice?
Thanks in advance.
Guy
I don’t as it was done by the insurance company, apparently it took two months to repair as the wait was trying to source a good quality aftermarket one. If your MX5 is built after a certain year the MOT restrict you as to what exhaust you can have due to emission compliance
The manufacturer I use as my supplier is BM Catalysts.
They are UK based; I have been dealing with them since 2003 after fitting one of their non type approved cats to my 1997 MK1 1.6. Aftermarket cat still on car and passing MOTs without issue. I gave the original 475mm cat to a friend back then; probably worth at least £250 scrap now.
BM Catalysts parts are supplied with a 2 year guarantee.
Sorry to hear you’ve been hit, Smiler: me too. I bought a replacement MB CAT from Online Automotive and fitted it myself - a somewhat dangerous job due to the jagged metal where they’d cut it off. They guy I spoke to at Online Automotive told me 75% of all replacements sold are due to theft. I decided not to claim on my insurance as I would have more than paid for it in increased premiums over the next few years. Interesting, my MOT guy assured me it would pass (now 2 MOTs later) but was of no value to the low down scum who are thieving them as it no longer contains rhodium. The emissions test figures haven’t changed although it apparently takes longer for the CAT to get to operating temperature to deliver the requisite figures.
Your a braver man than me in fitting a new one yourself. I tried doing an exhaust on a Cortina back in the day and nearly lost an eye trying (don’t ask). I’ll take the hit on Insurance knowing it was done well and under their guarantee not so amused about the excess fee but hey-ho fool me once, fool me twice…
This reminds me of a friend who owned a business, in a Georgian terrace, in Co. Armagh
The house had a cellar, and this was visible through the “grille”, in the footpath above, which in the old days was used to deliver coal……
Every Fri & Sat night the usual suspects would stop and p*SS through the grille, into the cellar below…… and he got somewhat sick of it.
He contacted the police on numerous occasions, but they weren’t interested…… not even a crime number.
So he stripped an electrical cable and laid it across the cellar floor, plugged into the mains…
The first offender that p*ssed through the grille, was blown into the street with a somewhat chaffed member……
Unfortunately, after this the police suddenly became interested and the house owner was prosecuted.
His opinion: “it was worth it”
Or fit a de-cat which will really get them, and just swap it out for MOT , that way you’ll never need to get a cat again ,and they will never get yours.
M-m
Am I right in thinking that the car doesn’t need to be ‘told’ the cat has been removed, as it just cleans up the spent exhaust gases for environmental compliance? This approach is of interest to me, and not just because we don’t have regular MOT tests here on the Island.
Sorry to hear of your loss and all the associated hassle @Smiler64. What a comparatively sheltered existence we must lead here when many people don’t even take their car keys in at night!
I have a Eunos 1800 system stood in the corner of my garage complete with OEM Cat.
As well as a Mk 2.5 System with aftermarket cat and Sportex Back box.
The Mk 2.5 System and manifold were adapted to fit under the 1994 Eunos 1800
My car now has a 2 1/2" M2 Motorsport system mated to a Simpson Racing 4-2-1 Manifold.
I had no idea the OEM cat was worth that much £££
Good Job the garage has CCTV Cameras inside and out !!!