Ok we the spanner throwers that you all come to after these light fingered yobs have done their worst with not a care in the world about anyone else but themselves and the upset and hassle the go around causing , our solid advice is to have the OE cat removed and fit a DE-cat, because when they go under there they “will” see very clearly she does not have one, “DO NOT” get rid of the OE cat, re fit it one to two weeks before MOT ticket day, and swap back out afterwards, “DO NOT” be temped to sell the OE cat at the current prices, you will just give yourself a higher cost long term, forget the guards underneath, they are don’t care whats there in their way the cause damage to get to what they want, forget the nasty cheap cats off the bay of E and the like ,“THEY DON’T LAST” and you are wasting your money to be replacing it at every MOT ticket day, the aftermarket cats are a waste of time and money you will fork out far more in the long term on inferior cats than what you will get for the OE one if keeping for long term usage, its not the best solution to a ever growing problem and issue, but we need to do something and watch the bills/budgets, the ideal solution is that they stop robbing the cats or we cut all the fingers off the light fingered yobs that are doing it, but both are not going to happen any time soon, don’t let these selfish people win.
@Mazda_mender please forgive the ignorance, I’m learning, but what is an OE cat and what is a DE cat? And why must you put the OE cat back on for the MOT?
Last year’s MOT advice was to replace the whole exhaust system! I didn’t and at this year’s MOT (different place, I’m not entirely stupid!) they told me there’s nothing wrong with it that won’t last another couple of thousand miles. I’m talking about a well-kept '53 plate Angels.
De-cat; decatted, aka test pipe. Just a straight bit of pipe. Not good for the environment etc
OE cat; original equipment car. Needs to be refitted because the car is spewing too much in the way of pollutants without it.
Some of the cheap aftermarket cats don’t last long. In my case, all of them.
I can’t see why the cat guards just end up causing the thieves to do more damage to the car, by shopping unprotected parts of the exhaust.
I’ve a feeling this will go away; the recent raids by the police in Yorkshire and Wales suggest, outside of the Capital, the criminals aren’t as well organised, and can’t get move the cats on. In London, it seems a much more organised, high volume action (the police aren’t recovering many intact cats, just bits).
Thank you @ast
OEM means pretty much the same as OE, Original Equipment Manufacturer.
Both are used to differentiate from after market products.
Aftermarket is not always a bad thing. Vehicles have to be built to a budget and be able to be sold in a competitive market while still turning a profit.
Therefore the OEM specification has to be a compromise between quality and cost, mass market manufacturers cannot specify the best of everything or the vehicle would be unaffordable.
Thank you @999to5
You are very welcome, @Bev1
I can think of 3 items on my 2011 NC2, which all come in pairs, that are badly specced as OEM.
The first items are the biodegradable black foam gaskets that fall to bits and let water leak onto the passenger carpet via a fuse box.
Second are the pathetic “neep-neep” horns that aren’t worthy of a moped.
Third are the awful oem speakers.
I wonder what others might nominate???
List agreed.
(Gram-saving strategy; decent speakers and horns have bigger heavier magnets.)
I nominate the OE Bridgestone Potenza RE50 tyres on the NC that seemed to age-harden too rapidly, losing grip and gaining noise!
I would say that going from an NA to an ND, the difference in the stereo is amazing. Even with upgraded speakers and stereo in the NA it was not worth listening to but the Bose system I have in the ND is great - just like a “proper” car!
The horn is also good - had to use it the other day as I was getting cut off by someone in an Audi SQ8 who clearly was either not looking or the size of my car was not what he was looking for. Fortunately a quick blast of eth horn and he avoided me.
So the ND has got better than previous gens - no experience of leaks so far, but it is only 2 months old.
Back on the cat subject.
May be they should make it illegal to sell or buy a used cat that does not have the flanges on both ends. That way if it has been cut off it is worthless.
Simple.
Maybe,but then the lowlife would cut the pipes off either side of the flanges,needing more new sections of exhaust to be purchased and replaced
I completely agree about the tyres. The 6 year old Bridgestones on my NC when I bought it were borderline dangerous!
Nothing borderline about mine.
Simply Dangerous!
DSC light was flickering all the time I touched a pedal with right foot or turned the steering wheel, and still with 5mm of tread.
The London gang had a smelter. They were stealing the cats, and straightaway were grinding them up for the material, and shipping the pieces to overseas buyers. Raids in London recovered 25 cats, but 15000 had been stolen. Where are they? Not here. Outside of London, in 2020, about 1200 were stolen. Recent raids recovered 1000 cats in Yorkshire, Flintshire and a few other places. Seems small fry, but in London, it seems to be big money, to go to the expense of setting up a smelter. With 15,000, its either a very small number of criminals, highly organised, or every scrap metal dealer in the London area is bent.
There is already sufficient legislation in place for the legitimate scrap metal trade. This lot are outside of that. A siginificant issue is that councils are not enforcing that legislation; they are not making the checks they should on the trade.
Yeah, I had the back end step out in the wet at about 20mph! Got Kumho PS71s fitted now, much happier with them.
I have four new Kumho’s and I have to agree. The Kumho’s they replaced had nearly 4mm of tread, but at 6 years old were well past their best!
Catalytic converter thefts accounted for 20% of theft claims in 2019, and 30% in 2020.
I’ve seen it stated in print that 20+ year NB and NB-FL models are being particularly targetted. What’s the evidence for that?
Zurich say that 78% of claims involve Honda, Toyota and Lexus hybrids, which makes sense with claims that hybrids provide best return, because their exhausts are least contaminated.
I suppose there are about ~25,000 NB/NB/FLs left on UK roads, out of 32 million, less than 0.01%. I’m not sure that 20 year old MX5s are being particularly targetted (over, say, other MX5s). At least, I’ve seen no evidence for that. I hope this whole thing isn’t being a tad alamist (and I have been the victim of MX5 theft, leading to total loss).
Also there might be some conflation between insurance claims and actual thefts:
The surveys indicate that generally thefts involve entry into a car, which is not needed for catalytic converter theft. So while catalytic converter theft is undoubtedly up, its importance is distorted by claims data (most thefts are nt resulting in a claim) and region (the vast majority of thefts are in London, which probably also has the highest percentage of low emissions vehicles on the road). I suppose due to the cost of repairs, cat thefts are more likely to result in a claim than, say, theft of items from inside a car.
A Met Police FOI from 2019 gives a breakdown by Make, thefts in London;
15 Mazdas out of 8558 thefts (compared to 4392 Toyotas, 1895 Hondas), 0.17%
A 2021 FOI to West Midlands:
18 Mazdas out of 1626 (1.1%)
Sussex police were a bit more detailed:
2 Mazdas out of 206 (<1%). One was a MX5, one was “Eunos”, so at least half of all Mazdas robbed of their cats were 25-30 year old NAs.
North Wales police:
2 Mazda thefts, involving a “MX8” (probably RX8) and a MX5, out of 39 in total for the area.
West Mercia:
Howmany left indicates there are roughly 574,000 Mazdas on UK roads, or 1.8%
I don’t see how NB MX5s in particular are being targeted. Unless you own certain specifc late low emission cars, the biggest risk is not what you drive, but where you live. I hope there isn’t any alarmism to worry NB owners in particular.
I’m thankful thefts from 2004 Jag V8s don’t seem to rate. It would literally write my car off, what with £3500 in cats plus a sodded £2000 exhaust.
Thanks for collating that info. I hope that stopping that particular London gang will make a significant difference. It seems plausible the thefts are mainly by a small but prolific group of thieves and they inspired copycats who lack the means to shift their stolen booty and will stop when they realise it’s not easy money. Fingers crossed anyway.
Unfortunately, Martin it is very easy money which is why it is an occurence in the first place. It is not rocket science; you strap a heavily loaded wallet to something accessible and in due course, you will be deprived of it… There are a number of deluded contributors on this thread, I originated, that suggest the way forward is a decat or a replacement original cat. These people are deluded fools!!
Perhaps Saz and the other deniers should offer an insurance service for their appaulingly bad advice! FACT - high value original catalytic converters fitted to MK2, MK2.5 and now from my experience 1997/8 MK1 cars have been stolen or will be stolen in time. I am still getting calls on a daily basis about this.
Saz - where do you get off? You have come up with an amount af annoying rubbish in your time that has largely left me to abandon this forum but here is proof of your worth. You rubbish aftermarket catalytic converters, blaming them for inherent running issues present on your cars. The MOT history is on public domain to prove otherwise. Your cars have a problem because they are not running right; probably because of aftermarket addons, ironically added by you for effect. They will damage a £1000 Mazda original cat just as quickly as a £60 aftermarket one…and they have?
Wayne, Mazdamender, I like you but you do come up with some total ■■■■ at times and have facilitated the aforementioned, supposed MX5 expert adding his usual rubbish. When, some years ago, you first suggested that aftermarket cats were all ■■■■, it was possible to buy an original cat, very cheaply and no-one was stealing them. Why jump back on board now, you clown? I sell these and they are the only way forward, to pass MOTs and to get over this real and proven, theft threat. My aftermarket cat, fitted to my MK1 MX5 in 2003 still gets the car through MOTs today! I like you but your undoubted experience and knowledge of these vehicles is negated by the stupidity of some of your comments, buddy - unforgiveable!
Anyone still reading this thread, please ignore the supposed expert contributors; they are not going to be there for you when your original Mazda catalytic converter is stolen. They will have no useful advice and you will suffer the consequences on your own…or rather with a large number of other similarly affected owners. Read the original post and act on it fast!
I have fitted an after market cat to my 2.5, the fit was perfect. I have had no warning lights and it has passed an emissions test easily.
Oh and I am £900 better off.