So I just moved out to the Chicago area from Kansas for a month of clinical rotation. I noticed my tires wearing funny so I took it in for an alignment. So that shop was the only one with my current address. Incidentally, I park on the street.
The next day, I start the car to go to the hospital and it’s making a lot more exhaust noise than it should. I pop out and look underneath and lo and behold the exhaust is cut, twice in front of the second cat and twice behind! But it’s only cut halfway through on all four cuts.
So at first I’m thinking, great, almost the next victim in the cat theft spree. But it doesn’t make sense. If they wanted the cat, a single cut would have gone through the pipe pretty quick, I know I’ve done it. The cut would have been even easier(faster) in the middle of the pipe than starting another cut. So why stop half way through when you could be done in half the time.
The conspiracy theory is that someone cut it so I’d have to get it repaired at likely outrageous expense. There are a lot of Auto shops less than a mile from me, same area as the alignment shop. So what say you? Am I bordering on paranoia or do you think it is somewhat likely?
It’s a 4wd toyota truck that has a pretty good ground clearance stock. Not hard to get underneath.
Hope your residency is not in psychiatry
I think not just a thief, but a stupid thief cut the pipes.
i have heard of these CAT astrophic occurrences.
yuk yuk yuk.
it sounds as if you need an alarm system and a good watch dog, preferably a really good watch dog. any parking garages nearby?
sorry. this sounds like inter urban disturbance to me.
Ah Chicago-not the brightest thieves. That’s the place where a week or two ago a guy walks into a muffler shop and demands money with a gun. They tell him the money is in the safe and the boss is gone and no one else can open it. He gives them his cell phone number so they can call him when the boss comes back. They call, he comes back and police arrest him shaking their heads in disbelief. Ya gotta figure the gene pool is working against these guys.
Thats funny. Chicago is also the city that allows citizens that are deceased to vote, and vote often.
“Chicago is also the city that allows citizens that are deceased to vote, and vote often.”
That is a time-honored tradition everywhere, not just Chicago. I suspect that there has been miraculous voter turnout about as long as there has been voting.
Stay on-topic. This is a great theory and needs to be explored. I will ask the OP to cruise the area of the repair shops and take note of any prominent signs promoting “Double exhaust cuts Repared Qwick and easzy!!” Let us know.
So someone made an abortive attempt to remove your catalytic converter. So you think that this was done by a repair shop that you recently patronized. So you want to know if you are being paranoid.
So I think that your question is an excellent one to ponder. So my answer is that this was done by an inept thief. So I think that you should have this repaired. So if you don’t trust that original shop, go to a different shop for repair.
My vote is for the inept thief theory. Most thieves aren’t very bright. Recently in my home town, a copper thief cut his way through the fence of an electric substation to steal the copper wire. He died a few days later in the burn center with burns over 100% of his body when he was hit by 80,000 volts of electricity.
Chicago is not the most corrupt city in the nation, thank goodness for New Orleans.
Not very bright-that’s for sure. I just can’t help myself. In the local paper this morning, the Police arrested three immigrants from south of the border that were printing their own money in their apartment. They made the mistake of ordering a pizza to be delivered and taking a taxi to their address and paying with the bogus bills. You gotta give a hand to the industriousness of some folks though at finding ways to make money. Just gotta make sure the serial numbers aren’t all the same. Penalty is 20 years and $200,000 fine.
Just BORDERING on paranoia? Please re-read your post and answer that question yourself. Even IF a rogue shop did this, wouldn’t it make more sense to actually take the converter so you’d have to get a new one and have it installed??? They could also then get some money for the stolen converter. This is all if we stepped into a fantasy world where this might actually happen.
I second 03impreza’s post.
I think the not-so-bright thief got interrupted, and did not finish cutting through the pipes.
This type of thing happened to me years ago in France with a sliding canvas roof VW. The thief cut a big L-shaped gouge at the right front conrner, but it was above the solid part of the roof, so he would have to make another cut, at which time, probably the police showed up.
Maybe the saw was starting to get pinched and they had to start a second cut.
Yeah, I guess I’m leaning toward the inept thief. Or one interupted multiple times. I’ve been to a couple shops out here and they just seem a little shady. Given I don’t often go to shops at all. Guess I’m just getting upset over the act. Just trying to come up with excuses for coincidental events. Thanks for all the responses. I think I’ll just do a temp fix and fix it when I get back home.
Howdy, can ya get the cuts welded? It is sure cheaper then replacing the piping. With the price of metal, not to mention car parts, i am surpriesed not more is being ripped off. If ya have some free time in a few days weeks the Morton Arburitum about 40 miles west of down town is a pretty nice spot.
And no doubt his survivors are suing the Power Company for negligence or some such thing…
Yeah, I plan to weld up the cuts and reinforce them when I’ve got decent welder available. Right now it’ll be a glass patch and angle iron splint for support. Thanks for the visiting advice. I’ve got company coming in a few weeks, maybe we’ll make that a stop. Just thinking there might not be much growing just coming into the spring, but who knows. It’ll give me an opportunity to get out of the city.
The daffodils will be up in the Morton Arboretum in a couple of weeks. Stop by then.