A Mk 1 Focus , with the 1600 petrol engine will be fitted with the Jatco auto box. Excellent power train with very few issues. If you can find one that's not rotten , especially at the rear, then you cant really go wrong . Dependable motoring for around £1k. The cats on these are close coupled ,and not underslung like the Honda and Toyota models.

I gather other damage was incurred, so it’s not just the cat converter that needs replacing. He has considered the aftermarket option but is worried that the b@st@rds will be back. Would they believe a notice in the window? I doubt it. I feel so sick for him as it really is a lovely little car and had plenty of life left in it. It was also perfect for his little family with its versatile seating.

Not a crucial issue, but the car has certain sentimental value. It was bought by his late father-in-law for my son’s wife many years ago and she hardly drove it when she was away at Uni or living in London soon after. He had been offered the car at a knockdown price when it was only a few years old by a family who had no further use for it when the owner died. It was garaged all the time it stood idle hence the perfect condition of the paintwork. Not that any of that would mean anything to the heartless individuals who stole the cat converter.

I suspect the cats are put through compliant workshops before they are passed on to scrap dealers.

They were well determined if he had a cat cage welded on and they still nicked it! There's a YT channel called Salvage Rebuilds UK and the guys bought an old Honda from Coparts that had been written off.

The car was in good condition overall and it turns out some scrotes had cut the cat off with the insurers deeming replacement exceeded the value of the car. They were able to fit a replacement but didnt fit any cage or anything so the car is likely to be attacked again.

With one of those jack saw thingies, they can have the cat off in 30 seconds or less. Ive read reports they've done cars in supermarket car parks with other people milling around.

A later model would be unaffordable at the moment. In any case, a car isn’t that important to him and his wife all the while they are in London. They have a network of friends who live within easy travelling distance so they only need a car when they want to visit either set of parents or when they need to take their new baby for hospital visits. The Jazz is his wife’s and, as explained above, it lived at her parents’ while she was at Uni and then while she was establishing herself in London. During that time it was used by other family members who live closer to the parents and when she became pregnant it was decided that she ought to have the use of a car so it became based in London.

My son is self-employed and I suggested to him that he could get a new car and claim it as a business expense, but he doesn’t use a car in connection with his business so that wouldn’t work. Latest update is that a cheapo replacement cat is being fitted as we speak and then they propose to sell the Jazz before it can be removed and use the proceeds to buy a replacement. The garage to which he took it said that they had replaced 4 cats last week alone, so there is clearly a ready market somewhere for knocked off converters.