Car thefts are at an all-time high -- and so are thefts of a very particular car part: the catalytic converter. Here's one driver's story.
in another airport and then on light rail was more time than I’d slept in days. I’d fought the weekend trip, and the weekend trip won.
Coveted for both resale and the recycling of their precious metals, catalytic converters have had big black-market potential since their widespread adoption. They’re easy to remove from a car’s undercarriage, they’re virtually untraceable after being stolen, and they bring in quick cash from metal scrappers.Colorado Auto Theft Prevention Authority
about my recent brush with auto theft, the most common was this: “What does a catalytic converter do?” In 1953, America’s big three automobile manufacturers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors — and the Automobile Manufacturers Association announced that they had partnered to study pollution-reduction technology. But instead, the group conspired to block the introduction of any such devices, including catalytic converters, according to a 1969 antitrust case filed by the DOJ.
Scrapyards have always been willing to pay for the metals inside of catalytic converters, which can also include cerium, iron, manganese and nickel. However, increasing prices and a decreasing supply of precious metals have created a spike in demand. Platinum, the most common metal in converters, sold for around $900 per ounce in June, according to market estimates, while rhodium sold for more than $1,300 an ounce and palladium for over $1,800.
The longtime mechanic has been operating the shop since 1994 and has seen all sorts of vehicles come in without catalytic converters. Over the past two years, Cave has replaced converters on luxury vehicles, church buses, motorhomes and everything in between. Replacements usually cost anywhere from $1,000 to $2,900, depending on the make and model, but a Prius model can run almost $5,000 — and that’s only if a converter replacement is the sole repair, he notes.
Cave calls the situation “terrible for the common consumer,” and he’s not just referencing theft. In 2018, then-Governor John Hickenlooper and the state Air Quality Control Commissionthat began requiring new cars and newly installed catalytic converters to pass stricter emissions tests than the federal government required. According to Cave, aftermarket suppliers have taken advantage of this, and some older cars now need replacements that are harder to find than brand-new models.
Living without a secured parking spot in Capitol Hill, one of Denver’s most crowded neighborhoods, I always half-expected to find a hole in my rear window or, more recently, my catalytic converter stolen. My car insurance went up $9 a month after I reported my new address, and I’d seen my fair share of theft and defecation living a block off Lincoln Street.
Local law enforcement agencies, CATPA and AAA have partnered to host various VIN etching events in Colorado where several thousand catalytic converters are etched in order to discourage thieves from selling them on the secondary market. Kessler says that CATPA has another 1,000 etching jobs in the works, but state funding for AAA’s program ran out in July, according to AAA Colorado spokesman Skyler McKinley.
“These were based off model legislation that other states have passed. Both of them go a long way in establishing those guardrails we need. Functionally, we needed to come up with these, just so catalytic converters can be tracked by law enforcement,” McKinley says. “It could also help determine whether or not a catalytic converter has been properly sourced.”
Lakewood resident Elizabeth Bossert stopped a man from sawing off a catalytic converter underneath her partner's car.The Lakewood resident says that her townhome community, near West 20th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard, has been stricken with property theft. Cars are broken into on a semi-regular basis, she says, and packages often disappear from porches.
Remembering the mysterious woman and thinking about a co-worker’s recent experience with catalytic converter theft, she walked outside to investigate and found the source of the noise: her partner’s Honda Element, with two male legs stretching out from underneath. “They requested that I go online to fill out the police report instead of making it in person. They didn’t even want to come out for it because it was considered over at that point, which was frustrating,” she adds. “It was kind of traumatic, what just happened, and then not to be checked in by law enforcement. As a resident, I feel like police are not going to do anything, so now I have a taser, and we’ve invested in a home video camera.
“I see ads all the time claiming to buy junk catalytic converters. It says in the ad, ‘Don’t sell us stolen CATS,’ but where else are they selling them? The recycling yards have too much restrictions to do it, I think,” Cave says. “But I have people calling me all the time, claiming to be travelers or businessmen, looking for catalytic converter cores. It’s not slowing down a bit.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
N.J. man, 57, hit by car and killed, authorities sayMiguel Vargas, 57, of Belleville, died while attempting to cross the street Friday night, authorities said.
Read more »
Queens man gunned down while sitting in his parked car: copsSatnam Singh, 31, was shot while sitting in a parked car on Saturday down the street from his home in the the South Ozone Park section of Queens.
Read more »
Travis Scott Addresses Bugatti Drama, Says He Bought Car Before AstroworldTravis Scott is being ripped by the family of an Astroworld victim for buying a $5.5 million Bugatti.
Read more »