Catalytic Converter Thefts Soar With Price Of Precious Metals

ACROSS AMERICA — Car owners across the United States frequently leave an essential item that can cost $1,000 or more virtually unsecured outside overnight, allowing thieves to swipe it in a matter of minutes.

More thieves are catching on, too, as reports of catalytic converter thefts are rising extensively in big cities, midsize suburbs and small towns throughout the United States.

Experts say the platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold that make up catalytic converters are what’s driving up the thieves’ desire to target this specific car part, a part of a car’s exhaust system that turns toxic gases produced by vehicle exhausts into harmless ones like steam.

California, Texas, Minnesota, North Carolina and Illinois have accounted for the most catalytic converter thefts, in that order, from 2018 to 2020, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

David Glawe, president of the NICB, calls catalytic converter thefts “an opportunistic crime.”

“As the value of the precious metals contained within the catalytic converters continues to increase, so do the number of thefts of these devices,” Glawe said in a news release.

The lure for thieves is not only a big payday but the time it takes to pull off a catalytic converter heist. A home security video shared by city officials in Berkeley, California, shows a pair of thieves stealing a catalytic converter in just three minutes.

“I’ve seen some Ring doorbell cameras from customers (that show it takes) a minute-and-a-half, maybe two minutes,” Don Johnson, a mechanic who runs the Johnny Franklin’s Muffler car repair shop in Santa Rosa, California, told the auto website Roadshow.

“They come in with the saw, cut it and cut the sensor wire that tells us the converter is doing its job, then they just unbolt it up in the manifold, and away they go,” Johnson said.

Since the catalytic converter is underneath the vehicle, victims likely won’t notice it’s gone until starting and hearing a loud roar coming from below.

The metals that make up the catalytic converter have consistently gone up in value over the last year-and-a-half.

The value of rhodium was about $11,000 per ounce in early 2020; but after a slight decline at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it has now shot up to about $25,000 an ounce, according to KITCO.com, a website tracking the daily value of various metals.

Palladium was at $2,336 per ounce at the end of 2020, with platinum at $1,061 per ounce, according to the NICB. Auto salvage yards will pay anywhere from $50 to $250 for a catalytic converter, with the opportunity to make at least double in profit by selling off the metals.

For victims, it’s an expensive inconvenience. Replacing a catalytic converter can cost $1,000 or more.

“We usually see one a week, or maybe one a month,” Johnson told Roadshow of customers coming in for catalytic converter replacements. “Now, we’re seeing one a day, or sometimes three a day.”

The problem is so widespread, 18 states — Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia — are considering legislation that would specifically target catalytic converter thefts, according to the NICB.

A little more than 1,200 catalytic converter thefts per month were reported nationally in 2020, data from the NICB shows. That’s more than four times the monthly average of 282 such thefts in 2019. And that figure was more than double the average monthly thefts the year before that.

The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated an already troubling trend, the NICB said, noting a “continual climb” of catalytic converter thefts in 2020, up to 2,347 in December from 652 in January.

“There is a clear connection between times of crisis, limited resources, and disruption of the supply chain that drives investors towards these precious metals,” Glawe said.

Catalytic converter thefts more than tripled in Berkeley from 2019 to 2020, according to officials in the city, which is home to the University of California. Similarly, a 172 percent increase in catalytic converter thefts was reported in 2021 as of mid-April in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Thieves appear to be targeting Toyota Prius catalytic converters, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a statement.

Toyota Prius cars have accounted for more than a third of the catalytic converter thefts in the city, the police department said, “due to the higher concentration of precious metal.”

Larger vehicles, such as SUVs and trucks, are often targeted because it’s easy for thieves to slide under them, police have said.

Here are a few more tips for catalytic converter theft prevention from police in Skokie, Illinois, which is among communities nationwide experiencing an uptick in such reports:

• Park in areas where your vehicle will most easily be seen by passersby. For example, park under lights after dark or near windows at a business. Park near security cameras, if possible.
• Park defensively. Park high-profile vehicles so they are surrounded by low-ground-clearance vehicles. This may deter thieves by making it harder for them to access the most vulnerable targets.
• If you have a garage, park your vehicle inside it.
• If your catalytic converter is a “bolt on” model, you can have the bolts welded shut and have extra metal welded to the exhaust system to secure it to the frame of the vehicle.
• Install a catalytic converter protection device that will clamp around the converter. Etch your converter with your vehicle’s license plate number or the Vehicle Identification Number in several locations.