The 3-minute heist (catalytic convertors) wreaking havoc on the Bay Area is only getting worse

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

An average of 1,600 times a month, thieves use handheld power saws to cut catalytic converters from the undersides of cars and trucks across California, including ones parked everywhere from private driveways to secured parking lots. The crime takes just a few minutes for practiced thieves, who are motivated by skyrocketing prices for the precious metals contained

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In interviews with nearly a dozen people who have been victims of catalytic converter theft, as well as local mechanics, dealerships, insurance companies and police, SFGATE discovered that people are dealing with the shortage in all kinds of ways: borrowing family cars, sinking their savings into ride-hailing apps, scouring the internet for third-party converters and just driving without one. Some have even opted for black-market solutions to muffle the unmistakable racket of a cat-free car — which may help them get to work quietly, but leaves them with vehicles that would never pass a California smog test.

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The problem is only getting worse, according to Jiacomo Rodriguez of Precision Auto in San Francisco.

“I’ve had customers who’ve had them stolen four or five times,” he told SFGATE. “I’ve heard many stories … scary ones where people went outside to chase the thieves down and guys were there with guns. Most times it’s when our heads are on the pillows and we don’t hear it or see it.”

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A worker at a Bay Area Toyota dealer, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to disclose order details, told SFGATE there’s currently a national backlog of 10,000 orders for converters to fit certain models of Prius, including 2,000 parts backordered locally. (A Toyota spokesperson declined to comment on the numbers.)

San Carlos resident Joel Eisenberg knows about the long wait to get a new catalytic converter — he’s been waiting for a replacement for his 2012 Prius since early October.




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Some people are skipping the cost and illegally bypassing the catalytic converter
Due to the high cost to replace a stolen catalytic converter, some people are resorting to illegal setups so they can continue to drive their cars. Some smog shops will take under-the-table payments to look the other way on cars with catalytic converters that meet federal standards, for instance, but not California ones, as East Bay resident Lucy Armentrout found out when she accidentally bought the wrong catalytic converter to replace one stolen off her 2005 Honda Accord five months ago.

Although the AutoZone part’s computer indicated the converter would meet California air quality standards, the first mechanic she took it to refused to install it, telling her it wasn't compliant and his shop could be shut down if he installed an illegal replacement. She took it to a second shop, which confirmed it wasn’t compliant — but said if she paid extra, they would install it and “ensure” her car passed a smog check. She opted to return the converter and pay the steep price for a legal one, instead.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/catalytic-converter-thefts-target-prius-17621912.php

[Luciferous]

1. Sounds like they need to start cracking down on the people buying them.

[Chainfire]

12. Of course that is the solution. Make it illegal to receive a cat from private parties.

My son had two stolen from his vehicles, (Rural Florida) in his driveway in a single incident. When we took one of the vehicles to the shop to have it replaced, they were happy to sell us a "used one." For all we know they sold him back his own cat.

[Zeitghost]

14. Right

Because the people stealing, selling, buying and reselling stolen property are going to stop when the state requires a license.

[bamagal62]

2. This was happening all

Over Chicago when we left in May.

[DFW]

3. It's big business here in Europe, too

The cops in Germany won't even get involved in unarmed theft, since thieves who are caught without physically harming their victims are set free the day they are arrested, and basically told, "bad boy!" Since most form of self-defense will end in the arrest of the person defending their property, the mood isn't very great here, and it is a race to see if the authorities crack down first, or if the population starts arming itself (cumbersome, but legal if you pass a psych test and follow all the rules) because the cops will take no action.

Organized theft is such a big business here that sometimes entire train routes are laid inactive for days because thieves have severed and stolen huge stretches of copper electrical cables that are needed to run the all-electric train networks here. While some of the Russian gangs have had difficulty getting visas to come here, the slack is quickly taken up by gangs from Balkan countries, Baltic countries, and both Poland and the Czech Republic, although the Czechs tend to concentrate on car theft, since the Germans can't touch the chop shops on the Czech side of the border with relatively affluent Bavaria.

The far right here loves it, because official inaction fuels anti-foreigner sentiment, translating into more votes for them.

[multigraincracker]

4. New tv action show...

Catalytic Converter Theft Bait Car. Then put a bounty on turning crooks in. Like $10K, no honor among crooks.

[AngryOldDem]

5. A Jiffy Lube franchise here is offering "cat tats".

Marking catalytic converters so they can’t be easily resold.

In Indiana it’s illegal to sell or buy a catalytic converter by itself, unless the sale is to a used parts dealer or repair company, or it comes with an affidavit that the seller owns the part legally.

(But this does nothing, really, to stop the shady underground buyers and sellers, who are the problem.)

Like with copper wiring, catalytic converters are seen as a way to make a quick buck.

[Jose Garcia]

15. People are stealing them for the palladium, rhodium and platinum

[harumph]

6. I wonder if there is a method of structurally shielding the converter to make it

too burdensome to steal?

[Captain Zero]

7. There are cat cages that can be installed

I have a neighbor who caged his catalytic converter on his jeep. Jeeps are a target because they sit so high off the ground it's easy for the crook to slide under and get it.

This neighbor did it after he interrupted a theft when they were just starting to cut it off.

[Liberal In Texas]

8. There is some convenient way the thieves are selling them. Shops acting as fences

need to be found and shut down. That is probably the only way this is going to slow this epidemic down.

Laws have been beefed up requiring fingerprints etc. for selling them but the thieves just pack up their pelf and sell it in nearby states that don't have the requirements.

Also, it might be nice if the auto industry would do some research in producing a catalytic converter that didn't have to use ridiculously expensive rare metals and make them less desirable to steal.

BTW. EVs don't have cat converters.

[MissB]

9. Our state put a stricter cat sales law in place

It made buying and selling of the catalytic converters from unauthorized sellers illegal.

Still hasn’t stemmed the tide.

Jiffy lube recently offered the tats like mentioned above.

An organized ring was broken up a few months back and that helped for a bit.

And yes, I don’t worry at all about my EV.

[mn9driver]

10. A big part of these thefts are done by organized rings.

Laws have been passed to outlaw resale of catalytic converters, but the thieves responded by consolidating their hauls and transporting them long distances to where it is legal, or just to a place that doesn’t care.

These folks have been busted driving UHauls packed with hundreds or even more stolen cats. Scrap dealers in New Jersey and other places have been busted fencing millions of dollars worth of them.

Laws and more law enforcement attention isn’t going to solve the problem. Exhaust systems will have to be redesigned or retrofitted to make it more time consuming to steal these things. It’s the only thing that has been shown to work.

[sarisataka]

11. Help is on the way

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

16. I wish!

[BannonsLiver]

13. In my state 4 men were murdered while attempting to steal them.

Their bodies were dumped in a lake but later found. Doesn’t seem like something worth risking your life over but it’s unlikely they face any real fear of violence in SF or major metro. In the sticks? It’s apparently a real bad idea to go looking for the converters.

[Luciferous]

17. Were those the guys that went "bike riding"

and got killed?

[BannonsLiver]

18. Yes.

[MichMan]

19. 37 percent of all thefts nationwide occur in California

People wonder why insurance is so expensive.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

25. yes, it's rampant around here (so calif)

[ProfessorGAC]

20. So, It's Not For The Platinum

I wondered about that because there's only around 5g of platinum in a cat converter. And, with platinum at $1,050 per ounce, there's only about $12 of platinum.
So, stealing the converter for the platinum made no sense.
But, now I see this is more "chop shop" sort of thing. With new ones being $1-2.5k, there's a whole market for $300 converters.
Not that I condone this is anyway, but at least it makes sense why this is a theft target.

[MichMan]

21. There are a lot of other valuable metals in them besides platinum

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Yeah, I Looked That Up

There's about 60 bucks of rhodium in there and about $15 of palladium. So about $86 of precious metals.
But, with the extraction cost, it's probably still more profitable to sell the converter for a hundred & fifty bucks.

[jeffreyi]

23. Are the aftermarket cat shields effective?

Say, for a Tacoma? At least to slow them down a little?

[MichMan]

24. 5 yr mandatory prison for anyone caught attempting to steal one or possessing a stolen one

Last edited Sat Dec 3, 2022, 06:38 PM - Edit history (1)

As long as thefts are rampant, it will be the everyone stuck paying the higher insurance premiums, because some people would rather steal than get a job.