Thieves Take Aim At Catalytic Converters

Beware of the guy laying under your car "fixing" it in the WalMart parking
lot ;-)

Feb. 6, 2007

(AP) Thieves have long targeted car stereos, air bags, high-intensity
headlights, even pocket change from the ashtrays. But now they are
slithering under vehicles and cutting away the catalytic converters.

The anti-pollution devices contain small amounts of platinum, rhodium and
palladium, and the value of these precious metals has been rising sharply,
making catalytic converters a hot commodity in more ways than one at scrap
yards from Maine to California.

"These thieves catch on quicker than us honest people," said Kennie Andersen
from Andersen Sales and Salvage Inc. in Greeley, Colo.

In Bangor, Maine earlier this month, thieves brazenly removed catalytic
converters in a busy hospital parking lot in daylight. Police also have
fielded reports of thefts in recent weeks in Alabama, California, Louisiana,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

Old catalytic converters are usually sold for scrap. The prices paid by
scrap yards for one of the devices have generally risen from $5 to $30 a
decade ago to $5 to $100 nowadays. Some models can fetch up to $150.

Frank Scafidi, National Insurance Crime Bureau spokesman in Sacramento,
Calif., had no immediate figures on catalytic-converter thefts. "We have
regular reports of these things being stolen, but it's sporadic. It's not
the kind of thing that's an epidemic," he said.

Stealing one of the devices often takes only minutes and requires little
more than a battery-powered metal saw to cut through the exhaust pipe. Once
the catalytic converter is gone, the car may look fine, but the exhaust lets
out a NASCAR-like roar when the driver turns the key.

While some unscrupulous scrap dealers ask no questions, the Institute of
Scrap Recycling Industries issues e-mail alerts whenever thefts of
converters are reported and urges members to screen suppliers and photocopy
the driver's licenses of those who sell them, said Bryan McGannon, spokesman
for the trade group.

"Playing by the rules is good business," he said. "Nobody wants to be tied
up in a police investigation where your materials are tied up for weeks."

In Bangor, medical secretary Karen Thompson was summoned by hospital
security to the parking lot, where someone had cut away the converters from
a couple of vehicles, including her 2006 Toyota Tundra pickup. When she
started up the truck, it rumbled as if there was no muffler.

"It was really, really loud. The rearview mirror shook," Thompson recalled.
The cost of replacement and repairs at her Toyota dealership was $2,100.

Millions of catalytic converters have been put on cars and trucks since they
were introduced in 1974. Inside most of them is a ceramic honeycomb coated
in a material that contains platinum, rhodium and palladium, which serve as
a catalyst to reduce tailpipe emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon
monoxide and nitrogen oxides.

The growth in thefts has accompanied the rise in value of these precious
metals, said Ashok Kumar of A-1 Specialized Services and Supplies of
Croyton, Pa. Platinum, for example, was selling for $400 an ounce in August
2001; the price is more than $1,100 today, Kumar said.

Police said the thieves often are drug addicts looking for fast cash.
Thieves tend to target sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks because they
do not have to be jacked up. A thief can simply crawl under the vehicle.

Yet another $.02 worth from a proud owner of a 1970 Mach 1 351C sans
catalytic converter @
http://community.webshots.com/album/18644819fHAehGJAjt

Good thing my Mustang sits low to the ground. Bit hard to get under her
without jacking her up. And the alarm will react to that. My wife's GMC
1500 is another matter. Easy to do that one. Costly repair as well I
fear. Probably cheapr to replace the exhaust system with an aftermarket
kit with 'high flow' cat... :-)



--
_ 2005 Mustang V6 Convertible (Mineral Grey)
|_| Member Modern Mustangs of North America (MMNA)
http://mustang.fdns.net
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I wish they would steel both my catalytic converters on my tuck it
would give me insentive to fix the exhaust since both cats. are almost
completly plugged.