Catalytic converter stolen today

When your driveway motion alarm buzzes your phone and you realize you finally can justify you new $3000 purchase to your wife.

Mine was a ford excursion.

Literally.........tonight on the local news they ran a segment on this theft, said prius was a top target. They had video of another theft. I have 3 minutes of video, but no ID.

It took them about a minute for mine, cordless saws all.

The news said prius owners can install a metal shield, just slows them down a little.

toyota tundra has #4 of them

"Depending on the age and type of vehicle, the PGMs in a catalytic converter can be worth anywhere from $100 to a rare $1,000 or more. The newer and/or smaller cars being closer to $100. The larger, older vehicles could have catalytic converters worth $600 and up. As for the $1,000 and the skyrocketing prices of PGMs, older vehicles with the original converter are becoming more and more valuable; something to consider when selling an older vehicle."

[link to www.websitewithnoname.com (secure)]

"The amounts and proportions of PGMs depends on the age and type of vehicle.
Cars, light-duty trucks, and motorcycles average total is 2-6 grams.
Larger-engine SUV's and trucks average total can range anywhere from 6-30 grams.
28.35 grams equals an avoirdupois ounce. 31.1 grams equals a troy ounce."

So the thieves sell the good for $1000 to broker. Broker melts metals for $17000.

Thieves are dumb.

Thieves do not have the means to extract the metals, nor do they have the space to store a thousand units or more...

I have dealt in converter recycling for many years...The average used converter goes for about $100 and I charged $280 to install new ones on most vehicles...Takes about 10 minutes to install and check for leaks...

I am not sure that is possible, or at least something a layman could reasonably do.

[link to www.cleanmpg.com]

The fucking owners manual for my Jeep is $80. If it's about car parts then you are underestimating the cartel.

I have also been hearing/reading about thefts of catalytic converters in our area. NW Arkansas/Branson Missouri.

We got hit twice in one night here in Tx. about 4 or 5 months ago.

Rhodium is only used in Deisel vehicles.

Youd be lucky to get $100 worth od palladium or platinum from a normal car manufactured after 2000.

You coild make more money as a Walmart cashier for the time it takes to plan your thefts.

Last Edited by GorillaGripPussyPal on 08/12/2021 07:47 AM

when you hear my daily, that has a 5.0HO w/ gt40p heads coming....you will know quick as to catalytic converter status of my vehicle :)

No, converters contain platinum, Palladium, and Rhodium...

We had a catalytic convertor go bad on one of our shuttle buses at work. Long story. Anyway, I replaced it and took the old one to the scrap metal dealer we use for other stuff.

They only pay $7 for cats. They only pay by check and you have to have an account with them and present ID to get paid.

Seems pretty legit but I wonder if they are selling those out the back door to smelters.

Every week at my work almost one gets stolen off our 60+ vehicle fleet. Then the thieves come rummage through our dumpsters the next day as if we don't recognize them from the videos.


Cops act like the videos aren't good enough evidence so they never help

Converters on buses don't have a heavy loading of metals...If they did they would melt down due to the large fuel consumption and inefficiency that comes with developing horsepower...

Last Edited by BRIEF on 08/12/2021 08:27 AM

That will make you rich...

Yes it did, and I sold the scrap converters on top of installing the new ones...Then we would fix the problem that lead to the destruction of the converter...

That price

for that job

was simply screwing people

because you could.

The apartment complex one of my kids lived at had many stolen from cars. He said his wasn't stolen because the car was newer ...

I have some used ones for sale, dirt cheap.

So which cars are most likely to get stolen besides Prius and trucks?

If stolen will a car run well with straight pipe? And will DMV accept straight pipe?

No, I saved them a fortune over what a mechanic would charge...

I know a chop shop that will rent you one for the smog check.

That would be difficult. Many people, including myself, always keep the cat when scrapping out a car, and I've scrapped many that I legitimately owned. If I can't sell it, I can always extract the PM's from it, and so can others. If you want to keep your cat, make it really hard to remove with simple cutting tools. Some people think it helps to paint it an odd color with high heat paint. I'm not sure about that last one.

Maybe it's the same converter in the thread about the Meth head who accidentally posted a photo showing a couple Oz. On meth and a syringe in his advertisement form Craig's list .
...?

yes, it happens around here fairly often. cheeky little shits do it in broad daylight.