Question

Why are catalytic converters being stolen?

A friend of mine had 2 catalytic converters stolen off her car, the first one was stolen while she was at work and the second one she had put on after the first one was stolen once again but this time it was stolen sometime during the night at her house in her driveway.

Why would thieves target the catalytic converters from cars and take the time to cut off the catalytic converters from cars?

What do the thieves do with these catalytic converters once they steal them?

Answer 1

Catalytic converts on vehicles contain precious metals called Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium.

These precious metals are highly sought after and scrap metal yards will pay a premium to get these precious metals so they'll pay $100.00 to $200.00 and in some cases even more to get a scrap catalytic converter.

The scrap value of $100.00 to $200.00 makes it a highly sought out item for thieves to steal to make a quick $100.00 to $200.00.

If you have a good saw and a sharp saw blade you could easily cut a catalytic converter off in just a few minutes so although the risk is high for the thief landing in jail or prison it's a good risk for them since they can make lots of quick money cutting off and stealing peoples catalytic converters.