“The number one rule of thieves is that nothing is too small to steal.” – Jimmy Breslin
by Luke Schmaltz
A large number of Denver residents are sitting on top of a hidden treasure and they don’t even know it.
Below the interior cabs of all modern cars, along the vehicle’s undercarriage parallel to the driveshaft, sits the exhaust system in a series of pipes, gaskets and couplings. Within this assembly, for all cars made after 1975, is a catalytic converter — a filter which transforms harmful exhaust compounds (hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide) into inert gases.
This piece of automotive technology contains semi-precious metals which are crucial to the catalyzing process. These include palladium, rhodium and platinum — rare metals that are sought after and valued on par with gold. It is no secret to enterprising thieves that these components can fetch between $150 and $300 per unit from scrap yards and chop shops — and sometimes even more.
Amid the economic hardship of the past year, the risk-to-reward ratio of catalytic converter theft is attractive enough for someone with a few tools and nothing to lose to take action. Anyone with enough nerve and a bit of know-how can simply crawl beneath a car in the middle of the night and start hacking away. Vulnerable cars are everywhere — parked
Theft On The Rise: Catalytic converter theft is up 1600% in the Denver area from 2019.
on the street, in parking garages, strip malls and driveways. As jobs disappear, pandemic relief runs out, and perhaps a bad case of cabin-fever boredom takes hold — car part pirates set out to find their livelihood amid a vast urban landscape abundant with low-hanging fruit.
The number of thefts across Denver is on the rise like the temperature gauge on an overheating vehicle. In 2019, a total of just 15 were reported, while in 2020, the cases jumped up to a staggering 257. Meanwhile, 2021 is on par to leave that number in the dust, as 108 cases of stolen catalytic converters were reported by the end of January.
The Winners
Junkyard: Catalytic converters make a quick stop at a place like this so the precious metals therein can be removed.v
Experienced thieves who know where to slither and hack can get away with half a dozen or more converters per night. Doorbell cameras have captured these heists taking place with alarming speed — some in under two minutes. Once these are sold to a scrap yard or fenced to a black-market processing facility, the thief makes a few bucks and the next guy (the fence) digs into the devices, harvests the precious metals therein and sells them to a dealer. While laws are in place that supposedly forbid scrap metal dealers and junkyards from accepting stolen goods, there is by no means a task force monitoring these markets. If thieves are bold enough to break the law in plain sight, what’s to stop them from continuing to do so until the valued goods find their way back into the supply chain?
Next in the catalytic converter economic stimulus line are the auto repair shops. As this is becoming a routine procedure, the parts can be replaced with a fair degree of quickness and ease. Yet, parts and labor cost money and even if the mechanic is an honest one, they’ll be billing each client anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 per job.
The Losers
The victim’s experience is invariably the same. A vehicle owner gets in their car, turns the ignition key to start the engine and is jolted upwards by a roaring blast of exhaust from beneath. In previous years, the individual may have thought it was just a temperamental automotive glitch that would work itself out. More recently, however, a person in this scenario quickly comes to the harrowing realization that part of their car has been stolen right out from underneath them.
After a sputtering, cantankerous trip to the mechanic, they are hit with a repair bill that most likely places yet another degree of economic strain on an already dire situation. While folks with comprehensive insurance coverage can send the bill to their carrier, a great many drivers out there do not have such coverage because they are trying to save money, and when they bought their insurance, rampant car part theft was probably not yet on their radar.
The Also-rans
Catalytic Converter: If you want to keep your catalytic converter, knowing how to weld is a valuable skill.
The associated fallout of these thefts is the additional burden that is placed on the Denver Police Department. While there is little or nothing that responding officers can do to recover the stolen part, there is considerable strain in terms of the man hours it takes to follow up on every case, to fill out paperwork and to listen to the victims tell their stories.
Enough Is Enough
Across the Mile High City, people are becoming increasingly aware that they could very well be the next victim in line to have their catalytic converters stolen. The obvious solution is to park your car in a garage, lock it up for the night and the problem is solved. The problem with that, is that the vast majority of car owners, especially in neighborhoods near the city center, do not enjoy such luxuries.
High profile vehicles like SUVs, Hummers and 4×4 trucks are the easiest targets, as they do not need to be jacked up off the ground in order for the thieves to access the converter. A smart driver on a shoestring budget can opt to park their Prius between a Ford F-250 and a Land Rover and hope their neighbors bear the brunt of the thievery instead of them.
Proactive citizens can sit up all night and guard their cars with a flashlight and a baseball bat. Yet, most people enjoy their sleep and do not wish to confront criminals in the pale moonlight. Thankfully, this scourge of theft has necessitated a suite of new inventions designed to keep your catalytic converter attached to your car’s exhaust system and out of the hands of criminals. In yet another economically beneficial outcome of the rise in theft, these devices range anywhere from $125 to $700 or more apiece, plus installation if you’re not handy with tools. These products are carving out a market niche for themselves under names such as The Cat Clamp, Cat Security, Cat Strap and more.
- Cat Strap: This alarm-style device features contact and motion sensors. The strap is tethered along the length of the exhaust system (which includes the catalytic converter) by a series of metal clamps and rings. The sensor is then wired to the battery and the alarm receiver is mounted beneath the hood. Contact with the exhausts system or significant motion beneath the car in the vicinity of the catalytic converter will set it off. Thief activity beneath your car sets off the alarm, which then deters the perpetrator. Professional installation is recommended.
- Cat Security: This device is strictly hardware, and acts as a type of shield between your catalytic converter and the ground. The product is essentially sheet metal which is pre-fabricated to fit the undercarriage of specific models of cars. The shield is then bolted into place with a combination of security rivets, bolts and self-tapping screws. The protective barrier is immediately obvious to and should convince most thieves to think again. Professional installation is optional.
- Cat Clamp: Another hardware-based product, this invention uses braided, heavily-rated steel cables and heavy-duty steel clamps and adaptor plates which, once mounted and installed, surround your catalytic converter in a metal cage. The various product sizes can accommodate everything from regular sized cars to large, heavy duty diesel trucks. Hardware and cable run the length of the exhaust system and present an immediate visual deterrent to thieves — as it is obvious the catalytic converter is not coming off without a whole lot of effort and noise. Professional installation recommended.
Extreme Measures
A similar approach is to have the catalytic converter welded to your car’s frame, which would make it much harder and far more time consuming to steal. Another method is to have your car alarm system recalibrated to detect the subtle humming of a reciprocating saw or the light tog of a ratchet wrench. Other folks are engraving their car’s VIN number to the housing on the converter, which to an average thief might be a deterrent, but to an enterprising criminal — it might be an invitation to pursue identity theft.
The other options are to string barbed wire around your car every night and risk getting cited for littering or reckless endangerment. You could train rattlesnakes to coil up in the undercarriage at night and take a swipe at anything that crawls under the car. Or you could just sell the damn thing and get a bike — along with an arsenal of four or five heavy duty U-locks.