There are 4 things you can do to help ward off would be thieves more here :. With higher unemployment rates and more people staying at home over the past year, it seems this type of theft is on the rise. And while most comprehensive auto insurance policies will cover the cost to replace your catalytic converter should it be stolen; liability insurance will cover nothing on such incidences.
Share this information with you neighbors, friends, and family — the more people who are keeping their eyes open for this sort of crimes the better we can all help to mitigate the risks. If you find yourself in a situation that requires a repair, know that you can always trust the mechanics at OKC Auto Works to get your car up and running again, no matter what took your vehicle out of service in the first place.
You must be logged in to post a comment. What Is a Catalytic Converter? Is Your vehicle a Likely Target? How will you know if your catalytic converter has been stolen? How can you prevent the theft of your catalytic converter?
There are 4 things you can do to help ward off would be thieves more here : Park your vehicle inside your garage when you are at home and otherwise park in well-lit areas. They recovered more than 18 catalytic converters from one location, along with tools that could be used in thefts, including an angle grinder, a car jack and a reciprocal saw.
They also found many more catalytic converters at a metal processing plant in Hackney, central London, plus other stolen metal and a smelting machine. On the Essex coast, police officers intercepted a shipping container believed to contain stolen metal and car parts, which were due to be shipped to the Ivory Coast for processing and refining.
With thousands of people working from home or furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic, fewer vehicles are being left in public car parks with CCTV coverage or other security during the day. Thieves are taking advantage of this by targeting vehicles parked in driveways or on the street.
Victims have reported being threatened when they tried to confront criminals. There has been a problem with catalytic converters — and even entire exhaust systems — being stolen from cars for many years.
Replacing the catalytic converter and exhaust on a Toyota Prius , for example, is expensive, so there is a demand for cheap secondhand systems. However, the situation has been exacerbated by a rise in the value of the precious metals found in catalytic converters, including palladium and rhodium, which are both more expensive than gold. The increase in the value of the metals has been driven partly by higher demand for them for use in low-emissions vehicles. The catalytic converter is housed in a box on the car's exhaust system.
It cleans up exhaust gases before they are expelled from the exhaust pipe. All new cars sold in Europe since have had to be fitted with a catalytic converter by law. However, hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Auris and Prius, are popular with thieves because they have two power sources, an electric motor and a petrol or diesel engine, so their catalytic converters are used less frequently to process pollutants.
That means the metals inside them are less likely to have corroded, making them more valuable — and therefore more attractive to thieves. On some car models, the catalytic converter hangs below other components, so thieves can slide under the vehicle and simply cut it off. Those with the unit in the engine bay are less susceptible to theft.
Older models are more likely to be targeted because their catalytic converters contain far more precious metals than those fitted to the latest cars. Toyota is at the forefront of efforts to prevent catalytic converter theft, and has acknowledged that the second and third-generation Prius models and and second-generation Auris Hybrids have been particular targets.
It also produces an exhaust system bundle, containing the catalyst, exhaust and Catloc, which can be fitted to Toyota vehicles that have had their entire exhaust system stolen. The inside is a ceramic honeycomb lined with precious metals that react with the toxic emissions, at a temperature of approximately C. Over the past five years, the value of these metals — platinum and rhodium, in particular — has risen significantly.
Read more: Edmonton police seize stolen catalytic converters, charge man. There have been at least two deaths in the past two months linked to the suspected thefts of catalytic converters. In Burnaby, B. A passerby spotted his body underneath the BMW sedan. Mike Kalanj told Global News on Tuesday, but could not confirm what exactly the victim was trying to steal.
A similar situation happened in Calgary , in early February, in which police believe a vehicle fell on top of a man as he attempted to steal one of the parts. Gast told Global News public awareness is the first step to preventing your vehicle from being hit by thieves. They have to be jacked up on one side to be able to get underneath that. But just being aware. Look for suspicious activity in and around your neighborhoods, and report that. This story has been updated accordingly.
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