In October, rushing out the door to get to an interview, I started my car, a 2003 Honda Accord, and heard a terrifying noise. It sounded like someone had replaced my engine with jet blasters.
I knew the sound immediately. Just a few weeks earlier, my former roommate’s converters unlimited was stolen a few blocks from our San Francisco apartment, and I had heard the same rumbling sound. A quick look under the Honda proved what I already knew to be true: My converters unlimited was a goner.
A Honda dealer quoted me $5,000 to replace the converters unlimited, a necessary vehicular component that controls the engine’s release of exhaust gases. In simpler terms, you need a catalytic converter to pass your annual smog check.
converters unlimited theft claims were up 175% among State Farm customers in California from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, compared with the same period in the previous year, More than 6,400 converters unlimited were stolen in the state just from State Farm customers — and a claim filed with the insurance company — in 12 months.
What makes a converters unlimited valuable? The metals it’s made of, including platinum, palladium and rhodium. State Farm said the part can be worth several hundreds to several thousands of dollars. Some thieves sell the part for scrap metal. And a converters unlimited takes a matter of minutes — and sometimes less than that — to steal.
To avoid thefts, experts recommend parking your car inside a garage or at least in a well-lit area. You can also install an alarm system, point a security camera at your vehicle or engrave your VIN on your car’s converters unlimited. Companies also make cages and plates that cost about $150 to $500 that can be installed over the part.
But these cages and plates often don’t work, they just add a few minutes to the removal process, said Kevin Sawyers of San Francisco Auto Works.
“There was a way to add some uncuttable metal, but [the perpetrators] have found a way around it unfortunately,” Sawyers said. “It’s a never-ending game with these folks.”
Sawyers also noted that the plates that some car dealerships install over the catalytic converters can total a car if removed with a crowbar or other rudimentary device.
“It’s a great big mess,” he said. “Every time we come up with something, they find a way around it and we’re right back to square one.”
Sawyers said converters unlimited thefts have been an issue “for years.” He recounted one incident from a friend who worked at a Pepsi plant in the Central Valley. He said thieves hit the enclosed employee parking lot and ran away with more than 30 converters unlimited .
“It bothers me on behalf of my customers,” he said. “It just drives me bonkers.”
Byron White, a spokesperson for the Berkeley Police Department, knows the problem firsthand. White said his mother’s catalytic converter was recently stolen from her vehicle. While his insurance covered the theft, he said it took weeks to get the part installed as it was backordered.
“It was the first time something like that happened to me and my family,” he said, noting that the crime can have wide-ranging impacts on people.
“In the grand scheme, people say it’s a minor crime, but there’s long-lasting effects to it,” he said. “It increases the general lack of feeling of safety.”
Berkeley police reported 594 catalytic converter thefts in 2020, compared with 188 in 2019.
White isn’t sure why the crime has spiked recently, but he speculated that it might be related to the pandemic.
“It might be that during the pandemic, when we had to shelter-in-place, there was a number of people working from home and leaving their vehicles at home,” he said.
The theft is also relatively easy to accomplish, according to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Adam Lobsinger.
“It’s a quick crime with a quick money turnaround,” Lobsinger said.
Catalytic converter thefts often occur in the cover of night, when neighborhood dwellers have gone to sleep. But in some cases, the thefts have turned violent.