A catalytic converter? Really?

[Brigid]

The maintenance supervisor in my condo building sometimes puts up signs in the elevators and on the outside doors to warn us if it's going to be necessary to turn off the water for repairs, or that sort of thing. Today there is one saying that someone cut the catalytic converter out of a car in front of the building last night.

Now why would somebody do that? Do cars even have those things anymore?

[Locut0s]

1. Apparently so...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_converter#Theft

"
Because of the external location and the use of valuable precious metals including platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold, converters are a target for thieves. The problem is especially common among late-model trucks and SUVs, because of their high ground clearance and easily removed bolt-on catalytic converters. Welded-in converters are also at risk of theft, as they can be easily cut off.[31][32][33] Thieves' techniques for fast removal of a converter, for instance using a portable reciprocating saw, can often damage other components of the car. Damage to components like wiring, or a fuel line, can have dangerous consequences. Rises in metal costs in the U.S. during recent years have led to a large increase in converter theft.[34] A catalytic converter can cost well over $1,000 to replace.[35]
"

[klook]

2. I've heard of them being stolen

I had thought it was just to use them on old cars that couldn't pass emissions/smog inspection, but according to this article, it's for the precious metals in them:
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/autos/2011-04-25-catalytic-converter-thefts.htm

Nationwide Insurance even has info about preventing them from being stolen:
http://www.nationwide.com/catalytic-converter-theft.jsp

I used to think it was nuts when I heard people were stealing copper tubing and wire out of buildings, too.

[Chan790]

3. They contain platinum. That's why.

Cut it out, melt it down, sell the metal.

Usually when you see this type of crime, they hit 10 or 15 cars, not 1. One car yields enough precious metal to buy a McDonald's meal. 15 yields a couple hundred bucks.

[jmowreader]

6. A McDonald's meal for thirty or forty people, maybe...

I had to replace the catalytic converter on my car last year. The money I got from selling the old cat was more than enough to buy the new one.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. You sold your old cat? How could you???

[jmowreader]

13. It kept crapping in the driveway, so I traded it in for a much more suitable one

Seriously: the weld that held the front of the catalytic converter to the pipe from the exhaust manifold broke. I ground off the weld and put a slip joint on it to re-connect the two. That lasted about a year, when the weld holding the inlet pipe to the converter body finally let go while I was pulling out of the driveway to do some errands. The car is a 1987 so shit like that happens.

[MissMillie]

4. Yeah, nothing all that new

I got a robo-call from my local police on this a few years ago.

It happens most often to the vehicles that are a little higher off the ground. The thieves take them for the metal.

[Brigid]

5. Wow.

I didn't know that catalytic converters contained precious metals. The internets are so edjumacashunul.

[tbirsen5039]

7. Catalytic Converters can be protected.

Catalytic converter theft is on the rise . As EPA requirements get tighter, converters need to be more proficient - larger and therefore more precious metals inside. There are a variety of products available to deter theft - most consist of a "cage design" which works to enclose the converter with cables, etc. These work well on vehicles that actually have enough space available to install them. Price range - $150-$600

There also exists another class of product that includes a hardened steel barrier housed inside an alarm strap which hugs the converter and exhaust pipes. Has multiple levels of protection and requires no space to install because its only 1/4 of an inch thick. Check it out on youtube or at Catstrap.Net. and priced at $160.

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Yes, they still have them. Meth-heads like to steal them.

When CCs were first introduced, the auto companies acted like they were a horrible imposition, and that cars would never run well again. After a few technical tweaks, they've improved to the point that no one even remembers they're there now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Houdry#Oxy-Catalyst

This company failed (early 60's!) because leaded gasoline destroyed the catalyst. Houdry never got the success he deserved.

[Jersey Devil]

10. Some of the parts may have been needed for a flux capacitor

[Iggo]

11. Super Sawsall, baby.

No enterprising tweaker should be without one.

[hunter]

12. It's just sad.

Nobody should be so addicted or so impoverished.

These are problems that could be solved.

Feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, create places where addicts can crash, with good drugs, not expensive street crap, if necessary.

It's a public health problem as well as an irritation when they steal your stuff.

Safe amphetamines and opiates are cheap, but nobody is going to come in from the cold if they know they are going to be abused by the legal system.

Give people the opportunity to help themselves and the people they've harmed. Take them off the mean streets and keep them in a humane living situation so long as they are a danger to themselves or others.

[Captain Stern]

14. Two questions.

1. Did they get a new catalytic converter?

2. (if the answer to question 1 is 'yes') Where do they park their car?

[Gravitycollapse]

15. Catalytic converters contain precious metals that thieves covet for obvious reasons.

As far as a motionless piece of metal goes, it's one of the most expensive parts on modern cars.

[mucifer]

16. There have been a few threads on

the reddit Chicago page about this.