There’s been a rash of thefts going on all over the country. It’s been happening for a few years now, too. I remember it was going on three years ago when I worked at the flower shop, where there was  a fleet of Ford vehicles. Thieves would come into the parking lot in the middle of the night and steal the catalytic converters from underneath the cargo vans.

They didn’t steal the vehicles. They didn’t break into the vehicles. They just climbed underneath and sawed off the catalytic converters. Apparently, there’s a precious metal contained in these pieces that makes them extremely valuable. Some thieves can remove them in as little as three minutes. So in the course of a night, they can probably make a huge profit.

The sad thing is that there’s really nothing you can do to protect your cars from this type of vandalism. Unless you park your vehicle in a secure garage, there’s a risk of having your catalytic converter stolen. You won’t even know it until you get in the car and start it up. There’s a loud rumble from the back of the car that lets you know something is amiss. And some insurance companies won’t even cover it.

Luckily, some states have passed laws against selling these parts to recycling centers that pay for expensive metals. Hopefully, this law will spread and deter people from stealing these parts from vehicles.