What's the one thing you'd expect car thieves to take besides your vehicle itself?

A stereo system, your cell phone, maybe something out of your glove compartment.

But your catalytic converter?

Chances are most drivers don't even know where the device, which helps control emissions, is on their automobiles.

But crooks do.

It turns out the piece of equipment that sits out of sight on your car contains ingredients that are becoming increasingly valuable on the black market. And it's incredibly easy to steal.

"All it takes is a sawzall with a metal blade, a couple of quick cuts and it's out," explains Cam Young, a mechanic at Cam's Auto Service. "Less than two minutes."

And it's a growing crime. One Brampton auto shop recently lost $1 million worth of catalytic converters.

What's the big attraction? It's what inside that counts.

Catalytic converters contain expensive precious metals like platinum - which is worth up to $1,200 an ounce; palladium, which can fetch $320 an ounce and rhodium, the biggest prize of all. It goes for up to $6,000 an ounce on the market.

The fact so many are disappearing doesn't shock Young. "With the price of the scrap, the value of the part, how easy it is to steal, I'm not surprised at all."

Ironically, replacing a converter will only run you about $300. But to a thief, all those separate parts are as good as gold.

"It's not just warehouse thefts we're hearing about," relates P.C. Sean Piper of Peel Regional Police. "We're actually having small cases of public parking lots, vehicles that are being left in GO stations."

You can't lock them down and you can't really stop a determined thief from making off with it. So what can you do to protect yourself?

Try to park in a safe and secure place, where a stranger with a saw would be instantly suspect. And when possible, keep your car in your garage instead of on your driveway.




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