Catalytic Converter Theft On The Rise In Costa Mesa

Jan 16th 2022: The Costa Mesa Police Department has put up electronic signage boards warning residents about the recent rise in thefts of peoples catalytic converters from their vehicles. The catalytic converter is in your car to clean out pollutants in your cars system to stop them from escaping and polluting the air.

The reason why people want to steal them is they are valuable because of a few grams of of the worlds most valuable metal and the fact they are not hard to steal. The catalytic converter can be sawn off the car and a recycler will often pay between $50 to $250 for one with ones from hybrid vehicles being worth for a thief up to $1,500 each.

If your catalytic converter is stolen the replacement cost is not cheap and, can cost the unfortunate vehicle owner between $1,000 and $2,500 to replace.