Alabama Auto Shop Owners Design Anti-Theft Cages for Catalytic Converters

As the number of catalytic converter thefts has soared nationwide, one Alabama auto repair shop has begun building anti-theft cages that cover the pollution-control devices.

Dean and Cory Parker, owners of Dean’s Auto & Exhaust in Daphne, Alabama, said they’ve installed six cages so far. The rebar cages cost about $400, but that’s much less than the $1,000 to $1,500 it would cost to replace the converters, according to WPMI TV news.

“We actually had customers ask us what they could do to prevent theft of their converters. We kind of kicked it around and said well, you could build a cage, kind of jokingly, and they were like, yeah, okay, let’s do that,” Cory Parker told the news site.

Catalytic converters, which utilize expensive precious metals to reduce tailpipe emissions, have become popular targets for thieves as the market price of the platinum, rhodium and palladium metals has climbed in recent years. The National Insurance Crime Bureau reports that nationwide, thefts have climbed from 1,300 in 2018 to more than 14,000 in 2020.

Last year, State Farm paid $62.6 million for 32,265 catalytic converter theft claims nationally — a 1,173% increase from 2019.

In Foley, Alabama, not far from the Parker’s repair shop, police said 18 converters were stolen last year, and 16 have been yanked so far this year, the TV station reported.

The problem may get worse as the war in Ukraine has sparked a surge in commodities prices. Russia produces almost 40% of mined palladium in the world, the U.S. Geological Survey has reported.

AAA, the American Automobile Association, recommends installing an anti-theft devices like a cage or steel cable and etching the driver’s license number into the converter.

Photo: A catalytic converter without a protective cage.

Topics Auto Fraud Alabama