Todd Ainsworth and Christopher Christensen, owners and operators of West Seattle Autoworks at 7501 35th Ave s.w. recently sent an email to the Herald about a customer who had the catalytic converter sawed off of his Toyota 4 Runner.

The customer’s Toyota had exhaust issues and he called Ainsworth to see about bringing his rig in. Ainsworth suggested he go to a muffler shop in White Center to save money on the repair, so the customer thanked him for his honesty and headed to the shop. Shortly thereafter Ainsworth heard back from his customer and it turned out his converter had been sawed clean off.

“And I said, ‘Uh oh,’ because we went through this a couple years ago,"Ainsworth said. "There was a rash of them (catalytic converter thefts)."

Catalytic converters are devices that reduce the toxicity of emissions from an internal combustion engine, or as Ainsworth put it, “to capture and complete the burning of any un-burnt fuels and gases that come out of the engine.”

Toyota trucks and 4 Runners are an ideal target for thieves because of their ample ground clearance (making it easy to get under the vehicle) and because the converters are simply bolted on, according to Ainsworth.

The only required tool is a battery operated saw to cut through the bolts, a theft that only takes about one minute, “and that would be with a dull blade,” Ainsworth said.

There are many tales told online of people’s converters being nabbed in broad daylight.

As for incentive, the rise in converter thefts may be linked to the precious metals market.

“Platinum, rhodium and palladium are the three big metals in there (converters),” Ainsworth said. “So the market fluctuates, but right now I think platinum is getting $1700 an ounce.”

According to Kitco.com, platinum is selling at $1757 an ounce, rhodium is at $2350 an ounce and palladium sits at $793 an ounce as of market closing on Dec. 29.

Thieves do not actually extract metals from the converter, but sell them to recyclers for an average of $80, according to Ainsworth. He occasionally has people stop by his shop looking to buy used converters for a similar price.

For those unfortunate targets of converter theft the replacement bill is significant, ranging from $500 to $700, Ainsworth said.

“More than anything, we just want people to be aware,” Christensen said.

There is no simple solution to catalytic converter theft prevention, but Ainsworth recommends parking in well-lit areas, looking into car alarms that detect vibration (so the sawing of bolts would set it off) and looking into converter locks, such as CatClamp.

“I haven’t used them and don’t know how well they work,” Ainsworth said of the lock systems, but installing one would at least increase the amount of time it takes for a thief to remove the converter.

ProVigil, a surveillance systems company has a list of additional theft prevention ideas on their website (link), including parking in a fenced area, communicating with your community when and where thefts are on the rise and etching your converter with an ID number to help police track it down if it is stolen.

For more information on catalytic converter theft, check out “Sawing off the Cat: Thieves and your muffler” written by Scott Anthony for the Herald’s sister site, FederalWayNews.net.

Southwest Precinct Operations Lieutenant Pierre Davis was unavailable for comment before this story was posted, but his perspective will be added once the Herald hears back.