First-person stories from the victims of catalytic converter theft are the stuff nightmares are made of: Victims often awake in the middle of the night to the sound of loud grinding or metal-on-metal sawing. They scurry out of bed and make their way to their vehicle only to find that a thief has absconded with the automobile's catalytic converter, or the exhaust emission-control device that in recent years has become a growing target for theft because it's composed of such valuable metals as platinum, rhodium and palladium. Catalytic converters are bolted to the bottom of a vehicle. With the right tools, such as a reciprocating saw, thieves generally remove catalytic converters in a matter of minutes. Some car brands are targeted more for this type of crime than others; they include Prius, Honda and Lexus SUVs. The National Insurance Crime Bureau has reported that catalytic converter theft soared from 282 a month in 2019 to 1,203 a month in 2020. Vehicles are generally undrivable without catalytic converters, which can cost thousands of dollars to replace. The cost of replacing a catalytic converter and repairing any additional damage caused by the theft is generally covered by a comprehensive auto insurance policy. The slideshow above illustrates advice from Farmers Insurance about how vehicle owners can avoid becoming the victim of catalytic converter theft. See also: |

• Bestselling vehicles that are the most expensive to insure
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