Yes commodity prices are high:
A thief sneaked under the sport utility vehicle with a battery-powered
saw, slicing from the Toyota’s underbelly what may be one of the most
expensive small parts of the auto world: the catalytic converter, an
essential emissions-control device made with small amounts of metals
more precious than gold. Who knew?…Theft of scrap metals like copper and aluminum has been common here and
across the country for years, fueled by rising construction costs and
the building boom in China. But now thieves have found an easy payday
from the upper echelon of the periodic table. It seems there may not be
an easier place to score some platinum than under the hood of a car…The catalytic converter is made with trace amounts of platinum,
palladium and rhodium, which speed chemical reactions and help clean
emissions at very high temperatures. Selling stolen converters to scrap
yards or recyclers, a thief can net a couple of hundred dollars apiece.
Here is the story. Here is part I in the series. Here is a man who died trying to extract gold from his computer.
Who knew?
Well, people in the scrap metals trade….
PGM (ie, platimum group metals) are of the order of 1 gramme per kilo of the material in the converter.
A reputable welding and fabrication company in Toledo, OH. has a new patented theft deterrent designed just for catalytic converters . It makes too much work for the thieves in a hurry. The CatClamp is the only theft deterrent on the market designed exclusively to fight catalytic converter theft. It was in Newsweek online in January 09, 2008. Go to Catclamp.com the CatClamp is much cheaper than repairing a vehicle after catalytic converter theft.
This is not free trade. As a matter of fact, this is illegal.
This has been going on for almost a year and it’s been all over the local news and internet. The problem is that there are easy ways to sell these converters. All it would take to put a stop to this is for police to set up a simple sting operation to catch the guys unloading dozens of converters that have clearly been Sawzall-ed off of SUVs and trucks.
Adding to Tim Worstall’s comment, here is a site with bid/ask spreads on used catalytic converters: http://www.grn.com/a/0413.html
Bid prices range from $6 to $125, but mostly center in the $30 to $60 range. Certainly not $200 as claimed in the post. This has to be a slow way to make money!
And fighting global warming to boot!
Those nasty catalytic converters change cooling sulfates into inert byproducts and non-warmy CO into the ever destructive CO2.
They’re modern-day Robinhoods!
Check out the CATCUFF. It’s a quality, American made product that locks up a catalytic converter to the frame of the vehicle so that it simply cannot be removed. It’s a one-size fits all product that is easy to install with household tools. The CATCUFF is tougher than nails and is only one-eighth the cost of other catalytic converter anti-theft products, but with even more metal-thief thwarting deterrence and no annoying rattling or vibration. You can learn more at http://www.catcuff.com
Check out the CATCUFF. It’s a quality, American made product that locks up a catalytic converter to the frame of the vehicle so that it simply cannot be removed. It’s a one-size fits all product that is easy to install with household tools. The CATCUFF is tougher than nails and is only one-eighth the cost of other catalytic converter anti-theft products, but with even more metal-thief thwarting deterrence and no annoying rattling or vibration. You can learn more at http://www.catcuff.com
Check out the CATCUFF. It’s a quality, American made product that locks up a catalytic converter to the frame of the vehicle so that it simply cannot be removed. It’s a one-size fits all product that is easy to install with household tools. The CATCUFF is tougher than nails and is only one-eighth the cost of other catalytic converter anti-theft products, but with even more metal-thief thwarting deterrence and no annoying rattling or vibration. You can learn more at http://www.catcuff.com
I was also ripped off by Catcuff. I ordered two months ago, have sent several e-maisl and tried calling several times. Nobody answers the phone and nobody replies. DO NOT BUTY THE CATCUFF! It is a scam.
WE ARE NOT THE CATCUFF…The CatClamp (Patent-Pending), created by American Welding Inc, places a catalytic converter in a theft-proof cage made of aircraft cable. That’s a heavy duty solution, and only carries a price tag of around $150. Compare that to a $2000 repair bill for having your catalytic converter stolen. You can reach CatClamp at 419.478.1313 or on the web at http://www.catclamp.com.
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