Installing Catalytic Converter Shields in Albany, CA
Adams Autoworx Albany provides catalytic converter shields to protect your vehicle’s catalytic converter from thieves who have been stealing catalytic converters for over two years.
It all started with price increases of the three precious metals used in making catalytic converters – platinum, palladium and rhodium. Suddenly, stealing a catalytic converter became an easy, safe, and lucrative crime. CarMD.com just announced its Annual Vehicle Health Index 2020. Catalytic Converter Replacement was the most frequent repair in the Check Engine Light category.
Popularity of this repair is not due to catalytic converter failures, but due to theft. We have seen security camera footage of a thief stealing a catalytic converter in less than 2 minutes. First wave of thefts targeted Toyota Prius Gen 2 and Honda Element vehicles. But as the precious metal prices continued to increase, it became profitable to steal catalytic converters from other vehicles as well.
At Adams Autoworx Albany we offer catalytic converter shields (“cat shields”) specially designed for the vehicles that are most likely to be targets of the thieves. Among these vehicles we include not only all models of Toyota Prius, but also Toyota Tacoma, Honda Element, Nissan NV200 vans and Chevrolet City Express vans.
The “cat shields” are specially designed to fit the configuration of these vehicles. They are designed to discourage thieves from attacking your car. While they are not foolproof – after all, a dedicated thief can simply steal the entire car to extract the catalytic converter at leisure, they provide excellent deterrent to all but the most committed thieves. Upon seeing the “Cat Shield”, the thief knows that stealing catalytic converter from your vehicle will require long time, much effort and likely will generate noise that can alert owners. It’s simpler to go down the street looking for an easier target.
If you own any vehicles on our list, or any other vehicle, give us a call at the shop and we can talk about catalytic converter shields and other options for protecting the catalytic converter.