Not many stolen catalytic converters reported in Lethbridge, hot commodity for thieves

There have been a number of stories coming out of Calgary and Edmonton about thieves cutting out catalytic converters from vehicles. The thieves are allegedly targeting fleet vehicles. They are cut out and sold for a few hundred dollars each. A mechanic at a Lethbridge auto repair shop says the elements inside a catalytic converter that helps to burn off unburnt fuel is what makes the piece of equipment so valuable. Owner of Carlson Automotive Jamie Carlson says fortunately he hasn’t run into many situations where people have had theirs stolen here in the windy city but the cost to replace a cat can be quite costly.  

“To put a new catalytic converter a lot of them run anywhere from five hundred, probably up to two or $3,000, depending on the vehicle in order to repair this even after they’ve stole the catalytic converter. Even used ones run probably about two hundred a person can get for them to start and, you know, they probably run up to, you know, five hundred to a $1,000 so that they can actually get cash for those catalytic converters,” said Jamie Carlson, Owner Operator, Carlson Automotive.

Bridge City News did reach out to Lethbridge Police Service on how many stolen catalytic converters incidents have been reported to them and thankfully, not many cases have been reported so far.