‘Domino effect’: Surrey, B.C. man’s catalytic converter stolen a 4th time

A Surrey, B.C. man is sharing his frustration after experiencing his fourth catalytic converter theft on Thursday.

Randy Morris said he turned his car on to go to work and heard that tell-tale “horrible noise.”

“Since it’s happened three times already, I just pretty much put my head down and go inside and start the process,” he told Global News on Friday.

“My vehicle’s a bit of a target. It’s got very high ground clearance so they can just slide right under it and do their zip-cutting within 30 to 60 seconds and they’re gone.”

2:01 Surrey launches catalytic converter and scrap metal theft crackdown

Morris said the catalytic converter on his vehicle, a 2018 Mitsubishi RVR, also has more precious metal in it than others, adding to its appeal for thievery.

Catalytic converters are an exhaust emission control device made up of a variety of precious metals, including platinum, palladium and cadmium.

Morris said he calls the police each time, has his vehicle towed to an auto shop and calls ICBC, the provincial vehicle insurance corporation. That’s where he encounters a particular challenge.

“You have to have a credit card to get the (replacement vehicle) rental and I don’t have one,” Morris explained. “Times are financially hard for me right now and every time it happens, it’s like a domino effect for me.”

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Without his vehicle, Morris said he faces hurdles getting to work, picking his son up for the weekend and paying his bills.

He said his work has been understanding about the situation, but he’s worried about how long that will last if his catalytic converter continues to be stolen.

“I’m really angry. Something needs to be done a provincial level, or ICBC.  Something needs to change,” he said. “I almost have no words at this point, that’s the problem. I don’t know what to say anymore.”

1:56 Catalytic converter thefts spike in parts of B.C.

In November 2021, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth vowed to close a loophole in the law that had allowed catalytic converter thieves to cash-in more easily.

The Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act, passed in 2011, regulates the sale and purchase of regulated metals, but did not include catalytic converters in its scope. Under the act, purchasers of scrap metal must record those purchases as a theft prevention measure, but the province’s definition of “regulated metal” excluded the ingredients that make up catalytic converters.

In March 2022, B.C. amended regulation to require registered metal dealers to report each transaction involving a catalytic converter that isn’t attached to an exhaust system — including information about the seller — to police on the day of sale.

2:06 Renewed concerns about catalytic converter thefts

Jameson Smith, operations manager at Dale’s Auto Service in Surrey, said he’s now added a catch shield to the bottom of Morris’ Tacoma that will make it more difficult and time-consuming for the next thief to steal the converters.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the only customer that’s had recurring issues with their ‘cat’ being stolen over and over again. This customer’s actually gone as far as moving into a different housing location to try and stop it from happening,” Smith said.

“We’re trying to encourage customers to get into a catalytic converter shield for the bottom of the vehicle to help prevent this from ever happening again.”

Smith said the shop deals with “hundreds” of such thefts that, in his opinion, amount to an “epidemic.”

According to ICBC, claims for catalytic converter thefts in B.C. increased from 89 in 2017 to 1,953 in 2021, while the costs attached to the those claims rose from $356,950 to a little over $4 million.