John Sexton writes at HotAir.com about one couple’s sad San Francisco saga.
There were more that 150,000 catalytic converter thefts in 2022, a 2% increase from the previous year. The number one model targeted for these thefts in the US is the Toyota Prius. There’s a reason for that.
“The critical piece of automobile tech is used to filter out harmful byproducts from your car’s exhaust. They use precious metals like platinum, palladium and rhodium to accomplish this. Those metals can sell for hundreds to thousands of dollars per ounce.
“A catalytic converter can be sold for anywhere from $25 to $300 for an average vehicle, Carfax says, and up to $1,400 for hybrid vehicles.” …
… [T]he San Francisco Chronicle‘s Heather Knight wrote a story about a couple who became a victim of this particular crime. Alison Gerken and Amanda Arguile met at work and were married in 2019. Gerken graduated from UC Davis and got a job as a vet but the couple traveled to Florida for her three year residency. And the whole while they were thinking about how eager they were to return to San Francisco. But when they did, they were quickly reminded what a disaster the city has become. …
… Her catalytic converter had been stolen. She wasn’t sure about driving the car and ran back to her house to file a police report online. When she returned to the car she had a ticket. No matter, she figured it would be waived when she explained what happened. But no, they didn’t drop it because she failed to provide a full copy of the police report. She could have fought the $87 ticket but decided to just pay it.
Meanwhile, there are so many Prius’s missing catalytic converters in the Bay Area that there’s a six month waiting list for parts and repairs. …
… The couple has had enough. They’re leaving San Francisco for good but still not sure where they’ll go next. It’ll be somewhere where living is more affordable with fewer major problems which, if you think about it, could be just about anywhere.
