The Leading Auto Repair Shop In San Leandro

As you probably know, there is an ongoing crime wave across not just the Bay Area, but the entire country – thieves are stealing catalytic converters for their scrap value. As a matter of fact, in April 2021 CarMD.com announced its Annual Vehicle Health Index, and for the year 2020, the most frequent check engine light related repair was the Catalytic Converter Replacement.

No, catalytic converters did not suddenly start failing in large numbers – they have no moving parts, so they rarely fail. What is happening is that the high prices of platinum, palladium, and rhodium – the three precious metals most often used in catalytic converters – have made catalytic converters a target. A professional thief can steal a catalytic converter in under 2 minutes. At first the primary targets were Prius Gen 2 and Honda Element vehicles. But as the metal prices increased, more vehicles became targeted, with particular emphasis on all Prius models, Honda Element, as well as Toyota Tacoma, and Chevrolet City and Nissan NV200 vans.

Therefore at Doral’s Auto Repair in San Leandro we make available catalytic converter shields (“cat shields”) specially designed for these vehicles:  Toyota Prius (any model), Honda Element, Toyota Tacoma,  Nissan NV200 and Chevrolet City Express vans.

The shields are specially designed to fit those vehicles and provide plenty of discouragement for the prospective thieves. Catalytic converter theft is a fairly safe crime with low probability of getting caught – if the thief can minimize time spent under the car. A catalytic converter shield installed on a vehicle puts the thief on notice that the task will take a lot of time, effort and generate noise, so he is better off looking for an easier target.

So if you own any vehicles on the list, give us a call at the shop and schedule an appointment to put a protective shield on the catalytic converter.