Thieves broke the catalytic converter under Iris’s car twice

Not once, but twice, thieves recently demolished the catalytic converter from under the car of Iris from Uden. “Every time you start your car, you think again: please, start normally.” Catalysts were remarkably popular with the thieves’ guild last year: almost 800 were stolen. .

Ernst Schouten from Berghem can also talk about it. When he started his car one morning, he heard that something was wrong. “It made a huge noise.” As it turned out, somewhere that night the catalytic converter had been removed from under his Toyota. “There you are,” he says. “What should I do now? I have to go now.”

Very frustrating, says Ernst. “I had to go to the hospital for an appointment. And then you can’t leave.” Most of the damage is for the insurance. But it still costs Ernst 300 euros deductible. “And I was lucky they had a catalytic converter in stock. You could also just have to wait weeks.”

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Iris, who does not want to be called by her full name, from Uden was completely unlucky. Thieves made off twice with her Kia’s catalytic converter. The first time her car was parked in the parking lot at recreation lake Hemelrijk near Volkel. “When I wanted to go home and start the car, it made a huge noise,” says Iris. “I wanted to call the roadside assistance at the Hemelrijk desk. There they said that the catalytic converter was probably stolen and that it was already the fourth that week.”

It was not easy to find a new catalyst quickly, says Iris. “And all of this just before we were going on vacation. With a lot of help we managed to find a used one.”

And last week it happened again. But she was lucky in an accident. The thieves were caught and the police were able to return the catalytic converter.

Catalysts are popular with thieves because they make quite a bit of money. Certain catalysts contain precious metals such as platinum and palladium. And having a new catalytic converter installed under your car can cost between a thousand and two thousand euros.

Ernst has meanwhile installed a camera at his house. “I’m afraid it will happen again,” he says. “They now know where this car is.”

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