Why Are Catalytic Converters Worth So Much Money?
Posted: January 3, 2023
What makes catalytic converters so valuable?
Why are these little pieces of metal so valuable and coveted in the scrap world? It all comes down to one acronym; PGM’s (Platinum Group Metals).
Platinum is expensive, and if you have ever bought a piece of jewelry, you would know that by now- but it is also expensive when you have platinum inside of catalytic converters. The PGM’s also include Rhodium and Palladium, and these two metals, couples with platinum, make catalytic converters have their value.
These precious metals mixed help trap the fumes from internal gas engines or diesel engines, which has helped stop more emissions (harmful to the environment) from escaping into the air. But the increased value since the beginning of 2019 of the PGM group of metals has led to the catalytic converter prices really increasing over that same time.
Why are they worth so much in scrap?
PGMs are very valuable and coveted in the refining world. You will see a much quicker turnaround on the recycling side of things when you can refine old catalytic converters instead of relying on earth mining operations to pull out new PGMS.
One of the reasons we have really seen such an increase in thefts and pricing is the higher push for better emission standards. The US Government (along with many other world governments) has pushed for high miles per gallon (MPG) and more hybrid vehicles to be put onto the road. This has led to auto companies putting more precious metals into the catalytic converters to help stop the smoke/emissions from harming the Earth’s atmosphere and increase prices.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, we saw car companies starting to put more PGMs into the cats, which led to higher returns. When the pricing increased on the PGM group of metals, we saw the increase of catalytic converters and the increase in thefts due to the higher value.
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What does RRCats.com do to reduce and eliminate theft of catalytic converters?
Our team is committed to buying units correctly and, more importantly, legally. We make sure to follow all local laws and track each catalytic converter purchase with assigned ticket numbers, ID tracking, and payment verification. In an online world full of problems, our team uses technology from video capturing, photo capturing, and all quoting done online to protect ourselves and our customers.
We are always available to help law enforcement across the country to help with theft problems as we have many checks and balances in place to prevent these problems from happening.
How We Quote Your Catalytic Converters
Our team quotes on catalytic converters that are already removed from vehicles and not ones still attached. We also will not quote customers that do not own the cats to help avoid any problems. While some people try to buy catalytic converters through online systems such as Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or eBay, our team will only quote based on actual customer pictures and not off screenshots or presumptive numbers.
We always look to protect our customers and our team, and we always are looking to help law enforcement officials across the country.
