My Catalytic Converter Was Stolen

I went on trip the primary week of June, leaving my Honda Match street-parked in New York in a spot not removed from my condo for eight days — timed, brilliantly I believed, to an alternate-side-parking vacation so I wouldn’t be ticketed. After I acquired again from trip, I ambled over to the automobile to ensure it had survived unscathed. All appeared nicely, so I went again to my condo and didn’t give it some thought till the weekend, after I set out on a Saturday to do some weekend issues. I knew one thing was fallacious the second I began the engine, as a result of my humble Match now appeared like a race automobile.

Initially, I believed it was simply the muffler lastly failing. It’s the unique unit, and it’s seen loads of salt from New York winters. That’s high quality, I believed — the alternator, air con compressor, tires, windshield wipers (many occasions), spark plugs, battery, and numerous filters (many occasions) have all been changed on the automobile, and that’s simply the stuff I can keep in mind. If it was time for a brand new muffler, no biggie. The engine and transmission are nonetheless in strong working order, and the automobile’s by no means been in a wreck. The bones are nonetheless good.

So I drove to the store and defined, I feel there’s one thing fallacious with the muffler, may you test it out?¹ About an hour later, they known as again and informed me the unhealthy information: The catalytic converter had been stolen, which has been happening a lot lately. The restore could be a mere $3,500. Fairly shocked, I informed them I’d have to consider it and would name them again. Round that very same time, I remembered that I pay for complete insurance coverage, as a result of it’s solely an additional $60 a yr and I would want it. In truth, I did.

To GEICO’s web site I went, to file a declare, which started a brand new fear: The chance they could complete my automobile. Regardless of being in nice form, my Match is 14 years previous, and I dreaded the thought of getting to purchase a substitute automobile in probably the worst automobile market in current reminiscence.

After a few days, although, GEICO known as to inform me that my automobile was not, in truth, totaled. Insurance coverage would foot the invoice, save for my $500 deductible. That was a reduction. The store mentioned that they’d order a brand new catalytic converter and the opposite crucial components and get the restore in movement.

It’s Friday, they said, so the parts may not get here till Monday or Tuesday. That’s fine, I said, thinking that a weekend without the car was certainly not a big deal.

On Tuesday, I got a message from the shop, saying that the aftermarket catalytic converter was on backorder, and it might be several more days before they got it. A week after that, I sent them a message to get an update, which went unreplied. A few days after that — somewhat perturbed — I decided to march down to the shop to see What The Hell Is Going On. At the very least, I had to retrieve some things from my car, as, at this point, it seemed likely to be out of commission for a while.

A nice woman at the shop apologized for not getting back to me, saying that the parts were still on backorder. A colleague of hers then offered an estimate of “three to five weeks,” and we commiserated about parts shortages for a bit. At this point — or maybe before this point — most people might have simply tried a different shop, but I was not eager to do that because (a) my insurance had already processed the claim and paid it out, and I wasn’t sure what resetting the whole process would mean; and (b) it’s possible — probable? — that another shop would experience the same issue, and then it might take even longer. Perhaps, too, I’d fallen prey to the sunk cost fallacy and all of that.

Anyway, I retrieved my things from the car and resigned myself to a summer without a vehicle, which is fine, because New York City has good public transportation. Several weeks passed. Then, about 10 days ago, I got a call from GEICO, who informed me that the shop was tired of waiting around for an aftermarket catalytic converter, so they’d now be installing an OEM unit, though that would cost GEICO another $1,000.

That is fine, I said.

Finally, on Monday, over two months since I reported the claim, I got a call, which my phone flagged as a likely scam, but I picked up anyway. It was the shop, which is my local Honda dealer, whose calls apparently seem like scams. The car is done, they said. Come by and pick it up anytime.

The bill, when I got there, was just under $4,500, all but $500 of which had already been paid to me weeks ago by GEICO. I looked at the receipt, perusing all the parts they replaced, which was a bit more than just the catalytic converter because the thieves did other damage, too. One item stuck out to me: At some point in the past two months, the shop had lost the key, which necessitated them making a new one. That service was free.

When I got in the car, it was like the car had never left my hands — though for some reason the shop gave it to me with all four windows rolled down, and a window in the rear was a bit stubborn about going back up. Still, I’m just glad to have my Fit back. And I’m hoping, once again, that the Fit’s ground clearance of just under six inches helps deter future catalytic converter thefts, even though it didn’t this time.

I asked the dealer if there was any kind of anti-theft protection they could install on the new catalytic converter. I would happily pay for it. They said unfortunately there is not. Though I realize now, that seems more like a job for a guy I know in Brooklyn. Last time I saw him, he seemed to know a little too much about the topic, in fact.

¹Some of you might be wondering why I got the exhaust fixed at all, since my straight-piped car sounded AWESOME. The issue, of course, is that my car needs a catalytic converter to pass New York state inspection and thus be road legal. Having once let my inspection lapse, and having had the car towed as a result, let me tell you it’s a very bad day when you arrive at the tow pound to retrieve your non-road-legal car. They’ll inform you that, no, they will not be letting you drive the car away from the tow pound, did you not hear me the first time about it not being road legal? Then one must arrange one’s own tow truck to tow one’s non-road-legal car from the tow pound to a shop for a simple $35 inspection. Another reason: The interior of the car smelled like exhaust. A third: I am old and law-abiding these days.