Spring and Houston Auto Repair

Ripley's Total Car Care is Cataltyic Converter Experts We have been involved in Exhaust repairs since 1973 Serving Houston, Spring, The Woodlands and surrounding areas.          

Stolen Catalytic Converters are on the rise. Why would someone steal your Catalytic Converter? They steal Catalytic converters then sell them to Recyclers for the precious metals inside. Converters are made up of Platinum, palladium and rhodium. Palladium is similar in price as Gold. Recyclers will buy used catalytic Converters, then melt them down to extract the precious metals. Toyota Tundra’s are the most common victim we see at they have a high Platinum count and are easy to access by laying down underneath and cutting them with a portable Sawzall. Trucks and Vans are easy victims due to access to converters but… thieves are getting creative and stealing them from cars with minimal access as well. The aftermarket Catalytic Converters we install are a good option as they posses enough precious metals to meet E.P.A. requirements but less than factory converters; therefore, we don’t see them getting stolen as they don’t get as much money from Recyclers. Tom ... read more

Thieves Target Catalytic Converters Feb. 6, 2020—Beware. Thieves are after catalytic converters.  The precious metals that are in catalytic converters (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) have made reports of stolen ones rise.  Tommy Ripley, owner of the two-location Ripley’s Total Car Care in Texas, reached out to Ratchet+Wrench after noticing a recent uptick in cases that he’s seen.  Ripley said that in the past month, he’s seen 6 cases of this at his shop, and in the past few months, he’s noticed that it’s happening more. The shop even published a blog on it’s site. He attributes the rise in the price of rhodium, specifically, as the cause for the uptick.  “It’s headed to $10,000 per ounce,” Ripley sa ... read more