San Carlos & Valley Springs Auto Repair

CarMD.com released its annual study of check engine light-related repairs for 2023. Not surprisingly, catalytic converter replacement and oxygen sensor replacement made the top of the list – high cost of precious metals makes catalytic converter theft a lucrative pastime. Oxygen sensor often gets damaged during the theft, hence it’s 2nd position on the list. Here is the list with additional information about the components on the list: Catalytic converter replacement – with no moving parts, catalytic converters rarely fail. A vast majority of catalytic converter replacements is due to theft. Oxygen sensor replacement – oxygen sensors often are damaged during catalytic converter theft. Replace ignition coil and ... read more

Living in the Bay Area we all have heard about catalytic converter thefts, as the Bay Area favorite, Toyota Prius, is the prime target of the thieves. Now Carfax, a company where repair shops report auto repair data, estimated that in 2022 over 153,000 vehicles were targeted. Insurance companies reported only 52,000 claims for stolen catalytic converters – so why the discrepancy? We thought about it and looking at the data at Toole’s Garage in San Carlos, we come to the conclusion that Carfax is right. We see a lot of vehicles with stolen catalytic converters that are older vehicles, without comprehensive insurance, so the owners pay out-of-pocket for the repairs – hence there is no report to the insurance company, but Carfax gets to count such cars in their statistics. If you take into account that catalytic converters are often on back-order, meaning one has to wait for the manufacturer to deliver new ones, it makes sense that the number of catalytic converter the ... read more