The converter is the part of a vehicle's exhaust system that reduces engine emissions. Crooks are attracted to the precious metals it contains - platinum, rhodium and palladium.

But auto industry experts say the metals are present in such tiny quantities that the stolen parts are worth relatively little, often $30 or less.

"If you steal the windshield wipers, you're going to make more money," said Larry Gamache, spokesman for CARFAX Inc., a company that prepares reports on used vehicles' histories.

While $100 is the most a used catalytic converter is likely to fetch at a scrap yard, car owners can spend hundreds of dollars on repairs. Most don't realize they've been victimized until they turn the key in the ignition and hear the thunderous roar that results when the part is missing.

"When I got in my car and started it, it was as loud as could be - I couldn't figure out what it was," recalled Adam Borgemenke, 29, of Cincinnati, whose Nissan Maxima was converterless when he returned to his commuter park-and-ride lot this past January.

Borgemenke drove to a mechanic, where he discovered that thieves had used an electric saw to slice off the converter. Although insurance covered part of the replacement cost, he said he still ended up paying nearly $700.

Aubrey Terrell, 61, of St. Louis, had a similar experience last August after parking his Jeep Grand Cherokee at a commuter lot. The theft cost him $500.

In the Livermore, Calif., area near Oakland, there has been a surge in thefts targeting Toyota models that have bolted-in-place converters, said Det. Jason Boberg. The thieves have been avoiding more expensive models with converters that are welded to the vehicle and would require an electric saw to remove.

"It's not so much the brand as the quality of the car," said Boberg, who has contacted recycling yards in an unsuccessful attempt to find thieves. "It's just two bolts off on either side and you're done."

But crooks don't always hit cars. In Penfield, N.Y., near Rochester, thieves cut a chain securing a gate at an auto parts store last year and swiped about 100 used catalytic converters. Monroe County Sheriff's Cpl. John Helfer said the theft remains under investigation.

Maryland Transit Administration police, using a computer program that tracks crime patterns to predict where future thefts might occur, arrested two men at a train station parking lot in Owings Mills, northwest of Baltimore, last month.

The men were carrying a battery-powered saw, and a search of their homes turned up other tools suspected to have been used in nearly two dozen converter thefts in four counties, said agency spokeswoman Cheron Wicker.

This is cache, read story here