Greg York and Charlie Dyjak on Federal Solutions to Converter Theft

Catalytic converter theft continues to disrupt dealerships and burden consumers nationwide, fueling renewed momentum behind the bipartisan federal PART Act. In this special edition of Inside Automotive, Greg York, President and CEO of Vann York Auto Group, and Charlie Dyjak, Legislative Affairs Manager at NADA, break down why the legislation matters and how it could reshape theft prevention and enforcement efforts across the industry.

York shares firsthand insights into how frequently dealerships are impacted, including the added financial and emotional strain when customer and employee vehicles are targeted. The discussion highlights why insurance alone fails to address the broader consequences of theft, from increased premiums to extended repair delays. Dyjak outlines how the PART Act aims to close enforcement gaps through traceability requirements, stronger penalties, and improved scrap metal recordkeeping. Together, they explain why federal standards are seen as essential, how bipartisan support has formed, and why dealer engagement with lawmakers remains critical. As affordability pressures rise and theft persists, the episode explores how coordinated legislative action could create meaningful deterrence while supporting dealers, consumers, and law enforcement alike.

Discussion topics include:

• The real-world impact of catalytic converter theft on dealerships
• Why customer and employee vehicle thefts are especially disruptive
• Limitations of current theft prevention and prosecution efforts
• How the PART Act would improve traceability and enforcement
• Bipartisan support and remaining industry concerns
• Why dealer advocacy plays a key role in advancing legislation

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Transcript

Why Converter Theft Exploded

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:07

Welcome to Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick. Hey everyone, Jim Fitzpatrick. Welcome into another edition of Inside Automotive on right here at cbtnews.com. What I think is actually a special edition. So I want everybody to listen to today's show. It's a very important issue, and many of you have been victimized by this very issue that's out there. And uh so we're gonna be talking about it today. Today we're talking about a growing concern for dealers, consumers, that's the catalytic converter theft. So with the PART Act, that's P A R T Act, uh gaining momentum and support. We'll dive into what it this is, what it what the bill means for dealers, car owners, and the broader automotive community. Joining us now is Greg York, who is the president and CEO of Van York uh Auto Group, and also Charlie Dijak, who is the legislative affairs manager at NADA. We have got the Brain Trust here today. So, gentlemen, thank you so much for joining me on the show today. Great to be here. Yeah, great. Thanks for having us. Yeah. So, Greg, let me uh start with you. How has uh the catalytic converter theft impacted um your dealerships uh in recent years?

SPEAKER_00 1:13

You know, if you're if you're uh Jim, if you're a car dealer in North America, you've I think you've all we've all been affected by the theft of catalytic converters. Um you know I I I had them run numbers just for this past year, and and we're a uh mid-size auto group in a in a town in a town, North Carolina. And we had this year was a low year, but we had 30 instances of of catalytic converters this year. Yeah, 30. And I think that's a low year. So uh and it happens in groups and bunches. And uh but as you pointed out, the the you know, the issue we have insurance, we can cover that if it's in our stock vehicle, we can get those repaired pretty easily. The tough part comes when because about half of those, half of that 30 were customers' cars, they are our employees' cars that can be sitting in our lot. So that gets sticky and gets puts the customer down, costs them money. We all know about insurance rates going up. So it's it's really a cascade uh that happens from this theft.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:07

Yeah, for sure. Let me ask you this. So if it's a customer's car, uh are you looking or who pays for the replacement? Is it your insurance or is it their insurance?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

In most cases, it's the customer's insurance. Okay. You know, we'll we'll do some things like help cover deductibles, make sure the pricing is pretty attractive. But yeah, we are it's like having your car at a shopping center or something, I guess. And then our insurance, yeah. My insurance does expect their insurance to do it, which causes other, you know, causes other sticky situations with your with your relationship with the customer. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, it's it's a tough situation for everybody.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:40

Yep, they're thinking they gave the car to you, you're responsible for it. If it was in my garage, it wouldn't happen. I I could imagine, yeah. No, no question. And then uh as the you know, the notes that I've got here on the bill, uh, other things can happen in it while somebody is trying to you know to steal that catalytic converter to the vehicle, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:58

Yes, I mean it depends on how good the thief is. If it's if it's a if it's a if it's a skilled thief, they just take the catalytic converter. If it's someone who maybe just started, they can tear up the whole emissions manifold, you know, all the emissions um uh mechanism underneath the car, and that cost gets up, can get up to$25,000,$4,000.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:19

Yeah, that that's that's absolutely crazy. And then of course you've got if it's on a used vehicle, maybe it came from the auction or it was a trade-in or what have you. Now you're adding days to that car before it hits the front line. So time is money in the business, as you know, uh, and that's uh that's a whole new set of things.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Well, you're putting the customer down, we're putting them in cars. I mean, it's just a whole lot.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:37

Yeah, even think about that.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Yeah, but I'm sure I almost all I mean, all dealers are going through this, and a lot of consumers are going through it. But the most important part is the cons how it's affecting consumers.

What The PART Act Does

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:46

That's right. That's right. So, Charlie, can you give us a quick overview of the PART Act and uh and what it aims to accomplish?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Sure. So, I mean, obviously the bill aims to uh put an end or at least put uh damper on catalytic converter theft as a whole, right? Uh and there's four main components to the bill. Okay. Uh first and foremost, it would mark uh new vehicles, catalytic converters, with some sort of unique identifier. It doesn't have to be a full VIN, it can be any if they there's already a serial number on that converter, you tie that to the VIN, just as good, right? So that establishes some form of traceability that law enforcement can use so they can actually say, hey, this converter came from this vehicle that was cut down the street. Right now, they can't do that. So that's a huge component that local law enforcement has been advocating for. Uh second, uh it would establish a grant program. So uh car dealers being specifically an entity that's listed, uh, so they could mark vehicles that are currently on the road, right? These will hear that these new vehicles got these markings. Hey, we're gonna stop, we're gonna move to steal on the older vehicles. We want that to permeate into the fleet a little bit, these markings. That way, you know, it's more of a guess and game. They they don't just start moving to stealing older vehicles, right? Um, third, it increases scrap keeping requirements for these scrap facilities. Uh right now that's done on a state-by-state basis. Uh some states have great laws on the books, uh, but if your neighboring state doesn't, then they're just gonna ship them there, right? Right. Uh so I mean it's uh it's a whole national problem, which is why we say there's a federal framework that's needed. Um and then lastly, it just increases uh the penalties associated with theft. Uh so you get up to five years uh Fed federal time uh if you're trafficking the part. Uh again, that's one of those parts where we're just hoping uh it acts as a deterrent, right? You see here, hey, the feds might be getting involved in this, we should probably get out of the game. Yeah. Um those are the four main aspects of the bill. It tries to tackle it at various angles uh to really uh put an end to this.

Jim Fitzpatrick 5:43

Yeah, wow. That that's that's really something. And uh those are all great uh uh things to to uh to include in the bill. Let me ask you, what has been the problem on this? I mean, we've been talking about this for quite some time here at CBT News, Automotive News, everybody in the industry is going, what what is taking so long? The men the things that you just mentioned don't seem to be earth shattering. Is is it does it fall uh uh uh along party lines or what what's the issue here?

Why Passage Has Stalled

SPEAKER_02 6:10

No, no, so the bills are both very bipartisan. Uh we've got uh Democrat and Republican as uh introducing offices uh both in the House uh and in the Senate, uh, which is always great news. Uh just last week, actually, the bill was a part of a hearing uh where it gained uh some traction. Uh three members actually brought it up uh during the hearing supporting it. Um so that was great to see. So there's bipartisan support in Congress. Uh there's just some uh hesitancy from uh some in the industry. Uh certain OEMs have said that the marking component would be a little too onerous. Uh but like I said, when the uh sponsoring offices introduced this, they tried to make it as easy as possible. Uh we're you know sympathetic to these affordability concerns that some OEMs might have. Uh but in studies that we've uh seen back from the 90s, uh referencing park marketing as a whole, yeah, uh it's only about a couple bucks per vehicle. Uh so if that's the case, I think this is something uh most consumers would be able to stomach.

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:09

Right. And this hit an all-time high during COVID, right? I mean that it seems as though the numbers were there. Um uh Greg, talk to me about the challenges dealers face when trying to prevent these thefts.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Well, there's not a lot of choices. Um, you know, we all go with video cameras, yeah, and the result for the video camera is you get a good, a nice film of someone stealing a catalytic converter.

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:31

In a hoodie. In a hoodie.

Prevention Limits And Proof Problems

SPEAKER_00 7:32

Yeah, I mean, there's not that you know, you figure out how to do that. And and and we have a we have a great relationship with our police department here in High Point, North Carolina, and they do a great job and they come to the case, they see the videos, but you know, there's nothing even if they caught them with the Catalytic converters, there's no way to there's no way to prove right now that they took them from us, you know. Uh in North Carolina, there is a law that you have to be in the automotive business to be able to uh even have a catalytic converter on you. So um that's good, but still it's hard to prove it back, it's hard to prove it back to the actual vehicle. This is what this law's about. And I think it's gonna be this law is about deterrence more than anything else.

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:12

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Everybody working together. I I love the idea that they're gonna go after the you know the the the uh companies or I should say the companies, but the you know the people out there that are paying these criminals for this part, right? You go after them and and uh bring down that that market uh for these these parts, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah. I mean, Jim, we even we even have a big fleet order right now for some some vans uh for a good customer, good cuck, good commercial customer, and we're having to bring some man to watch these vans because the vans, the trucks are so much easier to pull this off of when you have a hundred or two other you have a hundred or two hundred vans sitting around for a customer, it's just ideal situation for a uh for a thief. So it just takes extra costs to prevent this.

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:54

That's crazy. And I'm sure once word gets out that you know you your dealership is an easy mark for something like this, they just keep coming back and and hitting you, right? Yes. Yeah, that's unfortunate. Charlie, how is NADA working with dealers and other industry groups to advocate for this legislation?

SPEAKER_02 9:12

So, I mean, we've got a great coalition behind us, Bill. Uh there's uh it an interesting group to say that at least. There's us, there's uh ATA, the Trucking Association, the National Consumer League, a host of law enforcement organizations, the FBI Agents Association, major city chiefs. There's there's tons of uh uh folks pushing this bill. Uh and then of course, just engaging with our members. Uh I I mentioned uh in many calls that I'm on, I can talk to offices until I'm blue in the face, but until they hear from Greg or until they hear from their main street dealer saying, hey, this is affecting us, right? You know, then they'll actually listen. Uh so it's really just engaging with our membership and getting them involved, uh, getting getting those meetings set up.

Jim Fitzpatrick 9:54

Yeah. What um Greg, when you when you talk to your your congressman there and uh and maybe senators, what are uh is it something that you say, hey, you got to help us with this?

Coalition Pressure And Grassroots Push

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, I think everybody's open to listening to it. You know, our our guys are on board. I think I think it's just time to push it over the goal lines. You say, why is this taking so long? Some of them say that, once you make them aware of it, they're like, Well, hadn't this been done before that? And well, hey, will this really help? And I think it's a great solution. And we really the dealers really appreciate this is the kind of issue that NADA can you know gets behind and can really help the consumer and the dealer. And I just really appreciate them NADA getting behind this this legislation.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:32

That's right. And now we've got people like Bernie Moreno, Senator Bernie Moreno, you know, maybe he can uh you know, he he's very close to the president. Maybe he can say, hey, help us out on this deal, right? I mean, we we need all the help we can get for for this type of thing. But I've got a long a long list here uh that was stapled to the to the information that was sent over by you guys. And uh I thought it was interesting. There's all of these associations from NADA, car rental agencies, uh, you know, cities, uh chief of police, consumer leagues, everybody's on here that endorses this. And uh and also right in the middle, Carvana, which I thought was interesting, right?

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Um because they I mean it's really anybody with a vehicle is affected, right? Yeah, so so of course we're you're gonna have a good coalition behind it. Yeah. Um I mean even the heavy-duty vehicles are affected. Right. Uh and luckily the bill covers those as well. Um, so it's it's really it's prevalent for for everybody out there.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:25

Yeah, that that that's right. That's right. And uh and and it's gonna take you know, all of the, I would imagine you want all of your members and the dealers out there to kind of flex their muscle, talk about this in their communities, maybe send an email or a phone call to their to their uh congressmen and and senators, right? To to say, hey, you gotta get you got to help us here.

Broad Support Across The Industry

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Yeah, and we're always happy to to facilitate that that discussion with them as well, get them the right contacts even. Uh, because sometimes it can feel like a uh a lift to get all that. Yeah, and that's why just reach out to us. That's that's what keeps me busy, right? So please utilize NADA. Uh we we can get you connected to the right folks uh so you can ask them, hey, we'd love you to support this bill and uh get it across the finish line.

Jim Fitzpatrick 12:10

Yeah, absolutely. That's great. So uh I would be remiss if I didn't ask you, uh Greg, how is business?

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Well, uh, you know, Jim, it's the fourth quarter for 25 was a little bit more challenged than we've been experiencing the last couple of years. October and November were uh you know had a little bit of a change there and slowed down. But December was very strong for us. That was that made us feel a lot better. A lot people were out buying and moving around and doing stuff now in January. Um our businesses start off uh fairly fairly briskly, briskly, especially on the used car side. So we see used cars. I think the affordability issue is gonna drive the used car market this year.

Market Outlook And Affordability

Jim Fitzpatrick 12:46

Yeah, I would I would I would agree with you. That that's for sure. You know, you get up over fifty thousand dollars for a new car, it gets a little sticky. And uh we got it's something something in the industry has to give here, whether it be from the OEM level or what have you, but uh I think we'll be able to figure it out. You you uh you guys are such great entrepreneurs as dealers, and uh you always work a way around it and find a way to still turn a profit in your organization. So kudos to you for that. So Greg York, president of uh Van York Auto Group, uh, and Charlie Dijak, who is the legislative affairs manager at NADA, thank you both very much for coming in and talking about this very important issue for dealers that are listening. Do what you gotta do, you know, with your with your legislation, uh legislators, I should say, and uh and help NADA. Man, if we if you got 18,000 dealers talking about this thing, it it I I have a feeling it's gonna go away and we're gonna get what we need to get done on this thing. So, gentlemen, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Thanks, Jim. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks for watching Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.