When Etobicoke resident Jennifer Servos Jones and her family traveled to Grenada to visit relatives for a month, they decided their SUV might be safer parked in a gated Park N’ Fly lot near the airport.
But when they got home and picked up their vehicle, they were shocked at how powerful their Mitsubishi SUV was when it started.
Jennifer Servos Jones with her family. “When I started it, it sounded more like a motorcycle than a family car. It was extremely powerful,” Serbos Jones told CTV News Toronto on Thursday. The catalytic converter of the 2020 Mitsubishi SUV was stolen. Thieves are stealing catalytic converters from vehicles parked on driveways, dealerships, and now appear to be stealing them from parking lots near airports. Criminals cut into converters designed to help reduce pollution from vehicle exhaust systems because they contain precious metals such as platinum, rhodium and palladium that are sold on the black market. Upon learning of the incident, Park’n Fly told Servos Jones they would pay for the month of parking and agreed to pay her insurance deductible. Frank DeCesare, VP of Marketing & Sales with Park’N Fly told CTV News in a statement: “We take the safety of our customers’ vehicles seriously. Our car parks are gated areas which can only be accessed via a gated entrance. All lots are patrolled and accessed by our staff on a 24/7 basis to move vehicles between our safe and secure lots.” “Park’N Fly transported Jennifer and her family safely home and at no time would Jennifer be out of pocket for any incidents related to the incident,” they said. Servos Jones said the cost to replace the catalytic converter for her vehicle was going to be $8,000 and there was a three-month delay in receiving the parts. When Servos Jones contacted CTV News Toronto, she was concerned when her rental coverage expired that she would be responsible for the cost of a rental since her coverage only allowed for one rental for about two weeks, but her SUV might not be ready for three months. “I’m on a rental but my coverage for it runs out in a couple of weeks and after that I’m on the hook until I get my car back,” she said. Kelsey Hawke, an insurance expert at RatesDotCa, an insurance comparison website, said the backlog of parts and the lack of rental cars means other drivers are in the same situation. “These are the longest backlogs of claims we’ve seen in the industry, so this happens quite regularly when people find they didn’t have adequate rental cover,” Hawke said. CTV News Toronto contacted Mitsubishi Motors Canada on behalf of Servos Jones, and Michelle Lee-Gracey, Senior Manager, Communications Strategy at Mitsubishi, said they were able to source a catalyst from a recent canceled job. “We have informed the customer that they should receive the part tomorrow. It is unfortunate that we are facing this problem across the industry. We will continue to work with any affected customers to get parts as soon as possible and reach satisfactory solutions,” they said. Serbos Jones was relieved to know she’ll get her SUV back tomorrow and won’t have to worry about being out of pocket for a rental car. “I’m so pleased they were able to fast track the parts. It will be a relief to get our vehicle back,” he said.
