STOP CAR THEFT!

There are some cars which are a more popular target for theft than others. This depends largely on the type of theft – if your car is stolen by a joyrider, they will usually target cars that are easier to break into, which are generally older cars with less protection fitted as standard by the manufacturer. The joyriders main concern is to get into the car quickly so the make and model matters less than ease of access, and if certain older cars are well known for being easy to break into then they will be targeted.

 

High performance cars or sports cars do have a slightly higher chance of being targeted for joyrides, but not as much as popularly believed - a poorly secured older standard family car will take preference over a well secured sports car any day. In fact if you examine the reports linked to below, you will see that luxury, exotic and sports cars are generally a very small percentage of the overall car thefts,  All you Bentley, Ferrari 141/612/430, Lamborghini, Spyker, Jaguar XJ8/L/R, Aston Martin DB9, Maserati, Volvo V70, and SAAB 9-5 owners will be pleased to know that your cars were either so undesirable or too difficult  to steal that these vehicle’s theft rates were 0.00 in the 2007 US figures.

 

Opportunist thieves will jump on any chance to steal a car, so the model is almost irrelevant, it is usually a lapse in concentration by the owner such a leaving the car open, leaving desirable contents on display in the car, or leaving the car unattended with the keys in the ignition or the engine running.

 

Finally professional thieves steal cars to order, usually by taking possession of the keys by either carjacking or burglary, with the cars then either stripped for their parts or having their identities registration numbers and VIN plates removed and sold on as a different car to an unsuspecting owner, taken to another part of the country or exported altogether. It is said in the UK that 40% of all high value cars stolen are taken out of the country within 48 hours, usually stored in cargo containers on ships. 

 

Several institutions in the US and the UK compile information on the most popular targets for car thieves, and we have links to down load these below. It is worth remembering that where you live and how well you secure the car can have as much impact on the car being stolen as the model itself, but age is the single most important factor.

 

US

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)  publishes figures from the National Crime Investigation Centre of the FBI  (NCIC) yearly on the rate of vehicles stolen per 1000 sold in the US, that latest figures to be released are from 2007 and you can download them here:  2007 US NHTSA Car Theft Figures

 

UK

The UK Government Home Office compiles a “Car Theft Index” every year, with the latest published document on general release being the 2006 figures. you can download a PDF here: 2006 UK Car Theft Index.

 

 

Finally, many thanks go to Orangewheels.co.uk who supply Vauxhall Cars in the UK for their free help in compiling this website.