Top 10 Most Frequently Stolen Vehicles

Fox News ^ | December 10, 2008

[Stoat]

(edit)

The Highway Data Loss Institute of the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety has released its report on the most frequently stolen vehicles in the United States from the 2005-2007 model years, based on the number of claims per thousand vehicles insured.

Unlike a list of the overall number of vehicles stolen, the HDLI tells you the odds that your car will be snatched based on how many others are on the road. It’s like a bad lottery.

Car thieves must also steal their gasoline, because 9 of the top 10 vehicles are some of the largest cars and trucks on the market, including #1, the big daddy Cadillac Escalade ESV.

Except for the one, they’re all American, too. Go, USA!

(edit)

Rounding out the top five are the Ford F-250 pickup, standard Cadillac Escalade, Dodge Charger and the Ford F-350.

Least stolen? It’s a three-way tie between the Mercedes-Benz E Class 4WD, Buick Ranier, and Subaru Forester. Only .6 of each were stolen per 1,000 insured.

(edit)

[Stoat]

• 

 

#10 (tie) 2005-2007 Honda S2000. 8.1 stolen per 1,000. Average claim: $13,624

 

• 

 

#10 (tie) 2005-2007 Dodge Durango. 8.1 stolen per 1,000. Average Claim: $9,682

 

• 

 

• #8 2005-2007 Hummer H2. 8.7 stolen per 1,000. Average claim: $18,791.

 

• 

• #7 2005-2007 Dodge Magnum. 9.9 stolen per 1,000. Average claim: $8,926.

 

• 

• #6 2005-2007 Hummer H2 SUT. 10 stolen per 1,000. Average claim: $23,771.

 

• 

• #5 2005-2007 Ford F-350 Supercrew. 10.7 stolen per 1,000. Average Claim: $20,138.

 

• 

• #4 2006-2007 Dodge Charger. 11 stolen per 1,000. Average Claim: $7.047.

 

• 

• #3 2007 Cadillac Escalade. 11.3 stolen per 1,000. Average claim: $14,657.
• .

 

• 

• #2 2005-2007 Ford F-250 Supercrew. 13.1 stolen per 1,000. Average Claim: $19,250.

 

 

• 

#1 2007 Cadillac Escalade ESV. 15 stolen per 1,000. Average Claim: $13,060

[ZirconEncrustedTweezers]

The only car on that list I’d actually want to steal would be the S2K. I drove one that belonged to a friend of mine; that thing was a BLAST!!!

[madison10]

Who said General Motors vehicles weren’t popular?

[SweetCaroline]

Whew!

Glad my Ford 150 Lighting is safe!

[Dawn531]

Could one surmise, since they’re almost all American models, that their entry and security systems are substandard in some way to the foreign cars, and therefore make them easier to steal?

[AnAmericanMother]

A more likely explanation is that the parts are easier to sell, since foreign cars are much rarer.

Almost all stolen cars are parted out, harder to trace that way.

[AnAmericanMother]

A more likely explanation is that the parts are easier to sell, since foreign cars are much rarer.

Almost all stolen cars are parted out, harder to trace that way.

[uncle fenders]

I doubt they even want the cars, they are probably stealing cheap parts to sell to mechanics, and autobody shops...Some could be shipped out of USA I suppose...

[Travis T. OJustice]

The work trucks on the list surprise me.

[wolfcreek]

Anyone notice all of these vehicles would hold a lot of illegals....I mean people.

[Stoat]

Could one surmise, since they’re almost all American models, that their entry and security systems are substandard in some way to the foreign cars, and therefore make them easier to steal?

As is to be expected with 'end of year list' articles like this, they leave out answers to essential questions such as what you pose, which makes the articles far less than fulfilling because they tend to create more questions than they answer.

Other factors involving frequency of theft could be related to demand for complete vehicles and parts domestically and overseas, considering that many stolen cars go to chop shops.

In past years I recall that certain car models were popular among thieves because things such as their seats were incredibly expensive to buy, and oftentimes the parts ultimately went back to other theft victims who bought replacement parts.

There's quite a lot to the dynamics of the stolen car markets and it's a shame that Fox didn't provide any context for this list.

[In veno, veritas]

Hypothesis: they are gas guzzlers and people might have left the doors unlocked and keys in the ignition in order to collect the insurance and buy a better mpg vehicle.

[AnAmericanMother]

Friend of mine had LoJack on his car, by the time they found it it was already on the dock being loaded onto a freighter. Forget the destination, but somewhere in the Caribbean.

[AnAmericanMother]

Somebody stole the running board off my son's Explorer IN OUR DRIVEWAY in the middle of the night. Left the nuts sitting in a neat little pile.

Can only buy a pair to replace it, for $500. No WONDER they stole it.

[B-Chan]

Car thieves don’t usually steal cars for resale or to drive. Cars are stolen so that they can be sent to chop shops and cut up for parts and scrap.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

Maybe the thieves are just restealing the cars they have already stolen...doing so would cut down on overhead...

[SIDENET]

The work trucks on the list surprise me.

They're worth big money in Mexico.

[wordsofearnest]

My dad has had 2 driveshafts stolen from his chevy p/u. Try explaining that to your insurance company.

[Sudetenland]

That doesn’t really seem to jive with the numbers...Caddillac Escallade -claim $13K-it’s a $60K vehicle. Doesn’t sound like parting out but joy riding.

[Stoat]

Whew!

Glad my Ford 150 Lighting is safe!
 

Well, you can go to this page and plug in your vehicle model year, and you may be able to gauge more accurately 'how' safe, statistically speaking, your vehicle may be from theft

HLDI Insurance losses by make and model

We all need to remind ourselves that the vehicles featured in this minimal and rather uninformative Fox News article are only the top ten....a whole lot of other vehicles are also stolen every year.

Whew!

Glad my Ford 150 Lighting is safe!
 

Well, you can go to this page and plug in your vehicle model year, and you may be able to gauge more accurately 'how' safe, statistically speaking, your vehicle may be from theft

HLDI Insurance losses by make and model