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Vehicle theft is, unfortunately, all too common and like it or not, thieves like some vehicles more than others. Not sure which vehicle you should park in the garage and which you can leave on the street? Check out the statistics from this report.
Courtesy of the Highway Loss Data Institute, the information aggregation wing of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is the latest vehicle theft data for 2007 to 2009 vehicles. To determine the rankings, HLDI compares the number of theft claims filed with insurers to the total number of vehicles of that model insured, as well as the average dollar amount paid out for a stolen vehicle of that model and the average dollar amount paid out per year for stolen copies of that model.
In addition to telling you the 10 new vehicles most likely and least likely to be stolen based on insurance claims, we can also infer a few trends. The first and foremost is that large trucks and SUVs are a hot commodity. Trucks and SUVs take seven of the top 10 slots for the most-stolen vehicles, with the Cadillac Escalade taking the number one spot for the sixth time in the past seven HLDI reports.
While the Escalade may get stolen far more often, they payout is quite a bit smaller. Average insurance compensation for a stolen Escalade is just $11,934, which is still nearly double the industry average. While it gets stolen far less often than any other vehicle in the top 10, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 is the payout king bringing home an average of $41,229, nearly six times the industry average.
“In many cases it’s tough to pinpoint exactly why a vehicle becomes a theft target,” said HLDI Senior Vice President Kim Hazelbaker. “Investigators tell us big work trucks like the Ford F-250/350, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and Dodge Ram 2500 are attractive not only because of the vehicles themselves but also because of the tools and cargo they carry.”
On the other end of the spectrum are the vehicles that car thieves apparently aren’t interested in. Topping that list is the Volvo S80, which is not only stolen very infrequently but also brings home the smallest payout of just $619 on average. The auto insurance industry, in relation to the number of S80s insured today, spends only $1 a year paying for stolen S80s compared to $128 per year for stolen Escalades. Also unattractive to thieves: The Toyota Prius, the Subaru Impreza Wagon, the Toyota Sienna minivan and the Mini Cooper.
“Sedate family cars and fuel sippers aren’t on the hot list,” Hazelbaker said. “Thieves are after chrome, horsepower, and HEMIs.”
Check out the complete top ten chart in the image gallery courtesy of the HLDI and tell us what you think about these statistics. Will they affect your car buying plans at all?
This certainly won’t affect my car buying plans, but I’m rather surprised at the results. For years it used to be cars that could be parted easily that took the top spots rather than cars that would fetch a pretty penny as a whole. Seems to me like there’s a larger market for whole stolen vehicle turnaround now rather than simply parts.