Top 10 Most Stolen Vehicles in 2009 Announced

Are you driving one of the top 10 most stolen cars? The National Insurance Crime Bureau just published its annual Hot Wheels vehicle theft report. The report includes a very through look about which cars are stolen and how often.

Without further ado, here is the top 10 list of most stolen vehicles:

1. 1994 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1991 Toyota Camry
4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup
5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
6. 2000 Dodge Caravan
7. 1994 Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size)
8. 1994 Acura Integra
9. 2002 Ford Explorer
10. 2009 Toyota Corolla

The Highway Loss Data Institute, which uses different data to calculate its format, came up with a different list of cars for their top five. HLDI is part of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Top five:

1. Cadillac Escalade
2. Ford F-250
3. Infiniti G37
4. Dodge Charger
5. Chevrolet Corvette Z06

The good news is that both groups agree that the rate of vehicle theft had fallen yet again. This continues a six year streak of a falling vehicle theft. According to the Hot Wheels report, in 2008, 956,846 vehicles were reported stolen, which was the lowest annual total in over 20 years. For 2009 the number is even lower at 794,616.

According to the report many of the stolen vehicles that are stolen are chopped up and sold for parts. An interesting fact cited by Joe Wehrle: of the 97,655 vehicles stolen and not recovered, only 38 percent had insurance coverage. In those cases the owners were left out completely in the cold.

The report also provides information on four tied layers of protection:

• First layer: lock your car
• Second layer: audible alarm system
• Third layer: devices that prevent starting, such as kill switches, fuel cut-offs and smart keys
• Fourth layer: tracking device, which sends a signal to the police or to monitoring station. Such devices often use GPS technology to allow remote monitoring of the vehicle which can be tracked by computer.

Related Resources:

• Alleged Car Thief Caught Playing Grand Theft Auto Video Game (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• Theft/Larceny (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• Is your Car "Cloned"? How to Protect Yourself from the Scam (FindLaw's Common Law)