It’s not flashy new models that car thieves are after these days. It’s 20-year-old Hondas.
Two Honda models from the late 1990s top the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s latest annual “Hot Wheels” list, which was released this week.
The NICB is a national nonprofit that fights insurance fraud and vehicle theft. Its “Hot Wheels” report includes a list of the 10 vehicles that were stolen in the largest numbers during the prior year, which is based on data that law enforcement agencies submit to a national database.
Last year, roughly 700,000 vehicles were stolen in the U.S. More than 100,000 of them were older model Honda Accords or Honda Civics, which are valued for parts and engines. The most popular model years for thieves were 1996 Accords and 1998 Civics, the NICB says.
NICB attributes this partly to the older models’ lack of anti-theft technology. For example, the nonprofit reports that only 11,807 Accord and Civic models from 2010 through 2015 were stolen in the past six years.
Still, Joe Wehrle, NICB president and CEO, notes:
“While older vehicles still dominate our Hot Wheels most stolen list, the number of late model vehicles with anti-theft protection on the list goes to show that technology isn’t foolproof. Criminals are doing their best to defeat anti-theft technology through hacking and other means while, at the same time, manufacturers and others are working to improve security.”
The top 10 “Hot Wheels” of 2015 were:
- Honda Accord (52,244 total thefts last year)
- Honda Civic (49,430)
- Ford Pickup, full size (29,396)
- Chevrolet Pickup, full size (27,771)
- Toyota Camry (15,466)
- Dodge Pickup, full size (11,212)
- Toyota Corolla (10,547)
- Nissan Altima (10,374)
- Dodge Caravan (9,798)
- Chevrolet Impala (9,225)
To see which models were most stolen in your state last year, check out the NICB’s “Hot Wheels 2015” map.
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