Honda Accord, Civic are America's most stolen cars

Tue, 20 Aug 2013

The National Insurance Crime Bureau has released its latest Hot Wheels study on the most popular stolen cars and trucks for 2012. The study has changed a bit from past years, with the new findings listing only the make and model of each vehicle, while taking into account all model years in its totals. Previous iterations only focused on the most stolen vehicles of a particular model year, with that make and model not appearing anywhere else on the list so as not to appear to call out a particular car. Confusing, eh? Said another way, in previous studies, if the three most stolen vehicles were the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Belchfire Turbo from Fictitious Motors, only the model year with the highest number of thefts would make the list.

The new study takes all model years into consideration while breaking down the number of vehicles stolen per model year in a full, in-depth report. Separately, the NICB is also listing the top 25 new vehicles stolen in 2012. That list is limited exclusively to model year 2012 entries.

Honda took the top two spots in the most stolen vehicles list, with 58,596 Accord models stolen and 47,037 Civic models stolen. The study is interesting, though, in that the most recent model year for the Accord is 1997, while the most recent the Civic is 2000. In fact, Hondas from 1990 to 2000 make up 16 of the top 20 cars stolen in 2012, according to the NICB. Compare that with the MY2012 list, where Honda's vehicles are eleventh and fifteenth, and it looks like the Japanese brand has been beefing up its theft control.

The two lists do have a few common denominators – the Ford F-Series is third on the most stolen list and sixth on the MY2012 list, while the Toyota Camry sits fourth and fifth, respectively. The Nissan Altima, which ranks first in MY2012 thefts is ninth on the most stolen list.

We've posted the press release from the NICB with the top ten vehicles stolen in 2012 and the top ten most stolen MY2012 vehicles in the press release below. The complete lists can be downloaded, free of charge, from the National Insurance Crime Bureau's website.

NICB's Hot Wheels: Popular 10 Most Stolen Vehicles List Gets a Makeover

More Detailed Data and a New List of 2012's Most Stolen 2012 Models

DES PLAINES, Ill., Aug. 20, 2013 - The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) today released an expanded, data-rich version of its popular Hot Wheels report-its list of the 10 most stolen vehicles in the United States. The report examines vehicle theft data submitted by law enforcement to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) and determines the vehicle make, model and model year most reported stolen in 2012.

A first-edition feature is also contained in today's report: a look at the top 25 2012 vehicle makes and models that were reported stolen in calendar year 2012.

In previous Hot Wheels reports, rankings were determined based on the most stolen model year vehicle within each vehicle make and model. Only one make/model/year would appear on the top 10 list, even though other model years of the same vehicle would have earned a position on the list. This was done to offer a more varied list with significant theft numbers than to focus on just one or two makes year after year.

Beginning with today's report, the top 10 most stolen will appear by make and model only with its corresponding theft total. Beneath the make and model will appear its various model years with their corresponding theft totals for 2012. This is more easily understood by viewing the accompanying spreadsheet or PDF. See the full report at www.nicb.org.

For 2012, the most stolen vehicles* in the nation were:

1. Honda Accord 58,596
2. Honda Civic 47,037
3. Ford Pickup (Full Size) 26,770
4. Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size) 23,745
5. Toyota Camry 16,251
6. Dodge Caravan 11,799
7. Dodge Pickup (Full Size) 11,755
8. Acura Integra 9,555
9. Nissan Altima 9,169
10. Nissan Maxima 6,947

Older Honda Accords and Civics were by far the most stolen models in 2012. The 1996 Accord led the list with 8,637 thefts. In fact, Accords and Civics account for the first 16 spots on the most stolen list and all are 1990–2000 models. By comparison, newer Hondas are rarely stolen, thanks to improved anti-theft technology. For a report, watch this video.

The new feature in Hot Wheels this year is the addition of a list of the top 25 model year 2012 vehicles that were most stolen in calendar year 2012. The top 10 on this list are:

1. Nissan Altima 921
2. Chevrolet Impala 778
3. Chevrolet Malibu 727
4. Toyota Camry 665
5. Ford Fusion 655
6. Ford Pickup (Full Size) 595
7. Ford Focus 523
8. Chrysler 200 449
9. Dodge Charger 416
10. Dodge Avenger 412

Download 2012's complete top 25 most stolen list in this spreadsheet or PDF.

Each year, NICB reviews all NCIC vehicle theft records to produce its national and state lists of the 10 most stolen vehicles. Hot Wheels is the only report that examines all theft data without regard to a vehicle's insured status-if a vehicle was reported stolen to law enforcement, it is captured in this report.

A recent insurance theft claims report from our friends at the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) was widely misreported as a vehicle theft analysis. The HLDI report examined data on vehicles associated with a theft claim, not thefts of entire vehicles-semantically similar, but empirically opposite.

Although the FBI is predicting a 1.3 percent increase in 2012 vehicle thefts over 2011's number-reversing an eight-year trend-the overall vehicle theft picture is still positive. The peak year for vehicle thefts was 1991 with 1,661,738. If the FBI's preliminary 2012 vehicle theft estimate holds, there will have been roughly 724,672 thefts. That's a national decrease of over 50 percent since 1991 with many states seeing even better numbers.

NICB's four layers of protection are:

Common Sense: Lock your car and take your keys. It's simple enough, but many thefts occur because owners make it easy for thieves to steal their cars.

Warning Device: Having and using a visible or audible warning device is another item that can ensure that your car remains where you left it.

Immobilizing Device: Generally speaking, if your vehicle can't be started, it can't be stolen. "Kill" switches, fuel cut-offs and smart keys are among the devices that are extremely effective.

Tracking Device: A tracking device emits a signal to the police or to a monitoring station when the vehicle is stolen. Tracking devices are very effective in helping authorities recover stolen vehicles. Some systems employ "telematics," which combine GPS and wireless technologies to allow remote monitoring of a vehicle. If the vehicle is moved, the system will alert the owner and the vehicle can be tracked via computer.

Considering a used vehicle purchase? Check out VINCheckSM, a free vehicle history service for consumers. Since 2005, NICB has offered this limited service made possible by its participating member companies. Check it out at www.nicb.org/vincheck.

Anyone with information concerning insurance fraud or vehicle theft can report it anonymously by calling toll-free 800-TEL-NICB (800-835-6422), texting keyword "fraud" to TIP411 (847411) or submitting a form on our website. Or, download the NICB Fraud Tips app on your iPhone or Android device.

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: headquartered in Des Plaines, Ill., the NICB is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to preventing, detecting and defeating insurance fraud and vehicle theft through data analytics, investigations, training, legislative advocacy and public awareness. The NICB is supported by more than 1,100 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. NICB member companies wrote $350 billion in insurance premiums in 2012, or more than 78 percent of the nation's property/casualty insurance. That includes more than 93 percent ($160 billion) of the nation's personal auto insurance. To learn more visit www.nicb.org.

* This report reflects stolen vehicle data reported to NCIC in 2012. Full size pickups include half ton and larger capacity models for all makes.

By Brandon Turkus