Keep an eye on your Honda...Accord that is.
Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:15 am
Most stolen vehicles in the U.S.
Just because your Honda is a clunker doesn't mean it's safe to leave it unlocked while you make a coffee run.
Approximately 1 million vehicles are stolen nationwide every year, but the 1994 Honda Accord is the most stolen car, according to an Aug. 24 report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Last year, more than 55,000 Accords were stolen in the U.S. Needless to say, the thieves aren't after style, just substance.
Older vehicles like the 15-year-old Accord are pinched so often because their lack of theft-deterrent technology makes them easy to access and their parts--headlights, tires, catalytic converters and anything containing copper--are valuable on the black market. It also comes down to pure numbers, says Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau: "Hondas and Toyotas, they sell millions of these things, so there are more targets, obviously."
Most neighborhood hooligans wouldn't know how to steal a Lamborghini, but when it comes to more mundane rides they are equal-opportunity snatchers, Scafidi says. The vehicles most likely to get nabbed range from the tiny Honda Civic, ranked second on our list, to the fifth-ranked Dodge Ram pickup. Even minivans aren't immune--the 2000 Dodge Caravan is a hot target as well.
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/ar ... mily-autos
Just because your Honda is a clunker doesn't mean it's safe to leave it unlocked while you make a coffee run.
Approximately 1 million vehicles are stolen nationwide every year, but the 1994 Honda Accord is the most stolen car, according to an Aug. 24 report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Last year, more than 55,000 Accords were stolen in the U.S. Needless to say, the thieves aren't after style, just substance.
Older vehicles like the 15-year-old Accord are pinched so often because their lack of theft-deterrent technology makes them easy to access and their parts--headlights, tires, catalytic converters and anything containing copper--are valuable on the black market. It also comes down to pure numbers, says Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau: "Hondas and Toyotas, they sell millions of these things, so there are more targets, obviously."
Most neighborhood hooligans wouldn't know how to steal a Lamborghini, but when it comes to more mundane rides they are equal-opportunity snatchers, Scafidi says. The vehicles most likely to get nabbed range from the tiny Honda Civic, ranked second on our list, to the fifth-ranked Dodge Ram pickup. Even minivans aren't immune--the 2000 Dodge Caravan is a hot target as well.
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/ar ... mily-autos