Top 10 Most Stolen Vehicles in 2008
by Frank Filipponio on Dec 8th 2008 at 7:58PM 
Drumroll please! The 2008 Top 10 most popular cars among car thieves are... The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute recently released their list of the top 10 most stolen vehicles for 2008, and trucks and SUVs are the biggest target. We wonder if this might reflect some people finding a nefarious way to dispose of their gas-guzzler and collect the insurance money. Hopefully that's not the case, but seriously, if you were a car thief, would you want a land yacht instead of a canyon carver?
For whatever reasons, the most targeted vehicles aren't necessarily the most drool-worthy ones on the road. Thieves tend to go after vehicles that easily blend in with traffic, can be sold for parts or are popular in foreign markets where they can be dumped quickly. Big vehicles also tend to spend more time parked in driveways or on the street rather than in garages, so they're more easily accessible by naydoers. The IIHS looks at insurance-claim reports to determine theft-frequency rates and compile the Most Stolen Vehicle list. The figures are reported in number of claims filed for every 1,000 vehicles insured each year, and this most recent report covers vehicles made and sold between 2005 and 2007.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
kdfwagen 8:02PM (12/08/2008)
you guys should have called this post "Top 10 Most EASILY Stolen Vehicles in 2008"
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Domestic 6.0 9:30PM (12/08/2008)
Ive drove most of those autos and they are very solid and reliable cars
Allison 10:51AM (12/09/2008)
Did any of them have OnStar???
OnStar automatically slows stolen vehicles
http://www.curiousread.com/2007/10/onstar-to-automatically-slow-stolen.html
gt_nfr 8:06PM (12/08/2008)
Claims regarding the s2000 generally involve having the top slashed and the seats stolen.
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Conundrum 9:02PM (12/08/2008)
Care to back that up with some facts? The information under the S-2000 picture states that there are 8.1 claims per 1000 cars insured. Average payout for the claims... $13,624... Those are some pretty pricey seats don't ya think?
Take out the reduced payouts for cars that are recovered with a few grand in "joyride wear and tear" you are left with the value used S-2000's... not just tops and seats.
chilicoke 9:39PM (12/08/2008)
As a S2000 owner who is fairly active on forums, I can back up gt_nfr's claim. Believe it or not, the S2000's OEM seats do not come in whole replacements, individual parts need to be ordered and assembled by the dealer. Total you are looking at around ~5-6000 for brand new replacements.
Conundrum 10:27PM (12/08/2008)
@ chilicoke...
It looks like one of two things to me...
1. Honda rips off Honda owners by charging INSANE ammounts of money for parts. Making the company look VERY unethical to someone who is not mezmerized by the whole Honda resale value thing. Only a fool would think it OK for two seats and a top to average $13,624 replacement cost on a car worth $15 to $20k according to KBB.
2. Maybe the car is stolen at a very high rate. Some are returned and some have seats stolen, thus the average of $13,624. I still have not seen anything saying that claims with the S2000 "generally" involve seats and not actual theft. What percent does "generally" refer to?
Import cars are not immune to thieves. The number one stolen car in the USA is a Civic by total number (this list is by percent registered just so you know). Number two on the list? Accord
Dave 11:05PM (12/08/2008)
"Believe it or not, the S2000's OEM seats do not come in whole replacements, individual parts need to be ordered and assembled by the dealer. "
Apparently, GM does the same thing. I tried to get new seats for my mom's saturn and got the same story.
Fortunately, Saturn seats are readily available in scrapyards.
2004m3driver 2:31AM (12/09/2008)
@conundrum
No one is talking about whether its easier to steal Japanese cars or not. Your argument about the civics and accords is a moot point because they so happen to be 2 of the highest volume cars on the road.
But yeah my cousin has an S2000 and he recently had to replace it with an aftermarket hardtop.
Kumail 8:08PM (12/08/2008)
has nobody heard of lojack?
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Jj 8:09PM (12/08/2008)
I'm surprised to see that the list is made up entirely of newer models.
During the 90's most of the vehicles on this list were 80's GM's because they were easy to steal (still are of course, there are just fewer left on the road). So it would stand to reason that 90's cars would be most at risk now as they are still quite easy to find and the weakness' of individual models would be well known in the criminal world.
It also makes you question the effectiveness of modern immobilizer keys and other anti-theft measures if thieves are not being deterred to older models.
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Jj 8:12PM (12/08/2008)
okay so I guess that they were only looking at cars made between 2005-2007.
So basically forget everything I said after "hello"
darn short attention span.
C.W. 8:09PM (12/08/2008)
I have a feeling your remark may have some merit (the one about people dumping vehicles to get out of debt). I read a story, maybe even on here, about people dumping and torching their vehicles. In particular, a guy torching his GMC Yukon (and getting caught).
Some industries must just do better in a recession though. I have 4 friends who recently bought brand new Escalades or ESV's. All of which moved up from a vehicle that was around 10 years old. Guess they shouldn't park them on the streets.
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MoeJoe 8:10PM (12/08/2008)
Well, if most Americians are not buying domestic, at least they are will to steal domestic.
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dc11 8:12PM (12/08/2008)
i wonder if these cars gets stolen before or after the trial subscription to on-star....
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happy_penguin 8:14PM (12/08/2008)
Cars nobody wants but everybody wants to steal.
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KLR 8:15PM (12/08/2008)
With regard to Lojack, immobilizers keys, and other theft deterrents - one problem some areas suffer are rogue tow truck drivers. We had a couple of major theft rings broken up were the m.o. was to just put the vehicles on hooks or flatbeds and take off. It's far less obvious that the removal is a theft when a tow truck takes it than seeing someone breaking in and driving off.
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aii 8:17PM (12/08/2008)
I am wondering what the details of the criteria are - the S2000 is not a frequently stolen car, from what I know if it, but the seats are probably the most stolen seats in the history of all cars (nice seats, bolt-in to Civic, and just a knife-and-wrench away). The demand is high and the work is low. So, if they are just going by all theft-related claims, that probably bumps the S2000 by an order of magnitude.
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Torrent 8:19PM (12/08/2008)
All these cars make a statement when they are rolling. If you want to keep a low profile when you're stealing a car, don't get an S2000 or H2. Get something invisible to the naked eye. Like a Sable.
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iQuack 8:21PM (12/08/2008)
Except for the Honda S2000, they're all huge SUVs or trucks that are better to drive if you steal them rather than own them.
My guess is that they're abandoned as soon as their gas tanks are empty.
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