10 Most Wanted in America - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Botnst · #1 07-09-2008, 02:05 PM

Vehicle theft continuing to decline
Wednesday July 9, 10:48 am ET
By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Once again, the 1995 Honda Civic was the most stolen car in America, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, but auto theft appears to have declined dramatically for the fourth year in a row.

In its annual "Hot Wheels" report, the NICB said the '95 Civic was followed by the '91 Honda Accord, the '89 Toyota Camry and the '97 Ford F-150 as the nation's most stolen cars in 2007. The top four on the list are unchanged from 2006. For the fourth year in a row, the '95 Civic has been in the top 10. But overall vehicle theft dropped 8.9% in 2007, according to the FBI's preliminary Uniform Crime Report. Incidences of auto theft have declined nationally every year since 2004.

"The continuing national decrease in vehicle theft is a positive sign that the fight against vehicle theft by law enforcement, the insurance industry and the NICB continues to be effective," said Robert M. Bryant, NICB's chief executive in a statement.

License plate readers, "bait cars," and increased law enforcement funding have helped to dampen auto theft too, but the most effective and simplest way to prevent cars from being stolen is for owners to lock their doors.

"It's amazing to see how many folks get their cars stolen from leaving their keys in them," said NICB spokesman Frank Scafidi. "People should just use some basic common sense."

In addition to using car locks, owners can take a wide array of measures to protect their vehicles, NICB said. The bureau recommends car alarms, "kill switches," and fuel cut-off tools as inexpensive but effective deterrents to theft. More expensive gadgets are available too that will track stolen cars to help police and owners recover them.

"They won't help if someone is determined to steal your car, but most deterrents make potential thieves go to another target," said Scafidi.

Older models are bigger targets

Older model Hondas and Toyotas consistently top the list, because of their popularity and reliability. In other words, there are just a lot of them still on the road, making them a bigger target.

Additionally, many of those old Honda and Toyota models stayed the same for years, making them even more valuable for their parts.

"They were the same for two or three model years," said Scafidi. "They're just like the GM cars in the 1980s where you could take the bumper off a Pontiac and put it on a Buick."

Following in the top ten were the '94 Chevrolet C/K 1500 Pickup, the '94 Acura Integra, the '04 Dodge Ram Pickup, the '94 Nissan Sentra, and the '88 Toyota Pickup at No. 9.

In just its first year on the road, the 2007 Toyota Corolla made its way to No. 10 on the list.

iwrock · #2 07-09-2008, 02:11 PM

Hehehe... No one wants to steal a 20 year old Mercedes, let alone a wagon.

Pete Geither · #3 07-09-2008, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwrock

Hehehe... No one wants to steal a 20 year old Mercedes, let alone a wagon.

Yep,,, you can probably leave it sitting with the engine running, and no one would steal it.

Suits me just fine.

iwrock · #4 07-09-2008, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Geither

Yep,,, you can probably leave it sitting with the engine running, and no one would steal it.

Suits me just fine.

Heck yeah...

I leave it unlocked at night, and nothing has ever been stolen out of it....

Pete, is your wagon your daily driver?

catmandoo62 · #5 07-09-2008, 07:20 PM

i leave my doors unlocked.at least if they want in it they won't have to break a window.and if they want the thing that bad they can have it.and if it does get stolen and recovered,i sure wouldn't want it back.you never know how hard they thrashed it.

Hatterasguy · #6 07-09-2008, 07:29 PM

MB's are hard to steal, you need a flatbed for the new ones and you better cover that GPS antenna!

LUVMBDiesels · #7 07-10-2008, 09:27 AM

When was the last time you SAW a 1989 Camry on the road? Were they ALL stolen?

On my gas cars I install a simple ignition cut out that shorts out the coil You can crank and crank but never get a spark. The ignigiton key switch from a snapper or other ridinng mower works great for a hidden lockable cut out

I never bothered with the diesels, but I guess a wire holdig the 'stop' lever down would foil most car thieves...

Kuan · #8 07-10-2008, 09:37 AM

Heh, I remember when we happened to find ourself in, say, Pacoima in the SFV, we used to have to remove the distributor cap. I don't know why we were in such bad parts of town.

catmandoo62 · #9 07-10-2008, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

When was the last time you SAW a 1989 Camry on the road? Were they ALL stolen?

On my gas cars I install a simple ignition cut out that shorts out the coil You can crank and crank but never get a spark. The ignigiton key switch from a snapper or other ridinng mower works great for a hidden lockable cut out

I never bothered with the diesels, but I guess a wire holdig the 'stop' lever down would foil most car thieves...

i saw 2 of that vintage just yesterday,one was a wagon.i guess the reason they are stolen so often is you can start em with a screwdriver.

Lexxani · #10 07-10-2008, 10:51 AM

There are some really sorry cars on that list '88 Nissan pickup, '89 camry, who in their right mind would want thoes cars (its evident someone does). .I can see the honda and acuras, the latino kids here love them. .

When I mention my benz I occasionally get comments of "arent you afraid of it getting stolen?" I just reply, the car theives dont like old mercedes, its like having a built in theft deterrent system.