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Car thieves still love Honda according to LoJack annual report

Filed under: Etc., Safety, Technology

Honda Accord top stolen car of 2010

LoJack says the Honda Accord was the most stolen vehicle of 2010 – Click above for high-res image gallery

lojack logo Theft prevention and recovery company LoJack knows a lot about stolen vehicles. It also knows a lot about getting those vehicles back. In 2010, the company says that fully 90 percent of vehicles equipped with its car tracking hardware was recovered.

LoJack has been at this game for a while, and last year, it started to release its own Vehicle Theft Recovery Report. The second annual report is hot off the LoJack presses and the data is … not surprising, if you own a Honda.

In 2010, the most stolen and recovered vehicles were: (last years rank in parenthesis)

10. Chevrolet Tahoe (7)
9. Nissan Maxima (New)
8. Nissan Altima (8)
7. Dodge Ram (New)
6. Toyota Corolla (6)
5. Cadillac Escalade (5)
4. Acura Integra (4)
3. Toyota Camry (3)
2. Honda Civic (1)
1. Honda Accord (2)

LoJack also breaks down its stolen and recovered information by year, make and model. Honda claims all five top positions for 2010. There’s more interesting data in LoJack’s 2nd Annual Vehicle Theft Recovery Report. You can read all about it by hot-wiring your mouse and clicking past the jump.

Gallery: Lojack’s Top Ten Most Stolen Vehicles of 2010

Honda Accord Honda Civic Toyota Camry Acura Integra Cadillac Escalade Platinum

[Source: LoJack]

Continue reading Car thieves still love Honda according to LoJack annual report

Car thieves still love Honda according to LoJack annual report originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Thieves swipe $140K BMW 7 Series in Detroit during auto show

2010 BMW 760Li – Click above for high-res image gallery

The 2011 Detroit Auto Show is proving to be more eventful for BMW than the automaker had originally intended. As workers were preparing to load a BMW 7 Series onto a transport truck near Detroit’s Westin Book Cadillac hotel, a pair of thieves jumped in and drove off with the German luxury sedan. The car is said to be worth $140,000, and as of this writing, local police have had no luck tracking down the stolen vehicle. Thankfully, this 7 Series is equipped with BMW Assist, which locates a vehicle if it’s stolen, so it’s only a matter of time before cops close in on the BMW bandits.

If some brand new 7 Series parts wind up on Craigslist’s Detroit-area ‘for sale’ section, we’re willing to bet the sale price is too-good-to-be-true for a reason.

Gallery: 2010 BMW 760Li: Quick Spin

2010 BMW 760Li

Photos copyright (C)2011 Steven J. Ewing / AOL

[Source: The Detroit Free Press]

Report: Thieves swipe $140K BMW 7 Series in Detroit during auto show originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Why the Cadillac Escalade is a particularly easy target for thieves

Filed under: SUV, Etc., Safety, Videos, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM, GMC, Luxury

stolen Cadillac Escalade

Stolen Cadillac Escalade – Click above to watch the video after the break

Sadly, it’s simply not possible to build an automobile that’s impossible to steal. But what we all hope for is that an automaker does all it can to make the unscrupulous thief’s job as difficult as possible. According to a report from WXYZ Action News in Detroit, General Motors full-size SUVs aren’t particularly hard to grab. In fact, the Cadillac Escalade is the insurance industry’s most hated vehicle with $146 in theft loss payments per insured vehicle, per year. On average, insurance companies pay out around $11,934 per theft claim when it comes to the Escalade with 10.8 of the SUVs stolen per 1,000 vehicles.

Gone in 60 14 seconds, says the news station, citing a security flaw in the design of the vehicles’ steering column (sounds familiar, no?). Specifically, it seems that the little locking metal pin that is supposed to keep the aforementioned Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon locked firmly in ‘park’ (which is supposed to be a safety feature, not necessarily a theft deterrent) is rather easy to defeat by giving the column-mounted shift stalk a hard yank down.

Also cited as a contributing factor is the lack of a steering wheel lock that inhibits directional movement of the vehicle when not running. It seems that GM decided to leave off this well-known feature for a period after the introduction of ignition keys with computer chips that make it difficult to start the machines without the properly coded chip.

Combine these flaws and you end up with a vehicle that isn’t all that difficult to steal. Here’s the process outlined in the video after the break: Smash the driver-side window (which apparently doesn’t set off an alarm) and force the column-mounted shift lever into ‘neutral.’ Step two requires some help: Have a buddy with a mutually lax sense of right and wrong push you and your confiscated SUV to a deserted area and strip it of all its pricey bits and pieces. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy, assuming you don’t have a bothersome conscience.

According to a spokesperson for Cadillac, The General is aware of these issues and has introduced laminated glass for the side windows along with a beefed-up locking pin for the shift lever. Also, these full-size SUVs were re-equipped with locking steering wheels to make them more difficult to push without the proper ignition key. In any case, we’d suggest you keep a close eye on your blinged-out sport ‘ute… and get used to paying higher-than-average insurance premiums.

Click past the break to watch a video of the full report.

[Source: WXYZ Action News]

Continue reading Video: Why the Cadillac Escalade is a particularly easy target for thieves

Video: Why the Cadillac Escalade is a particularly easy target for thieves originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HDLI: Cadillac Escalade top target for thieves

Filed under: Coupe, SUV, Truck, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti, Luxury

The Highway Data Loss Institute has churned out its official list of vehicles with the highest and lowest insurance claims for theft. The study combines the rate of insurance claims per vehicle as well as the cost of those claims, helping companies that supply coverage determine exactly how much to charge us poor saps. The Cadillac Escalade took top honors this year with $146 in theft loss payments per insured vehicle, per year. On average, insurance companies pay out around $11,934 per theft claim when it comes to the Escalade with 10.8 of the SUVs stolen per 1,000 vehicles. That’s more than 10 times the theft rate of the vehicle with the lowest theft losses – the Volvo S80.

In fact, of the top 10 vehicles on the Highway Data Loss Institute’s list, six were of General Motors origin. How do the thieves get around the bad-guy battling OnStar vehicle immobilization? Easy. They load the coveted SUVs onto a flat bed and drive away.

The 2008-2009 Ford F-250 crew cab four-wheel drive took the silver when it came to vehicles with the highest theft loss, followed by the 2008-2009 Infiniti G37 coupe. Hit the jump to see if your vehicle’s on the list.

[Source: HDLI]

Continue reading HDLI: Cadillac Escalade top target for thieves

HDLI: Cadillac Escalade top target for thieves originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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