Most stolen car of 2012? The 'winner' is...
The singling out of the in the United States last year isn鈥檛 exactly music to the ears of owners of the popular family car. According to the the 1994 Accord once again tops the list, making this the car鈥檚 fourth consecutive appearance as the car thieves most love to steal.
The 鈥�94 Accord鈥檚 lack of security features and its popularity as the main reasons why the car is so frequently stolen. In 1997, began equipping its vehicles with immobilizer systems, preventing them from running unless the driver had the key.
The NICB compiles its annual 鈥�Hot Wheels鈥� report by crunching data submitted to the FBI鈥檚 National Crime Information Center (NCIC) by law enforcement agencies across the country.
Number two on the list is also a Honda, the 1998 Honda Civic. A surprise entry in the top three is the pickup, the first time a truck ranked so high on the most-stolen list since the NICB began tracking thefts in 2000. Two other full-size , the 1999 Chevrolet pickup and the 2004 Dodge pickup, came in at spots number seven and eight, respectively. The SUV ranked ninth.
Fourth place belongs to the 1991 Toyota Camry, another traditionally best-selling family sedan. Two other sedans, the 1994 and the 1994 Nissan Sentra, ranked in sixth and 10th place. The Dodge Caravan, the only minivan on the list, was the fifth most-stolen vehicle last year nationally.
As for the increase in thefts of later-model vehicles, the NICB says that鈥檚 the result of thieves being able to illegally obtain replacement key codes for specific vehicles.
There is some good news though in that overall, thefts are decreasing. According to FBI crime statistics, thefts haven鈥檛 been this low since 1967.
