Subaru theft

I have also thought about this myself. Where I keep my WRX is about 2 miles off of my University`s campus and I am not in the best area. lojack is a pretty decent solution to the worry aspect of completely loosing the vehicle if stolen and never recovered. I have invested in both a steering wheel lock & lojack.

You can get the following with lojack services:

Receive Alerts for vehicles moved without authorization
Alerts you by phone call, text and email
Includes two key chain fobs

Stolen Vehicle Recovery
90% recovery rate on cars, trucks and SUVs
Installed by a certified LoJack Technicians

Supply Chain Solutions
Self-powered system: Won't drain power
Doesn't touch battery or wiring


Hope this helps mate

Hankscorpio said:

I'd be more worried about vandalism leaving my car in a shifty neighborhood.
I'd be curious how 'newer' cars are being stolen. I'd assume stolen keys, gun point, or with a tow truck would be most common...

Click to expand...

They aren't stolen that often. Car theft in USA is down from 1.6 million in 1991 to 600k in 2013. There is no car newer than 2008 on the most stolen cars list. As well as the methods listed by others, they may tow it as well.

"Hi, I work in car insurance. Virtually every theft claim I deal with, the thieves have broken into the house and stolen the keys. This is usually the primary target, too, at least if you've got a nice car; if the car keys are in your main hall somewhere, you'll often find the thieves have broken in through the front door or a window, found the keys, and left without taking anything other than the car."
Quoted by - ReveilledSA (http://tinyurl.com/grfdyqh)

Why thieves often target older cars

For a variety of reasons, older cars almost inevitably prove more attractive to car thieves. Year after year, older cars and trucks top the list of most-stolen vehicles due to the demand for and versatility of their parts. Read on to find out what cars and trucks thieves love to jack, why they love them, and what you can do to save yourself — and every other driver on the road — a little money.

The top 10 most stolen cars

Year after year, the top 10 cars and trucks on the National Insurance Crime Bureau's (NICB) Hot Wheels list are not the latest and greatest things to roll off the assembly line. Instead, they're the tried-and-true workhorses of the auto industry — popular yet unglamorous models like the Accord, Civic, Camry, and F-150. And we're not talking late-model versions of these popular car and truck lines.

Here's the NICB's list of most-stolen cars and trucks for 2014:

1996 Honda Accord
1998 Honda Civic
2006 Ford Pickup (Full Size)
1999 Chevrolet Pickup (Full Size)
1991 Toyota Camry
2004 Dodge Pickup (Full Size)
2000 Dodge Caravan
2013 Nissan Altima
1994 Acura Integra
1996 Nissan Maxima

This list has proven remarkably stable over the past few years. In fact, many of the same vehicles have topped the most-stolen charts going all the way back to 2007.

As you can see, car thieves show a marked preference for older cars from longstanding model lines — cars that routinely sell very well year after year.

(stolen car) parts are greater than the whole (stolen car)

To understand why thieves prefer older models to newer ones, you have to understand why they steal cars in the first place.:screwy:

Contrary to popular misconception, car thieves don't jack cars because they want them, or because they want to sell them — at least, the professionals don't. Car thieves usually steal in order to strip the car and sell its parts off piecemeal, generating far more funds than the car itself is worth. Thieves sometimes take newer models to either resell them in America with a counterfeit vehicle identification number (VIN) or ship them overseas, but the vast majority of stolen cars go to chop shops.
car repair and replacement parts

Many of these popular cars require repairs and replacement parts — parts that unscrupulous repair shops are only too happy to buy at significantly discounted prices. And since the cars' manufacturers often use the same parts in a variety of models, parts from a '96 Accord prove highly versatile, suitable for the same model from other manufacturing years and even for other models from the same manufacturer. This makes their parts flexible and therefore easier to unload — ideal characteristics in the car thief's mind.
car theft deterrents

There's also another factor to keep in mind: theft deterrents. Mid-'90s models usually lack the kind of sophisticated anti-theft devices so common in early 21st century cars and trucks. This makes older models significantly easier to steal.

Reference: Insurance Myths > Google