For yet another year, a Dodge van has topped the list of popular stolen vehicles.
For four years in a row, Ohio’s most popularly stolen vehicle, according to auto insurance industry statistics in the state, is the 2000 Dodge Caravan.
Criminals tend to target that vehicle because of its lack of challenging anti-theft features.
Moreover, beyond the fact that it isn’t hard to break into or steal, its parts can bring in a hefty sum in aftermarket sales, say experts in auto insurance. Of course, this minivan isn’t the only vehicle that is a common target of thieves in the state.
Among the other vehicles that topped the list were the 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck, as well as the 1996 Honda Accord. Following them were the 1996 Oldsmobile Cutlass, and then the 1999 Ford pickup truck.
The auto insurance vehicle theft report was released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
There are times that thieves prefer the vehicles that don’t have the sophisticated security systems that make it more difficult to break into a vehicle and start it effectively and without drawing attention to themselves. However, there are still a large number of thieves who know how to either disable or work around some of the more modern anti-theft systems, such as key codes and alarms.
However, experts in the auto insurance industry agree that many cars are stolen simply because their owners did not take a few simple precautions to prevent it. For example, it is common for a vehicle to be taken because the doors were left unlocked, or the keys were left inside.
Ohio Insurance Institute spokesperson, Mary Bonelli, said that “Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we neglect to use our common sense.”
Since 2008, the 2000 Dodge Careavan has been the most stolen vehicle in the state. However, last year, it was also the vehicle that experienced theft the most times in Maryland, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois.
Auto insurance statistics show that last year there were about 20,421 vehicles that were stolen. This was a notable drop from 2010, when the number was 21,118. Thefts occurring in the Dayton metropolitan region also fell from 2010 to 2011, having reached 633, which is 40 less than the year before.