Have you ever been curious about what car thieves are actually looking for when they choose a car to steal? Is it by color, make, model, or year? Is it by location, time of day or even time of year? I really had a great time diving into this subject and I think you will be surprised about what I found out!
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Let’s set the stage. You hop in your car and head to the grocery store. You park in the middle of the lot, close to one of the “cart return” areas. You lock your car and off you go. You return 30 minutes later AND YOUR CAR IS GONE! Why you??
Please make note that the stats in my article can easily go up or down with reclassification or political environment.
Per Axios, in 30 cities in 2022-2023, there has been a significant change in 10 types of criminal offenses in the U.S. Out of these 10 main crimes, homicide, gun assault, nonresidential burglary, larceny, residential burglary, robbery, and aggravated assault are all DOWN ranging from 2.5% – 9.4%. There are now three remaining, two of which are domestic violence and drug offenses. They are both UP very slightly. The last crime is motor vehicle theft and it is UP 33.5%. WOW!
Deep Sentinel states that Colorado, Washington, D.C, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas are the top 10 states with the highest vehicle theft.
They go on to say the easiest car to steal is the Honda Accord and the “overall” most common types of vehicles stolen are the larger Ford and Chevy pickup trucks. After that, it’s the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Kia and Hyundai. But, there is one car that has made the top of the 2023 list of the most stolen in America, and it is the Dodge Charger (Hellcat and Hemi). I drive a Dodge Durango Hemi, so that statistic hit close to home. It also, seems that the color black is the favorite with silver/grey in a close second and they gravitate towards older models of the vehicles because they lack the more modern standard electronic immobilizers, which is an electronic security device fitted to a motor vehicle that prevents the engine from being started unless the correct key (transponder or smart key) is present. This prevents the vehicle from being “hot wired” after entry has been achieved and thus reduces motor vehicle theft.
Car thieves like to steal cars between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. since most people are asleep. It is nice and quiet, with fewer distractions and next-to-no people walking around.
YES, car thieves will scope an area and mark your car for a partner to find, and steal, later that night. The most common way to “mark” a car for theft is to simply grab a marker and put a mark, in a pre-discussed area, on the car. They also will push in wing mirrors as a mark to show their partners that they want that one. Please be aware that they will also push in the mirrors to gain access to the car when the driver gets out to re-adjust the mirror.
Typically, the highest car theft months are January through July and the number one time to steal a car is New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! That is the peak time for car thieves.
How can we avoid car thieves? Thinking ahead is the key.
What have we learned? Did we learn to never drive a black Honda or truck, don’t live in any of the 10 states mentioned, don’t leave your house January through July, don’t go out on New Year’s Eve and don’t ever sleep? I guess you could look at it that way or you could just apply the simple bullet points above, think ahead and try to make stealing your car a bit more difficult. As you know, the holidays are coming up, so be extra cautious of your surroundings and where you park.
Meet Shelley Hill
Shelley is co-owner, XO and Instructor at The Complete Combatant. She is an HK brand ambassador and endorsed instructor, publishes regular articles in “Shooting Illustrated,” teaches ONLINE classes, an Active Self Protection Certified Instructor, instructor graduate of Modern Samurai Project’s Red Dot Instructor program, NRA Certified Instructor, Certified NRA Chief Range Safety Officer, Refuse to be a Victim Instructor and is a Certified OC (Pepper Spray) Instructor through Chuck Haggard’s Agile Training & Consulting.
She is the designer and mastermind behind Image Based Decisional Drills, Smart Choices , The Complete Combatant’s annual The Mingle for professional ladies in the “firearms/self-defense” industry and The Quest for pistol optic shooters and LockedIn Grip (liquid shooting sports chalk). Shelley is a presenter at Active Self Protection’s National Conference, a presenter at The Well Armed Woman’s Shooting Chapters National Leadership Conference and A Girl and a Gun’s National Conference. She is a public speaker and loves to train!
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
