Is Your Car On The ‘Most Stolen List’?

When I lived in Spokane, Washington my car was broken into FOUR times in FOUR years. It was amazing to me, the amount of property crime that happens in that town. Unfortunately for me and several friends, Gonzaga University is surrounded by a pretty sketchy neighborhood which often meant stolen packages, broken windows, among other crazy calls to police. I remember one night a man that had to have been on drugs was just slamming his head into our front door until the police arrived. It was crazy, but I digress...

Stolen cars were also an issue and university security was constantly reminding us to protect our cars as best we could. Don't leave things inside of them and buy a steering wheel lock. While I never bought a lock, I do know that a few students cars ended up NOT being successfully stolen because of those. While car theft doesn't seem to be a huge issue here in the Treasure Valley, there are still some instances of this and nationwide, there's a trend too. Just released by the National Insurance Crime Bureau is a list of the most stolen vehicle makes in the country.

Obviously, older cars without fancy security systems are more likely to be broken into. The top models on this list are:

• Nissan Altima
• Honda Civic
• Toyota Camry

Is it a coincidence that these all look a little bit like each other? Or maybe those models are just so popular, one in particular would be hard to spot.

No matter what you drive, authorities both locally and nationally just ask that you give criminals no reason to consider YOUR vehicle. Lock your doors, leave nothing valuable in them and in sight, and invest in a security system if you don't have one.