Why are Hondas so attractive to car thieves??

[kentuck]

I have a little red 87 Acura Integra, that is parked in front of my house on the street. It still has the DemocraticUnderground.com bumper sticker on it.

About 3 or 4 nights ago, it was broken into and someone tried to steal it. They had taken a pair of pliars and tore up my ignition real bad, in an attempt to start it. Luckily, the battery was dead, even if they had been successful in getting their key to work.

Today, I replaced the battery and put in a new ignition ($30) and it started up on first try. I guess I will have to watch it more closely.

[SheilaT]

1. Because it's such a cool car?

The very fact that it's on the street made it sufficiently accessible is also part of the problem.

Personally, I drive a stick shift which makes my car somewhat less likely to be stolen.

[IDemo]

9. That tickles me to no end

Being the owner of two stick-shift vehicles. Maybe someone should make a cell phone with a rotary dial, that should make it theft proof as well. A co-worker uses a case that looks like a cassette tape, which probably works almost as well.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

16. The one car I've had stole was a stick. They ruined the clutch, etc., doing it, too.

I had a lot of tools in the back semi-visible so I assume that was the incentive to learn how to drive a stick in the middle of the night.

[flvegan]

2. Parts black market.

It is just that simple.

[etherealtruth]

7. Yes it is

[Frankie the Bird]

3. Where did this happen?

I have a Honda CRV and I try not to park on the street.. we have a driveway.....

and a detached garage that my wife HATES....

[Throd]

4. I wish someone would steal my wife's piece of shit 2005 Odyssey.

[PowerToThePeople]

5. numbers

there are a lot of them. large market for resale of stolen parts.

[otohara]

6. Had One Stolen - Stripped to One Tire

They took the seats, the stereo, lights, mirrors, the tires/rims - when we went to the city dump we paid to have the city destroy it
Left a homemade crack pipe, an empty can of beans and cigarette butts in the back seat. .

[SheilaT]

8. My car is a 2004 Honda Civic

so I probably should be worried about it being stolen.

I'm slightly under the impression that the older cars are somewhat more often stolen because they don't have the built-in security. Mine does, but I suppose to a knowledgeable thief it would be no deterrent.

[MineralMan]

10. Older Hondas are attractive to kids who want a cheap

car they can trick out. Kids don't have lots of money to buy parts. Your car was a free parts house on wheels. If they could have stolen it, they'd have had a parts car for their junk heap with the expensive wheels.

Lots of older Hondas on the streets of St. Paul. They have one thing in common: Body parts of different colors and a coffee can muffler. They are kept running using "parts cars" like yours. Braaaaaap!

[Codeine]

11. Ubiquity.

The reliability of the make means there are are a lot of older Hondas still on the streets, and thus a large market for parts, especially among young men who race them out.

[FreeJoe]

12. They aren't

While you often see the Honda Accord and Civic near the top of the lists for most stolen vehicles, that's because they are also among the most common vehicles. To see how likely a car is to be stolen, you want to look at the theft rate rather than the theft count. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has moderately recent numbers here.

The vehicles most likely to be stolen are large American brand trucks and SUVs. Honda's Acura RDX and CRV are on the list of least stolen.

[cthulu2016]

13. they last a long time and need replacement parts

much auto theft is for parts

[Zorra]

14. I've had two Civic Wagons. 40 mpg hwy, reliable, engines last 300,000 miles.

If you know where I can find a '94 civic wagon in good condition with less than 100,000 miles on it, please gimme the address ASAP.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. It's all about parts. Lots of old cars like yours on the street=lots of demand for parts.

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. Parts commonality.

About the only thing that sets one model apart from another is its sheet metal. Below their body panels they are indistinguishable.

Cars are stolen to sell to Chop Shops where they are dismantled and sold piece by piece. Anyone who would tell you any different doesn't know shit about stealing cars.

It certainly has nothing to do with coolness or reliability.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

18. It's because the OEM parts are crazy expensive, chop shops pay top dollar

When I bought my Honda Accord I had major sticker shock on the insurance,

[ananda]

19. Prolly cuz so many ppl want Hondas or Honda parts.

They drive forever.