Hot Wheels in Nashville - Is Your Car on the List?

Unfortunately winter is when many auto thefts occur. The good news is auto thefts are down for the 6th consecutive year across the country with a 17.1% drop last year. You may think the most popular cars to steal are the high end models, but that’s not the case at all. Older sedans and trucks from mainstream manufacturers are the favorite targets, mainly because of the value of their parts. According to The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the most stolen vehicles in Tennessee are:

• Chevy Pickup (full size) 1994
• Honda Accord 1994
• Ford F150 2001
• Olds Cutlass 1995
• Honda Civic 1993
• Ford Taurus 1996
• Ford Explorer 1998
• Toyota Camry 1995
• Dodge Ram 2001
• GMC Pickup 1994

To help cut down your risk of theft, the obvious preventers are (but not so obvious that people still don’t do them),  never leaving valuables or identity information in your vehicle and always lock your car, shutting all windows. Here are some additional ideas:

• Whenever you can, park in well lit busy areas.
• Don’t hide your keys (inside or outside the car) crooks know where to look
• Never leave your car running while you dash in a store or an ATM
• Don’t leave anything on show that would be appealing to a thief
• If you purchase an alarm, choose one that has a flashing light when armed; you can also consider an immobilizing device with a fuel cut off or on more valuable cars a tracking device.
• You can remove knobs or controls from your stereo making it less appealing to a thief

It’s worth knowing that around 80% of thefts are done by pros and a fair number of these cars are actually either resold or their VIN number is used to disguise or “clone” another car. So if you are in the market to buy a car, the NCIB offers a free vehicle history service on its website at www.NICB.org The good news is the number of thefts is continuing to fall. I hope these tips I’ve provided will help you to make your contribution to continuing to that trend.