Canada’s Most Stolen Car: The Honda Civic

The Insurance Bureau of Canada has released its 2010 list of the most stolen cars and the Honda Civic has come out the "winner" apparently for the fourth year in a row. The 2000 Honda Civic SiR 2-door is in the number one spot followed by the 1999 Honda Civic SiR 2-door. Why this penchant for the Civic? Organised crime? Joy riders? It is curious to think that when one goes out car shopping, another aspect of making your selection should be whether the vehicle is a popular one for thieves. If the car is "hot" for you, it just may very well be hot for somebody else; somebody who is hoping to pay less than you did!

 

The complete list is:

 

According to StatsCan, there were 108,172 motor vehicle thefts in 2009 which works out to an average of 296 stolen vehicles each day. This is a reduction of 15% from 2008.

 

All the papers are reporting a list of common tips to avoid having your car stolen. At the top of this list is the obvious one of never leaving your car unattended while it’s running. If you’re doing a quick stop to pick something up at a variety store, never think you can jump out even for a minute and nothing is going to happen.

 

I noticed that one industry pundit said to not to leave the registration and the insurance in the glove compartment. This may be a good idea in considering a thief but since you better have those papers handy if you are ever stopped by the police, you better make sure you remember to have them available. This could be problematic for those who have more than one driver in the family using the same car.

 

Finally, parking your car in a well lit area, in an area with enough public traffic will hopefully reduce your risks. Then again, for anybody who watched the film Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nicolas Cage, you know that a determined expert crook can get into a car and drive off in very little time and effort. And that should lead us back to one fundamental rule about having a car: make sure you have insurance. Yes, it’s against the law to drive a car without insurance but it is certainly a nice to have if one day you come out to get in your car and it’s no longer there.

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