Car Thieves Are In Accord: Get A Honda
The Honda Accord is hot - with thieves.
It was no contest last year, according to an annual list of the nation’s most-stolen cars and trucks released Sunday. The 1994 Honda Accord EX was No. 1, the ‘88 Accord LX was second and the ‘92 Accord LX was third. Other Accords ranked seventh, eighth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th … you get the picture.
CCC Information Services Inc., which keeps track of such things for the insurance and body repair industries, said Honda’s popular family sedan and coupe took 11 of the top 25 spots on its annual most-stolen list.
Though it’s a reflection of the Accord’s sales success, the ranking is not a distinction Honda savors.
Honda spokesman Art Garner said the list is misleading because it ranks cars based on raw theft totals rather than theft rates, such as the number of thefts per 1,000 cars.
“It’s only natural that there would be more Accords stolen than most,” Garner said. “There’s more of them out there, so there are more stolen.”
The Accord has ranked among the best-selling cars in the United States for years.
In taking the top spot, the Accord ousted the mid-80s Oldsmobile Cutlass Supremes, which had held the most-stolen crown for the past four years and the top three spots in 1995.
The ‘84-87 Cutlass Supremes are still on the list, but have fallen to the fourth, sixth, 14th and 18th places.
The same features that made the Oldsmobiles popular with thieves “helped” the Accord win its dubious distinction. There are a lot of them on the road, so demand for their parts grows stronger as they start to age. Many parts are interchangeable from year to year and with other models.
While only cars filled out this year’s top 25, CCC found evidence of a growing popularity of pickups among thieves, especially in areas of the country where they’re a preferred form of transportation.
Texas, for example, has only pickups on its top 10 theft list.
And trucks held more than half the top 10 spots in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Alabama.
Chevrolet’s C-K series pickups dominated the stolen truck category.
xxxx THE MOST-STOLEN CARS OF 1996 1. 1994 Honda Accord EX 2. 1988 Honda Accord LX 3. 1992 Honda Accord LX 4. 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 5. 1995 Ford Mustang 6. 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 7. 1995 Honda Accord EX 8. 1990 Honda Accord EX 9. 1989 Toyota Camry 10. 1992 Honda Accord EX 11. 1989 Honda Accord LX 12. 1991 Honda Accord EX 13. 1991 Honda Accord LX 14. 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 15. 1995 Toyota Corolla 16. 1987 Chevrolet Caprice 17. 1986 Cadillac Deville 18. 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme 19. 1990 Toyota Camry 20. 1988 Toyota Camry 21. 1991 Acura Legend 22. 1995 Toyota Camry LE 23. 1991 Honda Civic 24. 1994 Honda Accord LX 25. 1990 Honda Accord LX - Associated Press