List shows Nevada car thieves targeting older cars

By Kyle B. Hansen

Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 | 1:50 a.m.

Old cars are the most popular for car thieves in Nevada, according to an annual report released Monday.

The “Hot Wheels” report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau ranks the 10 most stolen vehicles in each state. Eight of the top 10 in Nevada, and six of the top 10 in the nation, were vehicles more than 10 years old.

In 2009, the vehicles most commonly stolen in Nevada were the 1992 Honda Accord, 1995 Honda Civic and 1990 Toyota Camry.

Last year’s list was similar for Nevada, with the same cars in the top three spots.

The national list for 2009 is also similar to Nevada’s, with the 1994 Honda Accord, 1995 Honda Civic and the 1991 Toyota Camry in the top three spots.

The insurance group said some models of cars are popular because of the value of their parts while new vehicles often are stolen to be resold intact with counterfeit vehicle identification numbers. Some are shipped out of the country.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau is a nonprofit organization supported by insurance companies to fight insurance crimes. The organization used data from the National Crime Information Center to determine the vehicles most reported stolen in 2009, without regard to the vehicle’s insurance status.

Vehicle theft has been decreasing, the bureau said, with 2009 being the sixth consecutive year the FBI has reported fewer thefts than the previous year.

In 2009, the FBI reported 794,616 vehicles were stolen, while in 2008, 956,846 vehicles were reported stolen.

Las Vegas is especially popular for car thieves, ranking No. 9 on the 2009 list of places with the highest vehicle theft rates, according to the bureau’s “Hot Spots” report released in May.

In 2008, Las Vegas was No. 7. The city ranked No. 2 in 2007 and was at the top of the list in 2006.

Las Vegas had 10,706 car thefts in 2009, a rate of 563 cars stolen for every 100,000 residents, the report said. The city had 13,662 thefts in 2008 and 19,031 in 2007.