Honestly though, I'm not sure how people even steal cars anymore. You've got to have the key with the chip. . .those suckers are expensive. And who are you going to sell a hot Galant to? Who's going to go to the trouble of stripping or forging the VIN on a Galant? I get the Audi, the Mustang, even the little Honda sports car. But a Galant?
[Excerpt]
NHTSA: Audi S8, Shelby GT top list for theft rates
The Audi S8 topped the government's list of highest theft rates among new cars in 2009. And the Toyota Camry, which was 2009's best-selling car, was the most-stolen new car that year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracked the theft rate among all new 2009 passenger vehicles stolen that year, and just released its report. . .
Read more at: The Detroit News
Maybe those cars are popular with chop shops, which strip them for parts, abandoning the VIN-marked skeleton.
ReplyDeleteJill is probably right. The fact that these cars have many interchangeable parts with other Japanese makes & marks would be a driving factor. (Mitsubishi in particular has numerous parts in cars, trucks, motorcycles & other machines.)
ReplyDeletePlus there is always the numbers game... As one of the most widely sold cars it would also garner a larger chunk of the stolen market.
Well, aside from the usual lock-picking, there are other methods that can be used, like stealing an unguarded car with the engine left running. Besides, stolen cars can be chopped into valuable parts for other cars.
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