According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a vehicle is stolen every 26.4 seconds in the United States. That's an improvement over 2005, when the time clock showed every 25.5 seconds. Nationally, 2006 was the 4th straight year of decreases in vehicle theft.
The report of the NCIB shows there were just less than 1.2 million motor vehicle thefts in the United States in 2006 with an estimated value of approximately $7.9 billion dollars. In Arizona, there were 54,849 stolen vehicles in 2006, representing a slight decrease from the 2005 number.
There is some bad news, though. Only 59% of stolen vehicles were recovered in 2006. In 2005 more than 65% of stolen vehicles were recovered. The 59% recovery rate is the lowest recovery rate in over a decade.
Arizona is no longer the state with the most vehicle thefts, as was the case in 2001. As far as metropolitan areas are concerned, in 2007 the greater Phoenix area was ranked as the 8th highest rate of vehicle thefts on a per capita basis. That is an improvement over our 4th place ranking of the previous year.
For 2007, the vehicles most often stolen in the nation were:
- 1995 Honda Civic
- 1991 Honda Accord
- 1989 Toyota Camry
- 1997 Ford F-150 Series Pickup
- 1994 Chevrolet C/K 1500 Pickup
- 1994 Acura Integra
- 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup
- 1994 Nissan Sentra
- 1988 Toyota Pickup
- 2007 Toyota Corolla
For 2007, the vehicles most often stolen in Arizona were:
- Honda Accord 1994
- Honda Civic 1995
- Dodge Ram Pickup 2004
- Chevrolet Full Size C/K 1500 Pickup 2004
- Ford F150 Series 1997
- Nissan Sentra 1994
- Nissan Altima 1997
- Toyota Camry 1990
- Dodge Intrepid 2000
- Ford F250 Series 2004
