IBC Names Canada's Most Stolen Cars For 2007

What are the most stolen cars for this year? Any idea?

If you think your 2-door 1999 Acura Integra is safe from thieves, how come it’s on the 4th spot of most stolen cars? You love the Acura CSX A/C condenser, but is the car one of the most desirable (in thieves’ point of view)?

The top 10 cars stolen in Canada, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada:

1. 1999 Honda Civic SiR 2-door
2. 2000 Honda Civic SiR 2-door
3. 2004 Subaru Impreza WRX/WRX STi 4-door AWD
4. 1999 Acura Integra 2-door
5. 1994 Dodge/Plymouth Grand Caravan/Voyager
6. 1994 Dodge/Plymouth Grand Caravan/Voyager AWD
7. 1994 Dodge/Plymouth Caravan/Voyager
8. 1998 Acura Integra 2-door
9. 2000 Audi TT Quattro 2-door Coupe
10. 1994 Dodge/Plymouth Shadow/Sundance 2-door Hatchback

If you are a proud owner of the mentioned cars, be wary. The IBC said the majority of these cars are being targeted by organized car thieves who then ship the vehicles overseas.

The Globe and Mail reports:

The 1999 and 2000 two-door Honda Civic SiR was the most frequently stolen vehicle for the third year in a row, the bureau said, primarily because it lacks an approved electronic immobilizer, which requires a special key or small electronic device to start a vehicle's engine. When activated, an immobilizer shuts off one or more parts of the engine's electrical system, such as the starter, ignition or fuel system. The device disarms when an authorized security code is received from a transponder during an attempt to start the engine. Staff Sergeant Jim Peebles, who heads the Edmonton Police Service's Tactical Response for Auto Theft Prevention program, said that if car owners don't want to invest in the immobilizers - which cost an average of $400 - a simple steering wheel lock like The Club can also help. "[Thieves] want to be in and out as quick as possible. The ease to steal those vehicles is what attracts them," he said.

So what does the government do?

In Vancouver, an aggressive "bait car" program has foiled hundreds of attempted car thefts since it was launched in 2002, police said. Equipped with GPS tracking technology, as well as video and audio recording equipment, bait cars, trucks and vans are planted in target neighborhoods of the city. When a thief opens the door of one of these vehicles, an activation alarm is sent to the monitoring station, where technicians can remotely disable the vehicle at any time. "We've had a number of incidents where the criminals themselves are ... realizing the jig's up and they're right away commenting that it's a bait car, inside cars where we've got video footage of them," said Vancouver police spokesman Constable Howard Chow.