Car Theft Facts

  • The estimated value of motor vehicles reported stolen in 1999 was over $7 billion with an average value of $6,104.
  • Police apprehend 14 per cent of all auto thieves - a percentage that has remained constant for the past decade.
  • The recovery rate for vehicles stolen in 1999 was 67 per cent, showing that most thefts where either for necessity or used for joyriding.
  • In 1998, auto thieves grabbed 8.4 per cent fewer cars than in 1997, but the average value of the cars stolen was 11 per cent higher. That means the auto theft industry's cost to consumers and insurers rose $200 million in 1998.
  • If auto theft was a legitimate business, it would be ranked 50th among the Fortune 500 companies.
  • The most commonly used tool for thieves is a screwdriver.
  • Auto theft is an estimated $7.5 billion business and continues to grow, according to the FBI.
  • 64 per cent of persons arrested for vehicle theft are under the age of 18.
  • In 1999, an estimated 1.1 million vehicles where stolen in the United States (FBI Uniform Crime Reports).
  • One car is stolen every 19 seconds in the US. That's a shorter time than it takes most people to unlock their car, put on their seat belt and start the engine.
  • More than two thirds of all auto theft occurs at night. Over one half of all auto theft occurs in residential areas.
  • The thief who drives your car away is 200 times more likely to have a serious accident with it than you are.
  • The odds of your car being taken were 1 in 171 in 1998.
  • The majority of vehicle thefts are done by non-professionals.
  • 23 per cent of vehicles stolen are by professionals for profit by supplying to chop shops or exporting the vehicle.
  • Seventy-five per cent of all motor vehicles reported stolen during 1999 were automobiles. Nineteen per cent were trucks or buses.
  • 77 per cent of vehicles stolen are by non-professionals that steal for transportation or joyriding.
  • 67 per cent of persons arrested for vehicle theft are under the age of 25.
  • Most vehicles are stolen from in front of the victim's home or apartment.
  • Suspects have a preference for stealing cars that they already know how to steal, and are easily stolen.
  • Tools typically used for theft are slide hammers, flat metal strips, screwdriver, slip tools such as a common butter knife.