In order to better understand how to protect your car from car theft, and in order to get a better idea of which cars will be stolen, it is important to understand the top five reasons that cars might be stolen. These are the five biggest reasons a person might steal your car.
Joyriding
Joyriding is something that is referred to sometimes as a prank, but it really does happen. This happens because a person sees a car and wants to drive around in it. They steal it with no other purpose other than to simply ride around in the car. These are cars that are stolen and usually recovered within a day or two in the same general area that they were stolen. Most of the cars that are stolen for joyrides are damaged, because the thief doesn’t care what happens to the car. Most of the time, cars that are stolen for joyriding are chosen because the owner has left the keys in the car, or has left the door switch in an unlocked position.
Transportation
The second reason that cars are stolen is simple – the thief needs to get from one place to another. They need to go somewhere, and have to have a car to do that. Most of the time, they leave the car wherever their destination was. Sometimes, the car is wrecked and often there are parts stolen from it, but the biggest reason to take the car in the first place was to simply get where they were going. Thieves choose these cars in the same way – they were left with the keys in the ignition, or in a way that is very easy to steal.
Other Crimes
Sometimes, a car is stolen so that other crimes can be committed. This happens when someone steals a car to get away from the scene of a crime that just happened, like a robbery. However it can also be done to get to a different crime, like a burglary or drug crime. Most of the time the stolen vehicle is abandoned when the crime is finished, but a lot of the time it is damaged or wrecked in the process. These cars are often stolen in places where there is a lot of crime.
Parts
Sometimes, a car is stolen for the parts. This happens when a car is hotwired and stolen, and the radio, or parts of the engine are taken out before the car is abandoned or found. Sometimes, the thieves have one or two main items in mind, and sometimes they strip whatever they can out of the car before someone finds it.
Commercial Theft
The last type of car theft is commercial theft. Unlike the cars that are stolen to strip the parts, these cars are stolen to be resold. Body shops will take in stolen cars, file off serial numbers and change the look of the car and then resell them. These are the cars that are in most high demand, and that is why they are stolen.
