How to reduce the risks of having your car stolen: avoid old cars without alarms that appeal to boy racers

By John Grant According to police statistics, 45 cars a day are stolen in New Zealand. Of these only 21% are recovered, frustrating many car owners. Just being without a car for a period of time is bad enough, let alone having to pay for the excess and the loss of your no claims bonus. Then there's the issue of personal effects like cd's taken with the car. According to statistics released today by AA Insurance there are some easy ways to avoid theft. Cars built before 2000 model are more vulnerable with 85% of the cars stolen and reported to AA Insurance registered before January 2000. Cars with alarm systems are much less likely to be stolen with 69% of the vehicles stolen and reported to AA Insurance vehicle not having an alarm. It's also a good idea to lock the car. According to a study by NZ Police two out of five car theft incidents occur when the car is unlocked or when the thief has obtained the car keys. AA Insurance's findings and supported by NZ Police research found that 16-20year old vehicles were four times more likely to be targeted by thieves than newer cars. The top ten stolen cars from AA Insurance data; 1. Nissan Silvia 2. Subaru Impreza 3. Nissan Skyline 4. Subaru Legacy 5. Mitsubishi Legnum 6. Honda Integra 7. Subaru Forester 8. Mazda Lantis 9. Honda Prelude 10. Mazda Familia The data used comes from AA Insurance claims statistics for the period March 2008 to July 2009. "”"”"”"” John Grant edits the insurance coverage on interest.co.nz