Although the activity of car thieves has been relatively moderate this year, a new trend has emerged: thieves have not stolen either new and expensive, or older and simpler vehicles. This year, insurance company “Balta” received compensation applications for both the stolen 2022 Porsche Taycan 4 and the 2004 BMW X5.
According to the data of the State Police, 175 cars have been stolen in Latvia in ten months of this year, and the Top 10 in demand by thieves are “BMW”, “Volkswagen”, “Audi”, “Toyota”, “Volvo”, “Opel”, “Lexus”, ” Ford”, “Hyundai” and “Mercedes-Benz” brand cars. On the other hand, the 10 favorite models of the car owners were “BMW” 3, 5 series and X5, “Volkswagen Golf” and “Passat”, “Audi A4” and “A6”, Toyota RAV4, “Hyndai Tuscon”, as well as “KIA Sportage”.
The outgoing year 2023 was not the richest in car thefts, but it was colorful. As you can see, thieves like to drive away not only expensive and even exclusive, but also relatively simple cars with a long history. The oldest stolen vehicle, for which “Balta” has received an application for compensation, is already 19 years old. The condition of the stolen and recovered vehicles leads to the conclusion that the cars are stolen for disassembly into spare parts. However, there are cases when thieves work more simply – instead of stealing the whole car, they take only what is necessary – car lights, wheel rims, instrument panels, steering devices, various parts of the exhaust.
The nature of thefts in 2023 was very different. At the beginning of the year, the activities of an organized group of car thieves were more pronounced, stealing “Hyundai” and “Nissan” cars. There have also been claims for compensation for situations with signs of misappropriation of a domestic nature, for example, a rented car is not returned to its owner.
However, most of the crimes have a common keyword – “Keyless Go” or a contactless key system that allows you to enter the car and start it without taking the key out of your pocket. A car with such a system can be stolen by anyone who has access to the necessary hardware, unless the car is equipped with an additional anti-theft system.
To protect your car from thieves, it is recommended to equip it with an additional immobilizer. This is especially important for car owners whose cars have a “Keyless Go” key, because a high-quality installed immobilizer creates serious problems for thieves. It is also possible to protect the car by remembering an old but simple truth: when leaving the car parked for a long time, it should be placed in a closed yard or a guarded parking lot.
2023-12-16 13:48:07
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