AMI Insurance has released its list of New Zealand's top 10 most stolen cars, with the Mazda Demio taking first place.
Of the 12,000 insurance claims AMI received for stolen cars in the past three years, the Mazda Demio accounted for 10% of them, despite only making up 1.5% of the country's cars, AMI said in a statement.
The top 10 most stolen vehicles across New Zealand according to AMI Insurance were the Demio, Mazda Atenza, Nissan Tiida, Subaru Legacy, Mazda Familia, Subaru Impreza, Toyota Hilux, Ford Courier, Subaru Forester and the Honda Civic.
Auckland had the highest number of vehicle thefts with 4489 claims, followed by Canterbury with 2074.
AMI released some tips to help prevent vehicle theft.
- Where possible, park down a driveway or inside a garage
- If there isn’t any off-street parking available, try to park your car in a well-lit area
- Consider using anti-theft protection measures, such as a car alarm system, immobiliser, steering wheel lock, fuel cut out switch, handbrake lock, or car tracking system
- Don’t get out of your car and leave the engine running or keys in it, even for a few seconds.
- Make sure you always lock your car, especially whenever your car is parked and unattended
- Don’t leave valuables on display.
- Avoid leaving windows or the sunroof open when you're not in the car.
Despite having had consistently high rates of theft for several years, AMI says data shows the Mazda Demio is also the most likely to be recovered.
Over the past three years, 94% of stolen Demio cars were recovered, the highest rate out of the top 10 stolen vehicles and well above the average of 70% across all vehicle models.
The Toyota Hilux has the lowest rates of recovery at 30%, followed by the Ford Courier at 47%.
SHARE ME