Hot Cars, Not-So-Hot Statistics.

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Author: Hunt, Kasie

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a report recently saying that the car theft rate decreased by 26.1 percent from 2002 to 2003, or from 2.49 thefts per 1,000 cars produced in 2002 to 1.84 in 2003. But don't stop locking your car just yet: The National Insurance Crime Bureau is one of several private firms that also track car thefts, and its statistics show a 1.1 percent increase in such thievery during that time.

NHTSA calculates both an overall theft rate and the most-stolen makes and models, but tracks only the number of model year 2003 cars stolen in the year 2003. The theft rate for each model is determined by dividing the number of thefts by the number of cars produced. This leaves Grandma's 1980s Oldsmobile Cutlass, one of the most-stolen vehicles nationwide, off the list and puts less-common cars, such as the Jaguar XJR, in the top 10. NHTSA also doesn't include passenger trucks and SUVs that weigh more than 6,000 pounds in its theft rate, Martin said, thus leaving out popular targets like the Cadillac Escalade.

The NICB's numbers are more comprehensive. "We look at all stolens in a given year," said spokesman Frank Scafidi. The 2000 Honda Civic tops its list. The 1986 Cutlass is No. 10. And the Jag is nowhere to be found.

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By Kasie Hunt, National Journal