The Cadillac Escalade is no longer the favorite target of American thieves, dropping from the top spot last year to sixth in new rankings published today by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).
The new favorite is the Ford F-250 Crew 4WD pickup truck: 7 out of every 1,000 insured units of the pickup were stolen or had items stolen from them each year.
The Escalade 4WD had a claim rate of 5.5 out of 1,000.
The HLDI, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), notes that the claims it uses for these studies cover passenger vehicles in model years 2010-2012.
They include thefts of vehicle contents as well as the vehicles themselves. That partly explains the dominance of pickup trucks in the top ten, as their open beds can be easy targets.
A version of the Escalade has topped the list every year since 2003. So why the lost love? The HLDI offers two reasons: the SUV has new antitheft technology, and it's just not as popular as it used to be. A new model is around the corner, however, so interested criminals should keep an eye out.
The least targeted car in the country is the Dodge Journey 4WD, with a claim frequency of just .4 for every 1,000 insured units.
Here's the full breakdown:
| INSURANCE THEFT CLAIMS, 2010-12 PASSENGER VEHICLES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle size/type | Claim freq. | Avg. loss payment per claim | Overall theft losses | |
| HIGHEST CLAIM RATES | ||||
| Ford F-250 crew 4WD | very large pickup | 7.0 | $7,060 | $50 |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 crew | large pickup | 6.7 | $5,463 | $37 |
| Chevrolet Avalanche 1500 | very large SUV | 6.1 | $6,163 | $38 |
| GMC Sierra 1500 crew | large pickup | 6.0 | $6,366 | $38 |
| Ford F-350 crew 4WD | very large pickup | 5.6 | $7,517 | $42 |
| Cadillac Escalade 4WD | large luxury SUV | 5.5 | $6,508 | $36 |
| Chevrolet Suburban 1500 | very large SUV | 5.4 | $4,468 | $24 |
| GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab | large pickup | 4.7 | $5,908 | $28 |
| GMC Yukon | large SUV | 4.5 | $6,276 | $28 |
| Chevrolet Tahoe | large SUV | 4.4 | $5,367 | $23 |
| LOWEST CLAIM RATES | ||||
| Dodge Journey 4WD | midsize SUV | 0.4 | $5,016 | $2 |
| Volkswagen Tiguan 4WD | small SUV | 0.4 | $10,352 | $4 |
| Audi A4 4-door | midsize luxury car | 0.4 | $13,803 | $5 |
| Acura RDX | midsize luxury SUV | 0.4 | $8,701 | $3 |
| Toyota Matrix | small station wagon | 0.4 | $7,782 | $3 |
| Lexus HS 250 hybrid 4-door | midsize luxury car | 0.4 | $2,226 | $1 |
| Honda CR-V | small SUV | 0.4 | $4,630 | $2 |
| Hyundai Tucson 4WD | small SUV | 0.4 | $4,134 | $2 |
| Toyota Sienna 4WD | very large minivan | 0.5 | $13,038 | $6 |
| Jeep Compass 4WD | small SUV | 0.5 | $5,527 | $3 |
| AVERAGE ALL PASSENGER VEHICLES | 1.2 | $6,532 | $8 | |
| Note: Claim frequencies are per 1,000 insured vehicle years; overall losses are average payments per insured vehicle year. | ||||
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