Posted on 11/23/2012 6:54:43 AM PST by KeyLargo
Car thieves avoiding Toyota Prius
By Zach Bowman RSS feed
Posted Nov 21st 2012 4:30PM
The National Insurance Crime Bureau has taken a closer look at how often car thieves target the Toyota Prius. As it turns out, the most popular hybrid on US roads has a very low theft rate, and when it does get stolen, law enforcement are quick to return the machine to its rightful owners. All told, 2008-2012 Prius models saw a theft rate of one in 606 vehicles compared to one in 78 for all models on the road from the same model year period. Just 2,439 Prius hybrids were stolen in the US between September 4, 2000 and June 30, 2012.
Not surprisingly, California holds the dubious honor of taking the lion's share of those thefts, with 1,062. Florida took second place with 127, followed by New York, Washington and Texas. Toyota has sold 1.2 million Prius models in the US, which means the vehicle constitutes more than half of all hybrid vehicles on the road today. You can take a look at the full NICB press release below for more information.
Since most thieves are takers, therefore Liberals, this is the ultimate indictment of the Liberal mindset.. When offered their own personal preferences, they want to tell you what to do, but exclude themselves.. yep!
How did you get that picture of Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s car?
Who wants a getaway car that flashes “Replace Battery” at you before you get out of the parking lot?
I would have thought they would be stolen for the batteries. They are worth a lot. But then there may not be much of a black market for them.
Great picture! I read somewhere that people who plaster their vehicles with bumper stickers are much more likely to get into arguments and outright violence.
Even in our dumbed down society, car thieves are not that stupid.
Thief who has just stolen a Prius to the 911 operator, "Uh, Hi. I just stole a Prius, drove a couple of miles and realized this car is a POS. Just wanted to let you know I'm leaving it at the corner of Main and Elm. Bye."
This also explains the quick recovery by officials.
There’s a sticker that says, “Who is Bush kidding? A budget deficit IS a tax increase.” . I’ll bet there is a different sticker plastered over that one now!
I hate their commercial. Such mamsy pamsy prattle and annoying humming.
When a burglar breaks into a home, he is far more likely to raid the jewelry box than the litter box.
It appears they are lasting much longer than forecast. Likely because the software controls the charge level of the battery pack in a manner that is beneficial.
The Prius actually has some superb engineering, I'm always surprised that it gets trashed so much on FR. As far as I know the Baraqqis had nothing to do with the Prius and it isn't built by the UAW.
I would think the batteries could be salvaged and used at home.
Matter of fact if things really went tits up I would snag an electric car just I could hook it up at home including a way to spin the tires say by wind power so the car generates power in dynamic brake mode.
Some computer scientists came up with a way to attack encryption that the keyfob uses. However it remains just a theoretical possibility, since any thief who is smart enough to use this very complex technology wouldn't be stealing cars. Also the thief would have to intercept a brief radio communication between the keyfob and the car when you unlock it. This makes it useless for theft of a random car that the thief encountered in a parking lot.
They don’t steal them as much because they might be thinking they’re just oversized golf carts.
Right - he'd be selling the tech to car thieves...
If you're going to get caught for auto theft, might as well get caught for something desirable. I would think a thief would be embarassed by his fellow jail members.
"You stole a WHAT?"
lol.. now that is a slam. not even worth stealing.
I agree. Several of my relatives and I drive foreign brands (although some models are built in the US) because of our disdain for the UAW. One of my libertarian cousins drives a Prius-V, which is very nice and can haul all her fly-fishing gear around Idaho; her original Prius had a battery that was still going strong when she sold the car.
I chose a Prius when we bought our last car in 2006. It gets 45-55 miles per gallon, is dependable and has all the comfort features. We wanted to deprive the oil producing nations that hate us of as much income as possible.
We like the Prius and we will like it even more when Obama gets his way and gas gets up around $7 a gallon.
I guess the thieves are smarter than I thought...
“They don’t steal them as much because they might be thinking they’re just oversized golf carts.”
Yea, I think you’re on to something. Even thieves have a code of honor, and they know that they may get caught some day. I think they simply dread the conversation:
“what you in for?”
“Grand Theft, Auto”
“Cool, what’d you nab”
“A Prius...”
Pretty much assures that he’ll be the bitch of the block.
It’s true. They are cool cars and I’m always surprised how they get trashed by FReepers.
I wonder how many folks here have driven one. They’re fast and quiet. Excellent engineering, quite the opposite of the GM battery cr*p.
I have an ungodly commute and I bought a Prius almost a year ago to offset the gas prices, which were bankrupting me. I LOVE THIS CAR!!! It is the best car I’ve ever owned, and even with the huge amount of driving I do, I rarely go to the gas station. Love it! Go Prius! :-D
“I wonder how many folks have driven one”
Great question, maybe the critics can answer?
The reputation of the car with the owner ranks is quite excellent.
From the link:
Soon, Rucy Jason pulled up in a 2005 silver Prius plastered with a dozen-odd stickers, including three calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
According to ZabaSearch, there is a 67-year-old Rucy Jason living in Fort Lauderdale. So much for fuzzing tag numbers, LOL!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.