North second worst for car theft

Kara Namana-Kelly is sick of thieves targeting her Subaru Impreza. Photo / John Stone

Outside of Auckland it seems the chances of having your vehicle stolen are highest in Northland.

The annual AA Insurance list of most frequently stolen cars has revealed the Honda Torneo in top spot, with Mazda Familia and Subaru Impreza second and third.

The list is based on AA Insurance's own claims data, which also show 92 per cent of theft claims for models in the top 10 list were for cars more than 10 years old. The statistics also revealed a vehicle is most likely to be stolen from the Auckland region, followed by Northland, Wellington, and then Waikato. A vehicle is almost seven times more likely to be stolen in Auckland than in the South Island.

A victim of vehicle theft, Whangarei's Kara Namana-Kelly, is without transport after thieves repeatedly targeted her Subaru Impreza.

The 32-year-old is sick and tired of thieves breaking into the 2004 model vehicle. The car she has had since 2010 is still with police after the last incident in April when thieves smashed their way in, ripped out the ignition barrell and pushed the car about 100m from where it was parked outside her flat in a service alleyway in central Whangarei.

Unfortunately it is a hot target when it comes to cars thieves prefer to steal and the model makes it into third place on the list of most frequently stolen cars.

Ms Hamana-Kelly said police had prosecuted people in relation to about three attacks on her car in the past year. She took over payments for the vehicle when her cousin went overseas in 2010.

"It was low on kilometres and still is and was a good buy. I didn't really think about it being a popular car for thieves," she said.

Since the last attack on her vehicle she has had to rely on a friend to collect her and take her to work at Ruakaka.

"I wasn't aware it was so popular with thieves. I'll get it back and replace the ignition barrell but I don't have any insurance."

Northland police crime statistics for 2014 showed there were 1764 vehicle thefts and related crimes, which was up from the previous year when there were 1700 similar crimes reported. Of the 1764 car thefts in 2014 only 250 were resolved.

Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said there was no business reason for police to compile league tables or "Top 10" most commonly stolen vehicles in order to be able to investigate and respond to vehicle crime.

"It is not critical to police and is therefore not held in a searchable format," she said.

AA Insurance customer relations manager Amelia Macandrew said older cars were being targeted because newer models tended to have more sophisticated security systems.