95 SL2 most stolen vehicle in 2003

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20040525005203&newsLang=en

 

....heard it in this morning's news. Strange...

 

I wonder why? Is it real easy to jack or something?
I didn't think the parts on a saturn are worth as much as something like a honda.

 

CCCIS's website is quite hosed - besides being really slow, links to
their stories don't work right.

I'm not buying it - it is likely that the news report you heard was
simply parroted. I'm looking through IIHS/HLDI's website and don't see
anything that would indicate that any Saturns suddenly jumped to the top
of the list of most stolen vehicles.

It simply doesn't make sense that one (already existing, not new) model
would suddenly jump ahead of more than 25 other vehicles to the top of
the list and then just as suddenly fall back again, given that there
wasn't anything terribly special about the 1995 SL2s.

2002 Data from NCIB:

Top Vehicle Thefts by Year, Make, and Model

1. 1989 Toyota Camry
2. 1994 Honda Accord
3. 2000 Honda Civic
4. 1992 Chevrolet Full Size C/K Pickup
5. 1997 Ford Full Size Pickup (150/250/350)
6. 1993 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee
7. 1986 Oldsmobile Cutlass/Supreme/Ciera
8. 1994 Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan
9. 1996 Ford Taurus
10. 2001 Toyota Corolla

http://www.nicb.org/public/newsroom/whereismycar/top25yearmakemodel.cfm

What pieces of the NCIC website that I can find are completely useless.
It is possible that for the model year 1995, saturns were stolen
most often in 2003. It is established that 1995 model year vehicles
were stolen most often:

http://www.nicb.org/public/newsroom/whereismycar/popularyears.cfm

This, however, is not the same as "In 2003, 1995 Saturn SL2s were stolen
most often." Correct me if I'm wrong, but here's how my logic plays out:

In 2003, there are 200 cars stolen of three model years:
- 1995 100 cars: 10 SL2s, 9 camrys, 9 civics, 5 neons, etc
- 1996 90 cars: 15 camrys, 10 neons(?!), 10 civics, 5 SL2s, etc
- 1997 10 cars: 2 pintos, 3 datsuns, and 5 mustangs

The most vehicles stolen were of the 1995 model year. The most stolen
vehicle of the model year 1995 is the SL2. However, the real conclusion
is that the vehicle most often stolen in 2003 is a 1996 camry.

More likely than not, someone is reading the data wrong and drew
erroneous conclusions when they wrote the press release.

-rj
98SL2

 

I haven't had a chance to look at all the web pages yet, but it's possible
that the place in the news article scores according to what fraction of
the '95 SL2s out there got stolen, while the other site only looks at the
absolute number of '95 SL2s stolen. There may be a smaller fraction of,
e.g., Hondas stolen, but because there are so many, the absolute number
may be much greater than Saturns.

 

They changed the way they calculate the numbers to a more
useful method. They used to base it on the total number
of a particular make/model/year stolen, but now they correct
for the number of each type stolen vs. the number of that
type registered which gives you a much better idea of how
likely a certain model is to be stolen.

You can see the article here as well:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MOST_STOLEN_VEHICLES?SITE=CACRU&SECTION=HOME

Not surprising. There are TONS of them out there. The fact it's
the highest ocurring theft doesn't tell us anything about it
being targeted for theft. Dividing the number stolen by the
number out there and comparing to other cars will tell us to be
extra careful with a particular model.

-DanD

 

The 95 was the last year of the old body style but the first year they had a
passenger air bag (and didn't have the @$%# electric shoulder belts). Also
the first year they had built in can holders and came in green. I always
wished I'd waited for a green 95 instead of getting a blue 94 but I never
imagined anyone else felt as strongly (LOL).
ron herfurth
94 SL-1 currently 99,9950 miles - by the time you read this I should be in
the club

 

Jonnie Santos

Actually we ( an insurance company ) he seen a spike in Saturn thefts in the
last year or so. You can do the same file the key down trick like can be done
on Hondas/Toyotas

 

I know before mine got stolen the locks were so worn that almost anything
that would fit into them would turn them. I found a stolen 96 SL1 next to
where mine was stolen. The guy that found mine had his 95 SL2 stolen. Unless
this guy was caught I'd say he's still recycling Saturns. I got a club he'll
probally pass on mine if he comes back.

 

My guess? Last year before OBDII, where a lot of engine stuff changed