This story is also making the rounds on the TV network news up here today.
It's not clear to me if some newer vehicles (like 2005 Chevy Avalanche and others) have potentially faulty immobilizers, or they plain just don't have them.
Do they have a 1 in 60 (or better) chance of being stolen because that is the failure rate of their immobilizers, or because they simply don't have an immobilizer. ?
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"What we are seeing is some of the newer-line Chevy products that reflect the fact that the immobilizer system within those vehicles does not meet the North American standard, and that's exactly why we haven't reflected them in the rate reduction," said Douglas.
"What we are seeing is proof of the fact that those vehicles can be stolen."
Peter Dunwoody, who lives in Brandon, found out the hard way that his vehicle wasn't protected. After returning from a tour of duty in Afghanistan two weeks ago, his wife picked him up in their brand-new Chevy Avalanche, and they spent the night at a Winnipeg hotel.
"The next morning I went to go out and get a coffee, and the truck was gone," he told the CBC.
Their model didn't appear on MPI's most-at-risk list in 2006, but on the new list it ranks 38th, with a one-in-14 chance of being stolen.
Dunwoody said he might have thought twice about purchasing the vehicle if he'd known its odds of being stolen were higher.
"I don't think it's right that a person would even have to consider their vehicle because of the popularity of theft. It never really crossed our minds at all," he said.
Douglas noted that older vehicles are still the primary target of auto thieves: "[Older cars] continue to make up more than 50 per cent of the thefts."