95 SL2 most stolen vehicle in 2003

...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.

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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

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:

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:

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

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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

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