Muscle cars continue to be a magnet for thieves. According to a new report from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, late-model varieties of the Chevrolet Camaro attract sticky fingers, with the ZL1 variant being the most coveted.
Focusing on model years 2022 to 2024, the research showed that the Camaro and Camaro ZL1 ranked third and first, respectively, in insurance claims for whole-vehicle theft. The Acura TLX split the difference. Overall, though, the top 20 skewed toward large trucks and SUVs, vehicles that tend to be high-powered and higher priced. The General Motors portfolio took up nearly half the slots, with nine. Stellantis came in second overall with five vehicles earning a most-stolen distinction.
How about the least likely vehicle to be stolen? Electric vehicles and hybrids. Twelve electrified vehicles showed up in the bottom 20. Tesla was the winner, taking up four of the five spots for the least-stolen car crown.
You can say public opinion makes these vehicles undesirable, but keep in mind that EVs and PHEVs tend to be garage-parked or are near a building, usually for charging purposes. High-visibility areas bring unwanted high exposure to lowlife criminals. In the announcement, Matt Moore, chief insurance operations officer at HLDI and sister agency, IIHS, said:
“Muscle cars have often topped this list, as thieves are attracted to vehicles with high horsepower. That also helps explain why the more expensive, more powerful ZL1 is stolen so much more often than the standard Camaro.
We expect powerful and high-value vehicles to be targeted, and these models check both those boxes. But it stood out to us that Camaros that were nearly 10 years old had such high claim frequencies.”
Ooh, plot twist! So, even older Camaro models are being swiped? Muscles are hot, sure, but the relative ease with which they are stolen made them extra appealing. In this case, a glitch reportedly allows the Camaro’s key fob to be easily copied, granting thieves a way into the driver’s seat — no glass breaking required. According to GM Authority:
A big reason Camaro theft is so common is that its key fobs became infamously hackable. Carjackers used smartphone-sized key cloning devices available on Amazon to detect and copy the Kelyess Entry and Kelyess Ignition functions of nearby Camaro key fobs. Because of its high horsepower and dollar value, the Camaro ZL1 was the most desirable variant to steal.
The enthusiast site reports that a class action lawsuit by Camaro owners was filed in California last year. The model years listed are 2010 to 2023, the very ones likely to be stolen. But the muscle car crew is not alone. Just last month, a new class action lawsuit was filed in Texas. Claiming the same key fob security issues, the vehicles listed in that suit run the gamut of GM trucks and SUVs, from the Chevy Tahoe to the Cadillac Escalade.
GM Authority shared news that a software update addressing the key fob issue was released in March for 2020-24 Camaro vehicles. The dealer-installed update requires no additional parts and is said to take less than an hour. In a statement sent to the outlet, GM said:
“This body control module software enhancement involves an important security update for certain model year 2020 to 2024 Chevrolet Camaros. GM counters vehicle theft methods as they evolve. We regularly work with law enforcement agencies to identify emerging tactics that may affect our products and make updates as needed to defend against them.”
If this sounds familiar, Hyundai and Kia faced similar circumstances (albeit in a lower-tech way) following the notorious pandemic-era “Kia Challenge.” In viral social media posts, the cars were being stolen via anything the shape and size of a USB stick. It was so easy, blatant, and rampant that the South Korean automaker was briefly deemed uninsurable in some states. Available software updates did make the vehicles more difficult to steal, but only if you, you know, actually updated your car in the first place. The HLDI noted:
A similar campaign has worked well for Hyundai and Kia, which saw some of their models unexpectedly break into the top 20 most-stolen vehicles in 2021, another recent report shows.
HLDI has been tracking the campaign’s impact since it began in February 2023. The latest analysis shows that the frequency of theft claims of all kinds was 46% lower for eligible Hyundai and Kia vehicles that received the upgrade than for those that didn’t. Whole-vehicle theft claims were 52% less frequent for vehicles with the upgrade.
But theft of Hyundai and Kia vehicles still remains high for model years 2011 to 2022, added the HLDI. The current rate is “at nearly 10 and 11 claims per 1,000 insured vehicles” for the South Korean duo versus fewer than two claims per 1,000 when all manufacturers are factored in. As of December, the HLDI reports that only about 40% of eligible Hyundai and Kia vehicles were updated. Said Moore:
“This intervention showed dramatic results right off the bat, offering owners some peace of mind. Owners who still haven’t gotten the software upgrade should do so immediately, as it’s the best way to protect their vehicle.”
For this report, the HLDI identifies whole-vehicle thefts “by comparing the dollar amounts of theft claims with what insurers pay for the same vehicles when they’re totaled in a crash.” The reason is that theft claims don’t always specify whether the vehicle was stolen entirely or just components, like a catalytic converter.
The good news in all of this is that car theft is down overall. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) reports that just 850,708 vehicles were stolen last year. Okay, yeah, that’s still a lot of cars being grabbed. But it’s nevertheless a significant drop from the 1,020,729 that went missing in 2023, which the agency said was a “historical peak.”
So that’s something the Hyundai and GM owners can cheer about. Unless you own an Elantra. Despite the car stealing slowdown, for the second year in a row, the Elantra remains the most stolen vehicle, period.
Top graphic image: Chevrolet
As a 2021 Zl1 owner, I do use a club when leaving it for any time, which is a minor deterrent I’m sure. Also manual trans, another deterrent. But yeah anymore I do not like parking it overnight outside and road trips is another source of concern as well, hotel and all. My car insurance comprehensive premium has gone up 3x since I got it in 2021, add in MI being generally pricey and the cost of the Zl1s premium is the same as two other newer Hondas in the house combined. Pay to play I suppose…
I did get the BCM update, which I suppose helps with theft… Well that is until it doesn’t ????
Probably my half mile down the road neighbors who got busted last year.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a60311230/corvette-camaro-chop-shop-raided/
Key fobs were a mistake.
That just seems so wrong that newer tech makes cars easier to steal. Get your shit together, auto engineers.
Some surprises on the least-stolen list starting with the Elantra Hybrid at #13, I suppose the hybrid model never came with the chipless physical key. Tesla at the top of the list is also surprising, they really have dropped down in desirablity if not even car thieves want them anymore.
Others aren’t as surprising – Ford Explorer in the middle of the least-stolen, why approach it if you’re only kinda-sorta sure it’s not a cop car…
Considering Stellantis only makes like 5 cars I’d say they look even worse than GM does.
Are these stolen high-horsepower cars desirable to sell off (or parted out and sold) or are they desirable as street takeover vehicles which are just going to be trashed and then abandoned?
I suppose ‘both’ is an option.
The penalties for stealing a crapcan are the same as for stealing a Camaro. Might was well have some thrills with the risk.
I’d forgotten about how I traded in my 2017 Kia Forte seemingly just a few days before I first heard about the Kia Challenge. The timing was extremely lucky. Also I then didn’t own a Kia anymore, so it was like a double-scoop waffle cone of good luck!
My neighbor got a new car to replace his Forte shortly after the news started reporting on the Kia Challenge…because someone stole his Forte. He didn’t necessarily consider it lucky, but he did end up in a nicer car (I think a Jetta) for less than a new Forte because a local dealer group was running a tongue-in-cheek promo about giving discounts to folks who had their Kia stolen.
To be fair, I liked my Forte while I had it. But I wouldn’t want to go back to it.
Amusingly, my neighbor had a similar sentiment. He had no dislike for the car, but he didn’t want to go back to it after getting into something better.
GM uh…finds a way. At least the thieves have good taste. The ZL1 is a weapon. Unless you spend 6 figures or more there’s not very much that can keep up with it.
Man, if only these things had a mandatory factory installed GSM module which collects GPS data and telemetry data that is usually used to build user profiles and later sold to insurance agencies already built in. Wouldn’t that be great?
We already can’t have Chinese cars because they might spy on us while we drive between the apartment complex, TGI Fridays and the office-park…
That assumes we have law enforcement that prioritizes auto theft. Maybe they mostly do, but I’ve read a few stories of ppl who have reported “my stolen car is at 123 Main Street” and nothing happens.
My local news covered this, and I’ll add a small bit it somewhat surprisingly pursued in its piece – nope, not a single manual transmission model on the list.
The easiest anti-theft device, just 3 pedals and stick!
I think most professional thieves that are selling or chopping a car use a tiltbed,
“Most stolen”?
I must have missed the caveats here. I’m sure, by volume, many others vehicles would far exceed this.
I’m guessing Beverly means “as a percentage of the vehicle population”.
If the Kias rate is around 10 per thousand, that means 1% (or 1 of every 100) are getting stolen every year. Because there are so many of them out there, that works out to well over three quarters of a million vehicle thefts.
Obviously there aren’t that many Cameros out there, but the way I read this, of the ZL1s that are out there, more than one of each hundred out there are getting stolen every year.
That was my assumption, so immediately I thought “Sounds like a denominator issue” 🙂
The ZL1 is still pretty rare, so rarity plus desirability = high theft rate.
I’m not really sure what the general public really uses this information for, but it definitely makes headlines. Kiundai insurance rates are still higher than average because a small subset of models (with physical keys) underwent that high-profile theft trend mentioned above. Insurers generally raised rates on the entire portfolio.
Right. And if you are a Camaro owner, you don’t really care about the total number. You care about the odds of YOUR car getting swiped.