Thursday, February 11, 2010

Top 10 most wanted cars by Polish thieves

From: The News
Car thieves still can’t resist a Polish made Fiat - that’s the surprising conclusion of a new police report.

Almost 17,000 cars were stolen in Poland last year. Most of them were German and Japanese vehicles but the good-old Polish Fiat was also a target of thieves in Poland.

According to police, Polish thieves stole mainly Volkswagen Passat and Golf - over 3,000 of them, in fact, Audi A4 and A6 - almost 1,000 - then Skoda Oktavia and Toyota Corolla.

“Surprisingly, the Polish Fiat 126p is still popular loot of Polish thieves, who strip it down it and sell the parts,” says Agnieszka Hamelusz from the Police Headquarters.

Ford Focus and Escort and Toyota Avensis were also frequently stolen.

Police claim that cars are usually stolen by professional thieves, who specialize in stealing a particular make of car.

Theft, however, is becoming more high tech the further up the quality chain you go. In order to steal brand new and luxurious cars thieves usually hack onboard computers or jam alarm systems, rarely stealing car keys or breaking windows.

And insurance scams are growing in number. “Recently more and more people report a car theft in order to wheedle money from insurance companies,” says Hamelusz.