What auto thieves in Ontario want and how you can stop them

With car theft on the rise in and around Toronto, you may be wondering if your car could be a target.

In fact, a Investigation by CBC Toronto Found car thefts are up nearly 45 per cent year-on-year in the city – with 2022 three months to go – and up 54 per cent in the Peel region as of August 31. That comes on top of the car thefts taking place in Toronto, up 209 percent so far this year from 2021.

So what vehicles are thieves targeting and what can you do to stop them?

CBC Toronto has compiled a list of the top affected vehicles in Ontario as of 2020 and some tips on how to protect your car.

The most stolen vehicles in 2020

According to Det. Sgt. Peter Wehby, the most commonly stolen vehicles have push-to-start ignitions – the ones with a key fob.

That aligns with what the Équité Association, which researches and analyzes insurance fraud and crime, found when compiling their top 10 list of stolen vehicles in Ontario for 2020.

The list highlights a key trend in vehicle theft across the country, it said: As more vehicles are equipped with remote keyless entry, electronic auto theft is on the rise across Canada.

“These are not young people stealing cars for jaunts, or perhaps a group who might steal a car to use for a secondary offense. These are professional criminals with professional networks,” said Michael Slack, director of auto theft for Ontario and Eastern Canada for the Équité Association. “And often the expertise of that specific network can influence the type of vehicle being stolen in your neighborhood.”

In other words, a group that has figured out how to get past the security of a particular vehicle is likely to pursue more of them and skyrocket the number of thefts in a given area.

The top stolen vehicles in Ontario include the Lexus RX Series, Honda CR-V Series and Honda Civic Series.

Here is the full list:

Use a multi-pronged approach to deter thieves

Car thieves want to get in your car and drive off as soon as possible.

That’s why Bryan Gast, vice president of investigative services at the Équité Association, suggests a “layered approach” to make it more awkward for thieves – “everything that makes it harder for the criminals to steal that vehicle.” [and] increases the time for what they need to do,” he says.

But before you dive into the protection you can buy, there are many basic steps that cost nothing and can make a big difference, experts suggest.

First the obvious: always take your keys with you when you park, don’t leave your vehicle running, keep your doors and windows closed, and always use the emergency brake. And definitely don’t leave the original property or insurance cards in your vehicle – consider a photocopy instead.

But here are some lesser-known tips that may help:

Do you have a push vehicle?

If your vehicle has keyless ignition, there are a few additional steps you can take to make it more difficult to steal.

• Don’t keep your key near your front door or near a window. Better yet, keep your fob in a signal-blocking pouch lined with material to prevent your fob from emitting a signal to your vehicle. This prevents it from being intercepted and potentially reprogrammed by would-be thieves.

• Avoid the walk-away barrier. you know him You have parked your vehicle, walk away and remotely press the lock button. That, Gast says, creates a range that can leave your key fob’s signal vulnerable to being intercepted.

CLOCK | CBC Marketplace shows how a vehicle can be stolen in minutes:

Emergency stop button, window etching and other protections

Here are some other protective tools and measures that come at a price, but experts say can be valuable investments:

• Invest in an onboard diagnostic connector block, either physical or electronic, to deter thieves from reprogramming a car’s key fob and disabling the security system.

What to do if your car is stolen?

• Report it to the police immediately. The sooner police have that information and can enter it into the Canada Police Information Center database, the better chance an officer will have of identifying them on the street, says Slack of the Équité Association.

• Then report it to your insurance company — something you won’t have any trouble with if you’ve followed another tip on this list: keep your original documents at home so that if your vehicle is stolen, thieves won’t take your documents with them.

• “Finally, you should look at your insurance policy ahead of time to make sure it will cover you for possible theft,” says Matt Hands, senior director of insurance at RateHub.ca. “Basic long-term care insurance often doesn’t cover auto theft, so customers may want to consider comprehensive coverage and other top-ups, such as: