Over 58,000 vehicles were reported as stolen to the DVLA by the Police in 2022.
The top car was the Ford Fiesta with 5,724 units being marked as stolen probably due to the news that Ford is discontinuing the model, making spare parts extremely valuable.
Here are the top 10 stolen cars for 2022 in the UK:
Top 10 Stolen Cars for 2022 in the UK
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1. Ford Fiesta: 5724 cars -
2. Land Rover Range Rover: 5,209 cars -
3. Ford Focus: 2,048 cars -
4. Volkswagen Golf: 1,959 cars -
5. Land Rover Discovery: 1,778 cars -
6. Vauxhall Corsa: 1,268 cars -
7. Vauxhall Astra: 1,215 cars -
8. Mercedes-Benz C-Class: 981 cars -
9. Audi A3: 805 cars -
10. Ford Ecosport: 656 cars
The majority of the vehciles that have been reported stolen have a keyless entry system, we will now go into detail on what this is.
What is Keyless Entry Theft?
Recent reports have highlighted that 94% of all vehicles stolen have been taken without needing the owner’s keys.
Most modern cars available in the UK now come with some sort of keyless entry systems, with car thieves no longer needing keys to gain access to a vehicle.
The car keys transmit a signal to the car on a continious basis, criminals then use technology to hijack this signal or boost/relay this signal to open the car and gain access, the keys will generally still be in the owners home.
There are many items on the market to prevent theft via this method, some vehicles also allow you to deactivate the keyless entry systems by double depressing the lock button on your keyfob.
The most popular device to prevent the relay of the signal is by using a faraday pouch. These puches block the keyless signal when you place the key fob inside it.
What do I need to do if my vehicle is stolen?
If you are unfortunate enough to have your car stolen, the first thing you need to do is dial 999 and speak to the police.
Before you call, you should have the following information to hand:
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Vehicle Registration Number (VRM) -
Make and Model of your vehicle -
Colour of the vehicle -
Where the vehicle was located or parked -
Details of the approximate time you believe the vehicle was stolen -
Tracker or app location details, if you have this enabled
Once reported to the Police, they may ask you for further information and should give you an incident or crime reference number, keep this handy as you will need to provide this to your insurance company.
When you speak to the insurance company, make sure you have your policy documents to hand.
If your stolen car hasn’t been located by the Police, you will need to make a claim on your car insurance and inform the DVLA immediately.
