MSN should be stoped

[capriceman]

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/slideshow.a...amp;GT1=22008#1

Hot Wheels: America's 10 Most Stolen Cars

By James Tate of MSN Autos

It's a car owner's worst nightmare: stepping outside at home, office or grocery store only to find a pile of broken glass where the car was once parked. The police call it auto theft. We call it a pain in the . . . well, you know what. A car is stolen every 26 seconds in the United States, costing the American public nearly $7.6 billion each year. And if the National Insurance Crime Bureau's list of the most frequently stolen cars of 2008 is any indication, auto theft can happen to anyone. While it's no surprise that some cars are more likely to suffer a "Gone in 60 Seconds" type of incident than others, our eyebrows rose when we saw that the most stolen vehicle in America is one you can buy legally for $3,000.

10. 2002 Ford Explorer

Cinching up the list of the most stolen cars in 2008 is the 2002 Ford Explorer. While the poster child for the excessive SUV movement may not have much in the way of resale value these days, its 4.6-liter V8 engine shares parts with a number of Ford products, and that means there's a wide market for stolen bits and pieces. Of course in the summer of 2008, when gas prices were astronomical, the fuel in the truck's 22-gallon tank was probably worth more than the rest of the vehicle. Haven't thieves heard of siphoning?

9. 1999 Ford Taurus

Long before the Taurus evolved into a mean-looking, direct-injection 4-wheeled beast for 2010, this car was rental-fleet fodder. In fact, the Blue Oval sold more than 51 percent of this particular generation sedan straight into hard labor at Hertz and other rental companies. The rest went to schoolteachers and nice little old ladies. While you couldn't pay us enough to actually drive a pre-2010 model these days, there's a strong enough market in America's chop shops for the popular parts. How do you think cars are staying on the road longer these days?

8. 1994 Acura Integra

A perennial favorite among car thieves, the Acura Integra has slid down to No. 8 on the bureau's list. Last year the quick, front-wheel-drive car held a respectable No. 6. Although the tuner craze that consumed so many owners of Honda's luxury sport model has died off as of late, there are still more than a few whippersnappers out there who wouldn't mind paying a pretty penny for the right Integra-sourced engine. That includes ones that have been illegally obtained. We blame Vin Diesel.

7. 1996 Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee

The winner of the "most surprising" category has to be the Jeep Cherokee. While these particular SUVs were more popular than umbrellas in Seattle, they were plagued by drivetrain failures. Thieves are probably doing owners a favor by making off with Jeep's family hauler, but we're surprised they made it out of the neighborhood without the gearbox falling out. Whatever the reason for their popularity among thieves, the Cherokee and its classier Grand Cherokee cousin managed to place No. 7 on the list.

6. 2000 Dodge Caravan

It takes a special kind of soul to eye a 2000 Dodge Caravan and think, "Yeah, that's the one I want to risk going to prison for." What draws those bent toward grand-theft auto to Dodge's symbol of domesticity? It certainly isn't the car's anemic V6 engine, weak transmission or heavy all-wheel-drive system. It's possible that thieves like the easy sliding doors and cavernous cargo space for moving other stolen parts around. Or maybe Mrs. Car Thief really needs a way to get the kiddies to school in the morning.

5. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup

The Dodge Ram pickup has moved up two slots on the list from last year. Heinously tough, the Dodge Ram boasts beefy axles and snarling V8 and diesel engines. The trucks are also incredibly popular, which means thieves have their pick of HEMI-powered pickups from which to choose. Throw in the fact that the Ram is likely to be a work truck loaded with expensive tools and building equipment, and you have a tasty target for any criminal mastermind.

4. 1997 Ford F-150 Pickup

Not surprisingly, America's best-selling truck also makes an appearance on the list of most stolen vehicles. Like the Ram, the truck itself isn't worth the sum of the parts inside. The '90s-era F-150 came with a variety of powerful engines, the most sought-after being a 7.5-liter fuel-injected big-block V8. It's the same engine that powers many of Ford's bigger commercial trucks and RVs, and it fetches a pretty penny on the "pre-owned" market. Even the smaller engines share parts with the legions of Blue Oval vehicles on the road, making it a treasure trove for whoever can lay hands on one.

3. 1989 Toyota Camry

We're guessing this one has more to do with sheer volume than it does any actual demand for parts. The 1989 Toyota Camry is unlovable by nearly everyone's standards today. Well, everyone except car thieves. The segment-topping 2.5-liter V6 engine pumped out a blistering 160 horsepower in 1989, and we'd wager that most of those horses have fled the stable in the 20 years since this car was sold new. However, the Camry was popular and that means Toyota's ubiquitous sedan cements a No. 3 spot on the list.

2. 1995 Honda Civic

Last year's winner has been bumped off by the new ruler of stolen autos. Even so, the 1995 Honda Civic still holds a respectable second place. Not too shabby for a 14-year-old car. Like many of the vehicles on this list, the combination of outrageous production numbers and relatively high-dollar parts makes the Civic a winner among thieves. The 1995 Honda Civic is the poster child of the tuner movement, and that means owners can dump thousands of dollars into customizing their cars — icing on the cake that makes an already tempting target all but irresistible.

1. 1994 Honda Accord

The 1994 Honda Accord didn't even rank on last year's list of top 10 most stolen cars. As with the Accord's little brother, the Civic, Honda built a large number of Accords in 1994. If you're looking to steal a car that won't raise any eyebrows, it's hard to do better than one everyone on your block already owns. Throw in the temptation of easy-to-sell, easy-to-remove parts and the Accord basically becomes the belle of the ball. Of course, this just goes to show that stealing cars is nothing like it is in the movies.

[capriceman]

what they wrote is sickening like the fuel in the tank is worth more than the explorer? and the tarus on stays running becasue it is constantly fed parts? or how they cna see a thief taking a acura.

Im pissed off reading this.

[Camino LS6]

The scribblings of an asshat with an obvious bias.

Worthless.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Meh... He pretty much slams every car on there.

Probably just an urban yuppie piece of sh*t that doesn't even own a car and wrote this in a coffee shop next to his "loft"

[Hudson]

what they wrote is sickening like the fuel in the tank is worth more than the explorer? and the tarus on stays running becasue it is constantly fed parts? or how they cna see a thief taking a acura.

Im pissed off reading this.

The Explorer/gas tank reference isn't so much a dig on the value of the Explorer as much as it was a dig at the price of 22 gallons of gas. I don't see why it should make you mad.

The point that should make you, as a car aficianado, mad is the point about the 1997 F-150 and "the most sought-after...7.5-liter fuel-injected big-block V8." While the 460cid V8 was offered in the F-350 in 1997, the F-150 only had a choice of the 4.2L V6 or the SOHC V8 (4.6L or 5.4L). Even the short-lived non-SuperDuty 1997 F-250 didn't have an engine larger than the 5.4L.

It's that kind of lack of basic automotive knowledge that should make readers (and does make writers) mad.

[Blake Noble]

I'd like to know what the author used as research material.

[pow]

Probably just an urban yuppie piece of sh*t that doesn't even own a car and wrote this in a coffee shop next to his "loft"

His bio: "James Tate cut his teeth in the business as a race team crew member before moving to the editorial side as Senior Editor of Sport Compact Car, and his work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Automobile, Motor Trend and European Car. When not writing, Tate is usually fantasizing about a vintage Porsche 911."

The loft-living coffee drinkers of the world demand an apology, or at least request the creation of a different, more accurate stereotype for amends - preferably, one of Euro trash or Asian ricers instead...

[Daryl Z71]

I don't expect anything great from M$ or anyone that has anything to do with them.

[Robert Hall]

The loft-living coffee drinkers of the world demand an apology, or at least request the creation of a different, more accurate stereotype for amends - preferably, one of Euro trash or Asian ricers instead...

Exactly...I used to be a loft living coffee drinking, BMW owning and Jeep driving urbanite in downtown Denver before I moved to the burbs. Seems like FOG has prejudice against urban yuppies (and doesn't he live in urban area himself)?

Rob

Edited August 25, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[FAPTurbo]

What they wrote is sickening like the 1989 Camry losing most of it's horses over 20 years or how Honda's are poster children for 'tuner's' . This guy is probably a Dixie flag waving, beer swilling redneck!

[Robert Hall]

What they wrote is sickening like the 1989 Camry losing most of it's horses over 20 years or how Honda's are poster children for 'tuner's' . This guy is probably a Dixie flag waving, beer swilling redneck!

I can't recall the last time I've seen any '80s Camry. I'm sure there are some still on the road, but I haven't noticed one in ages. I guess the theft rate is for demand for parts.

[A Horse With No Name]

The list is probably copied from 2004 or something. Around here, it is pretty rarte to even see an Integra anymore.

I can't even think of the last time I saw an Integra, outside of dedicated autocross or track cars with the SCCA.

Chris

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

His bio: "James Tate cut his teeth in the business as a race team crew member

Yeah.. right... I know a lot of "race team crew members" here in Charlotte that don't even know what a torque wrench is. Racing is as much a business now as anything.

before moving to the editorial side as Senior Editor of Sport Compact Car, and his work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Automobile, Motor Trend and European Car. When not writing, Tate is usually fantasizing about a vintage Porsche 911."

THERE'S the problem... Not only is he a ricer (and potential fan of Japan Inc.) he's also a Porsche snob.

The loft-living coffee drinkers of the world demand an apology, or at least request the creation of a different, more accurate stereotype for amends - preferably, one of Euro trash or Asian ricers instead...

LOL... Actually, I'm a loft dweller.

Exactly...I used to be a loft living coffee drinking, BMW owning and Jeep driving urbanite in downtown Denver before I moved to the burbs. Seems like FOG has prejudice against urban yuppies (and doesn't he live in urban area himself)?

FOG has prejudices against everyone....

Even though my comments were meant as a joke, I'll take the bait and make a few more friends. FWIW, I just don't like hypocrites. And 99% of the people that fit the stereotype I posted are the biggest hypocrites in america. "Do as I say, not as I do."

In my opinion, the "coffee shop culture" is symbolic of the disgrace that america has become (which is why I hate it). EXHIBIT A: Instead of waking up at home, INDEPENDENTLY making his own coffee and enjoying the success. The typical coffee shop dweller gets up, exports the work (drives) to another location. Once at that location, he pays FAR TOO MUCH for another entity to prep the same (imported) hot water and same (imported) beans that he could've made himself. Then he hangs around and feels a 'metropolitan' sense of community with all of the other hypocrites and pretenders.

In fact, the coffee shop itself is a metaphor for what america has become. A place where it looks like a lot is happening and people are being very productive. However, at the core of it all, the place/people are merely servicing imported goods that have little value or impact on life in general. And all the fuss is about nothing, because it only serves to hide what is truly happening. A GIANT RIP OFF AND WASTE OF TIME.

But I do enjoy the smoothies at Ritazza...

What they wrote is sickening like the 1989 Camry losing most of it's horses over 20 years or how Honda's are poster children for 'tuner's' . This guy is probably a Dixie flag waving, beer swilling redneck!

In that case... I take everything I said back. He seems like a cool dude! LMAO....

Edited August 25, 2009 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Robert Hall]

In fact, the coffee shop itself is a metaphor for what america has become. A place where it looks like a lot is happening and people are being very productive. However, at the core of it all, the place/people are merely servicing imported goods that have little value or impact on life in general. And all the fuss is about nothing, because it only serves to hide what is truly happening. A GIANT RIP OFF AND WASTE OF TIME.

I like my Saturday morning Venti triple shot mocha douchearino w/ a artisan sandwich on the side. But I don't actually go into Starbucks, I roll through their drive thru in the JGC or the Merc 500SEL (which doesn't have cupholders--ARGGGGGGGHHHHHH).

Years ago, back during the 2002 tech bubble, I was an unemployed techie for a while and hung out in coffee shops in Colorado Springs (Pike's Perk, great local place) w/ my laptop w/ other unemployed techies enjoying the free wireless..

Though nowdays, a MacBook Pro is necessary to hang out in coffee shops, a Windows laptop will only get you laughs of derision in the more tech oriented zipcodes, I've observed.

Rob

[Intrepidation]

Even though Macs are for those who don't know how to use computers.

[Robert Hall]

Even though Macs are for those who don't know how to use computers.

People into creative stuff seem to prefer them (GUI design, websites, photo manipulation, publishing, etc).

As an enterprise Java and Oracle developer that dabbles in Ruby on Rails, I prefer them as they have pure UNIX goodness inside (OS X is UNIX based).

Alas, though, the corporate cubeland development environments are still predominantly Windows, though the production environments are UNIX (Sun Solaris, IBM, and HP usually in the banking, finance and insurance worlds that I know pretty well).

Rob

Edited August 25, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[67impss]

Though not a noob nore a pure techie I prefer PC's with Linux though not a command line user it works 4 me

[Robert Hall]

Though not a noob nore a pure techie I prefer PC's with Linux though not a command line user it works 4 me

I used to be a Linux fan, SuSe and Redhat, even all the way back to Slackware 15 years ago, but in recent years prefer OS X. Solaris is probably still my favorite UNIX variant, going back to the early '90s.

Trying to do simple things like hooking up a printer, connecting to a wireless network drove me nuts w/ Linux. With MAC OS X, it. just. works.

Rob

Edited August 25, 2009 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[67impss]

I used to be a Linux fan, SuSe and Redhat, even all the way back to Slackware 15 years ago, but in recent years prefer OS X. Solaris is probably still my favorite UNIX variant, going back to the early '90s.

Rob

PCLinuxOS 2009 ROCKS!

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I like my Saturday morning Venti triple shot mocha douchearino w/ a artisan sandwich on the side. But I don't actually go into Starbucks, I roll through their drive thru in the JGC or the Merc 500SEL (which doesn't have cupholders--ARGGGGGGGHHHHHH).

Years ago, back during the 2002 tech bubble, I was an unemployed techie for a while and hung out in coffee shops in Colorado Springs (Pike's Perk, great local place) w/ my laptop w/ other unemployed techies enjoying the free wireless..

Though nowdays, a MacBook Pro is necessary to hang out in coffee shops, a Windows laptop will only get you laughs of derision in the more tech oriented zipcodes, I've observed.

Rob

LOL.

That must make me really two-faced then, because I'm usually bumming wireless on our MacBook Pro or my iPhone. (My GF has an iPhone too, we're an Apple family) I gave my GF so much hell about getting an iPhone because I hate how trendy and "holier than thou" Apple culture has become (even though I like the MacBook Pro a lot) But then I started using it and became addicted. I almost hate how trendy it is, but it's so damn cool and does so many awesome tricks that I can't put it down. Now I can rant at you guys from ANYWHERE, LOL.

But see, that mentality you touched on (not held by everyone, I know) is exactly what I'm talking about. All those Mac loving, Prius driving, designer wearing, soft rock/trendy music listening people that don't accept others simply because they CHOSE to be different or live their life differently. It's the sort of thing I rebel against with passion because I consider it the epitome of sheep mentality. And it's INCREDIBLY BORING, if nothing else.

"Eww, he's a CON-servative?!?! eww..."

"Eww, you drive a domestic?!?!"

"Eww, you like heavy metal?!? What, do you worship satan?"

"Eww, you're not wearing D&G glasses?"

It's called FEAR. And I guess I'm so sensitive to it because I've had this FEAR shoved down my throat for the last 4 years by all of my GFs architecture friends. They don't like me personally because I'm different from them. (Okay, okay... You guys know me, I enjoy screwing with them as much as I can) And GOD FORBID an ARTS based architecture school teach ANYONE to be an individual and do their own thing, it's all about what the instructors think and "how you should act as an architect"

Edited August 26, 2009 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[FAPTurbo]

Until I read this thread, I had no idea what D&G glasses were.

[Robert Hall]

Until I read this thread, I had no idea what D&G glasses were.

Dolce & Gabbana...popular w/ blingtards. I stick w/ prescription RayBans for the shades....

[capriceman]

how many Camry's did Toyota sell in 89? I didn't think they were a big player until late 90's. to use the sheer numbers' thing. It just seems to be a slight hint of bias like it was embarrassing for a import to be on the list. my caprice has a 24.5 gallon tank and I'm willing to bet a explorer is worth more. Your right Hudson I don't know or personally don't care what engines ford made in 97. what bothers me is the style of writing.

[Robert Hall]

how many Camry's did Toyota sell in 89? I didn't think they were a big player until late 90's. to use the sheer numbers' thing. It just seems to be a slight hint of bias like it was embarrassing for a import to be on the list. my caprice has a 24.5 gallon tank and I'm willing to bet a explorer is worth more. Your right Hudson I don't know or personally don't care what engines ford made in 97. what bothers me is the style of writing.

Actually saw a Camry from that era today, a black wagon with serious paint fade. I think the generation after that (looked kind of like a Taurus, '93 or '94) was when the sales of the Camry really took off in the US.

[daves87rs]

Very interesting...