The 2000 model-year Civic is the most stolen of all, lacking the anti-theft technologies of more modern cars.
Honda's Civic and Accord took third and fourth places on the list, with the most common stolen year of Civic being 2000. The Accord falls even further behind, with 1997 being the most common model year stolen.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau found that the most stolen vehicle in the United States is the Honda Civic. Nearly 6% of all vehicles stolen in the U.S. in the past year were Honda Civics. The Honda Accord is the second most stolen vehicle.
2001. The 2001 Honda Civic went down in history as one of the worst. They had significant recalls and issues with the transmission, all of which came with average costs of $2300.
The Civic, long one of our top-scoring small cars, slipped substantially with this redesign. Blame sits with so-so interior quality, a choppy ride and more pronounced road noise. Vague steering robs the Civic of its fun-to-drive feel. On the up side, the Civic provides decent rear-seat room and great fuel economy.
The Model Years 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, and 2001 are the absolute worst years of the Honda Civic. However, The best overall Model Years to buy are 2023-2011 and 1995. This result was concluded from trustworthy authorities like NHTSA, Edmund, Jd Power, and Kelley Blue Book reviews.
If you're in the market for a used Honda Civic, it's best to avoid years 2001–2004, and 2006–2008. Also worth looking out for is the 2016 model year. Although the Civic has a decent reliability record, these models have proven to be quite problematic, with multiple recalls and consumer complaints.
Why do thieves target Honda cars? Honda cars are a target because they have hybrid systems. The catalytic converters of Honda cars will fetch more price when resold. Thieves who remove them with jacks and angle grinders find them relatively easy to steal.
The Honda Civic and Honda Accord are the top-two most stolen cars in America according to a report from Insurify. They say the 1998 Honda Civic is stolen more often than any vehicle in America at a rate 6 per 1,000 vetches and 45,062 were stolen last year.
The first-generation Civic was introduced on 11 July 1972, but sold as a 1973 model in Japan.
Honda Accord
From 30,814 Honda Accord thefts reported in 2020, numbers were lower by 540 in 2021, putting it at 30,274. However, the 1997 model remains the most popular with thieves. Besides having no anti-theft technology, various models use its parts — thieves can get a hefty sum for these.
But it's not random as there are some models that thieves target more than others. And year after year, the most-stolen vehicles are Hondas made in the 1990s. In fact, of the 700,00 cars boosted in America last year, over 100,000 were Civics and Accords from the 1990s. Why Hondas, you ask?
Granted, a lot of the car nabbing has to do with taking parts of cars, however, BMW car models tend to be on the safer side. For example, the BMW 3 Series is the least stolen vehicle in the US according to data by the Highway Loss Data Institute.
The Honda anti-theft system is a security feature that is installed in Honda vehicles to stop people from stealing your car. This security feature requires the rider to enter a password after putting in the ignition key for it to drive away.
Only cars with a keyless entry system can be stolen using so called “relay” equipment. Keyless entry cars allow the driver to unlock and start the car with the key fob still in their pocket. Once in the car, the driver can press a button to start the engine.
And, in terms of reliability, Honda Civic best years include the eleventh-generation Honda Civic: 2022-2023; the tenth-generation Honda Civic: 2017-2021; ninth-generation Honda Civic: 2012-2015; the eighth-generation Honda Civic: 2010-2011; the seventh-generation Honda Civic: 2004-2005; the sixth-generation Honda Civic ...
First Generation (1972-1979)
The component that made the Civic so popular was Honda's advanced CVCC engine that produced remarkable fuel economy when petrol prices were soaring. This engine worked using an auxiliary inlet valve to provide a rich air/fuel mixture near the spark plug.