David Linklater: Driven Deputy Editor on the Toyota Aqua being the most stolen car in 2024

The Toyota Aqua has held onto its title for the third year in a row. 

The hatchback is New Zealand’s most stolen car, making up 8% of all stolen vehicle claims in 2024. 

New figures released by AMI today show the company received almost 12,000 vehicle claims last year, including those related to attempted vehicle theft.   

Driven Deputy Editor David Linklater told Ryan Bridge that it’s likely down to numbers. 

He says that they’re a hugely popular used import, so there’s tens of thousands of them on the road. 

Linklater says they’re quite anonymous, very familiar cars that aren’t really noticed on the street. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Toyota Aqua is the most stolen car in New
Zealand for the third year in a row. If you
haven't seen one, probably because they're speeding past at nighttime,
being driven by a criminal, by a thief. David Linklater
is the driven Deputy editor who's with us this morning. David,
good morning recording. Why is the Aqua so popular among thieves?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Look, some of it's just down to numbers. I think
it's a hugely popular used import. When you think of
all of the used imports that come into New Zealand,
about half of those toyotas every year, and Aqua is
the number one toyota used import, so there's just tens
of thousands of them on the road. But there's obviously
something about the early acquas that were made, this first

(00:41):
generation that receives so many of them were made for
about a decade and twenty eleven. I think there's something
about those acquas that makes them very easy to steal.
Because the number two used import is the standard Preus
and that's not on the solen list anywhere. So there's
something special about an acula or a pre c as
you might also call it. To thieves.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
There used to be an issue with the Subaru windows
that made them quite popular with these Do you think
it's something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
It could be something like that, And I mean pop
tip if you're thinking of buying an act Quat. Some
of the later models have a push button start, which
I understand are much harder to steal. So the early
ones just have a key start. So if you are
looking for an Acqua, and a lot of people obviously
are because they're super popular, look for one with the
push button start and press are still on that list,
by the way, it's still number eight, so sober you're

(01:27):
still there.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
And that's the window issue. What about the immobilizers? Do
do these smaller cars not have them? Is that part
of the appeal too?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
I think a lot of the early ones don't and
used in brought cars from Japan, you know, Japanese domestic models.
We're famously sort of lacking a lot of that basic
safety stuff in the early days. And remember we're talking
about you know, relatively old cars date back sort of
twenty eleven some of them. So again, the later ones
are probably the ones to look for if you're buying them,

(01:57):
because they'll have a lot more safety gear.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
David, it's the tank of cars that can't be stolen.
If I'm really worried about having my car neck during
the night, what should I buy?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Oh, it's sixty four thousand dollar question. Isn't it probably
cost you about sixty four thousand dollars too? I mean
the rule, if I'm really is the newer the better,
because newer cars are much shouted to seal and a
lot of you know, if you look at the top
ten sort of stolen cars list, they all are of
a type there. Their apologies to anybody who values who

(02:27):
loves their equa, but they're all quite anonymous, very familiar cars,
and I guess most of them get stolen to do
something bared with and so they're quite they're not noticed
on the street, they're easy to drive around, and they're plentiful,
so you can always find one on the street. So
buy something wacky, I guess, David.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Thank you, David Link. They had a driven deputy editor
with us this morning. Yeah, you only noticed the acqua
when it's you know, sort of assend is sticking out
of a dairy, don't you.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
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