Melbourne’s West Tops The State’s Favourites For Car Thieves: RACV

Melbourne's western and inner suburbs are Victoria's riskiest region for parked cars, new figures from insurer RACV reveal this week. 

According to new data, 12 percent of all car theft claims lodged by RACV members in the past year occurred in the western suburbs of St Albans, Taylors Lakes, Laverton, Sydenham and Sunshine. 

Moving to the inner suburbs, 10 percent of all metropolitan car theft claims related to Richmond, South Yarra, St Kilda and the CBD. The Melbourne CBD accounted for one-in-ten theft claims.

Holden's Commodore and the Ford Falcon remain the objects of desire for most thieves, making up a huge 26 percent of all claims.

The Toyota Camry and Corolla, along with the Ford Laser and Nissan Pulsar, also proved attractive.

The data also showed that 34 percent of claimants indicated that their car was stolen between the daylight hours of 6am and midday. 

RACV's Paul Northey said that contrary to popular belief, daylight hours remain the most popular time for car theft.

“While many motorists would believe their car is more likely to be stolen at night, the period between midnight and 6am is the least popular time period for car theft, accounting for just 15 percent of claims.”

RACV's Top Ten Regions For Theft Claims