Insurers track which vehicles thieves target most, and the gap between the top and bottom of the list is striking. Highway Loss Data Institute figures put some performance Dodge models at many times the average claim rate, while certain electric cars barely register. Here are twelve models, from the Charger Hellcat to the Tesla Model 3, that show how wide that spread runs.
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1. Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat: The Most Stolen Vehicle on Record
The Durango SRT Hellcat posted the highest whole-vehicle theft claim frequency in HLDI’s 2021-23 study, a relative figure of 5,282 against an all-vehicle index of 100. Its relative overall theft losses reached 10,515, according to the HLDI theft report.
That puts a large SUV at the top of the entire ranking. HLDI’s all-vehicle baseline in that study was 0.49 claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years, so a figure more than fifty times the index is far outside normal territory for any model.
2. GMC Sierra 2500: Heavy-Duty Pickup With a Theft Problem
The crew cab 4WD version of the Sierra 2500 recorded a relative whole-vehicle theft claim frequency of 712 in the HLDI theft figures. Its relative overall theft losses came to 1,071, well above the index baseline of 100.
Heavy-duty trucks rarely feature in theft conversations dominated by compact cars. The loss index running higher than the frequency index means each claim was costly, though the report ties both figures to one specific configuration.
3. Acura TLX: A Luxury Sedan Thieves Favor
HLDI measured a relative whole-vehicle theft claim frequency of 539 for the four-wheel-drive, four-door TLX. That is more than five times the all-vehicle index of 100, as laid out in the insurance report data.
The figure applies to a particular configuration, the 4WD four-door, so other trims of the sedan may land elsewhere. Even so, a multiple above five places it well inside the group insurers flag as high risk for theft claims.
4. Kia Forte: Budget Compact on the Claims List
The Forte registered a relative whole-vehicle theft claim frequency of 407, built on 760 theft claims in HLDI’s 2021-23 data. The numbers appear in the HLDI 2021-23 data.
A modest family compact reaching this tier shows that theft exposure is not limited to performance cars. The claim count of 760 gives the index a real sample behind it, rather than a handful of unusual incidents. Kia’s appearance here is consistent with HLDI’s finding that Kia and Hyundai theft claim frequency ran more than 80% higher.
5. Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat: Sixty Times the Average
Theft claims for the Charger SRT Hellcat ran more than 60 times the average for all 2020-22 models, based on HLDI’s 2020-22 ranking. The rate climbed from about 18 to 25 claims per 1,000 insured vehicles between model-year groups.
The climb from roughly 18 to 25 shows the problem growing between the 2019-2021 and 2020-2022 model-year windows. The headline multiple makes this sedan the clearest example of how far a single model can sit from the norm.
6. Tesla Model Y: Near the Bottom of the Theft List
The Model Y had the second-lowest whole-vehicle theft claim frequency of any 2020-22 model in HLDI’s ranking, per Motor Authority’s coverage. It sits at the opposite end of the table from the Dodge performance models.
Only one model recorded a lower frequency in that ranking. The source reports the placement rather than a specific figure, and the ranking measures claims filed, so it describes outcomes without explaining the reasons behind them.
7. Nissan Leaf: An Early EV That Thieves Skip
The Leaf is listed among the 20 least-stolen 2020-22 models on HLDI’s whole-vehicle theft list, as reported by Motor Authority. Few claims were filed relative to the number of insured vehicles.
Alongside the Tesla entries, it shows electric models clustering at the low-theft end of the ranking. The source gives the placement within the bottom 20 and no exact frequency, so the size of the gap to the average is not stated.
8. Infiniti Q50: Stolen at Nearly Nine Times the Norm
Across 2019-21 models, the Q50 was stolen 8.7 times more often than the average vehicle, measured as claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years. The multiple is cited in Fox 9’s HLDI summary.
That makes the Infiniti sport sedan one of the most theft-prone cars in the 2019-21 data. The same coverage notes that Hyundai and Kia models were stolen far more often than other brands, but the Q50 reached its multiple without that brand effect.
9. Dodge Challenger: A Decade-Long Theft Favorite
The Challenger was stolen 5.2 times more often than the average 2019-21 vehicle, according to HLDI multiples of average. It has also been among the highest theft-claim models for nearly a decade.
Persistence is the notable part. A single bad year can be a fluke, but nearly ten years near the top of the theft-claim list points to a lasting pattern rather than a short-lived spike in one model year.
10. Land Rover Range Rover: Luxury SUV With a Fivefold Risk
Across 2019-21 models, the Range Rover was stolen 5 times more often than the average vehicle, as noted in the Fox 9 report. The figure uses claims per 1,000 insured vehicle years.
A multiple of five puts the British SUV in the same range as the Dodge Challenger at 5.2. The study counts insurance claims, so the number reflects thefts that led to a filed claim rather than every attempt.
11. Tesla Model 3: The Hardest Car to Steal
The Model 3 recorded the lowest whole-vehicle theft claim frequency in HLDI’s 2021 claims analysis, at 4% of the all-passenger-vehicle average. Trade outlet Repairer Driven News carried the finding.
Set against the Charger Hellcat’s more than 60 times the average, the spread between the most and least stolen models is enormous. Insurers weigh gaps like that when they decide how to rate individual models. The Tesla’s 4% means it generated a small fraction of the claims typical for a passenger vehicle in that analysis.
12. Kia Sportage: A Newcomer to the Top 20
The Sportage climbed into the top 20 for whole-vehicle theft claim frequency in HLDI’s latest theft report, in both 2WD and 4WD form, per trade coverage of HLDI. Few compact crossovers have landed there.
The source gives its placement but no specific frequency. Kia and Hyundai theft rates have been tied to missing immobilizers, which only 26% of their 2015 vehicles had, against 96% from other automakers. That gap is the backdrop to the Sportage’s rise.
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