---
title: "You’ll Never Guess Milwaukee’s Most Stolen Car"
description: "Hint: It’s not an Accord."
date: "2016-01-14"
modified: "2016-01-14"
authors:
  - name: "Jonathan Schultz"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/jonathan-schultz"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/1680/youll-never-guess-milwaukees-most-stolen-car"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "milwaukee"
---

# You’ll Never Guess Milwaukee’s Most Stolen Car

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/archive-images/011416_stolencarmilwaukee_hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Milwaukee is a resurgent Midwestern metropolis with a stubborn grand larceny problem. [In 2015, Milwaukee logged over 7,000 car thefts](<https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/more-than-7000-cars-were-stolen-in-milwaukee-in-2015>). That’s a lot. How much a lot? The [National Insurance Crime Bureau](<https://www.nicb.org>)—or NICB, a private firm based in Des Plaines, Ill., that has basically cornered the market on keeping such statistics—would put Milwaukee right in the thick of the most car-theft-riddled cities in America. (For the curious, the NICB says the metropolitan area with [most car thefts relative to its total population](<https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2015/06/29/u-s-cities-with-the-most-stolen-cars/#5ec10a0b75ba35250b5b75ba>) is the San Francisco Bay Area.) But whereas most cities on the NICB’s list experience significant snatchings of [Honda Accords](<https://www.autotrader.com/car-reviews/most-stolen-cars-is-the-car-you-are-considering-a-target-for-thieves-226810>), Ford Escapes, [Cadillac Escalades](<https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2013/02/06/the-hottest-suvs-and-crossovers/#41d2492d74617838f87b7461>) and the like, Milwaukee is an outlier. Its most commonly purloined vehicle in 2015? Think inside the box.

The Dodge Caravan. One of the greatest, most ubiquitous people-moving devices of the last 30 years. Still, that ubiquity doesn’t always translate in raw theft incidences.

So why the Caravan? According to Milwaukee NBC affiliate [WTMJ](<https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/more-than-7000-cars-were-stolen-in-milwaukee-in-2015>), the vans are inviting hotwire targets. Further, the broadcasters suggested that Milwaukeeans—thin-skinned lot that they are—leave their cars idling outside on cold mornings to let their cabins warm up, making the vehicles inviting targets for passing no-goodniks.

Behind the Caravan on Milwaukee’s Most Stolen list are the just-about-mechanically-identical Chrysler Town & Country minivan and two familiar sights from the nationwide lists published by the NICB: the Honda Civic and Honda Accord. The latter has the dubious distinction of being the [most nicked passenger car in America for the last six years running](<https://abcnews.go.com/Business/honda-accord-stolen-vehicle/story?id=23883693>), according to the NICB. So at least in one respect, the citizens of Milwaukee can hold their heads high: Their car thieves have a charming contrarian streak.

## Author
Deputy Editor. Previously held editorial positions at BBC.com and the New York Times. Brakes for whoopie pies.

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