After almost 10 years on the market, Cadillac's recently overhauled $56,000 Escalade SUV is hotter than ever, with first-quarter sales up 36% over last year.
But a less frequently used measure of the car's heat is its popularity with thieves. The Escalade's rate of insurance theft claims is higher than that of any other luxury car--by far--according to recently released data from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).
The HLDI tracks per-car theft losses and reports loss results in relative terms. A car with an HLDI theft loss score of 100 has average theft losses. Anything above 100 is higher than average.
But the first place (or, perhaps, the last place) car on the list, the Escalade, racks up an astonishing theft loss score of 1,728 for the most stolen Escalade model, the $55,000 Escalade EXT pickup.
"The overall results show the Escalade has not only the highest rate of claims but also very expensive claims when they are filed," says Kim Hazelbaker, HLDI senior vice president, in a recent statement. "In fact, almost one-quarter of theft claims for the Escalade are for $40,000 or more, indicating that thieves often are stealing the whole vehicles and not just their parts."
Hot Cars
Every 25.5 seconds, a vehicle is stolen in the U.S., according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Vehicle theft is the costliest property crime in America, costing consumers more than $8.6 billion annually.
Last June, the HLDI announced that for the fourth year in a row, the Escalade topped the organization's list of vehicles most likely to have a theft claim. In fact, four versions of the Escalade (different pickup and SUV configurations) headed the list of the worst overall insurance losses for theft among all passenger vehicles. The EXT has overall theft losses that are 16 times higher than average.
The vehicle with the second-highest theft loss rate, BMW's flagship 7 Series sedan, is another car that is desirable from front to back. The 7 Series' base prices range from $76,000 to $123,000, and the car features such upscale amenities as powerful V-8 and V-12 engines. Another car on our list, DaimlerChrysler's $87,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Class flagship sedan, has massage chairs and an autopilot function.
Behind The Numbers
The vehicles we have showcased in this feature are not necessarily the luxury cars that are stolen in the greatest numbers; they are, according to the HLDI, the seven luxury vehicles with "substantially worse than average" rates of theft claims. We formed our list by looking at all luxury cars on the market; these are ones made by manufacturers generally considered to be upscale. They include, for example, Mercedes, Porsche and Ford Motor's Jaguar subsidiary.
"Theft losses," in HLDI terminology, indicate "the relative average loss payments for theft per insured vehicle year filed under comprehensive coverages," according to the HLDI's Web site. The phrase "relative average loss payments per insured vehicle year" refers to "the dollar total of collision or theft loss payments for claims for a group of vehicles divided by the group’s exposure, or aggregate years the vehicles have been insured."
Each carmaker on the list earlier this week received an e-mail explaining the HLDI report's scope and methodology and asking for comment. By presstime, only one had responded.
"Without knowing the scope and methodology of the HLDI study," wrote Toyota Motor spokesman Wade Hoyt in an e-mail, "it is difficult to comprehend how a Lexus model [the GS sedan] that sells in such small numbers could be so high on their theft hit list. I would imagine that it is the result of a statistically insignificant sample."
The HLDI states on its Web site that "results are based on the loss experience of 2003-05 models from their first sales through May 2006. For vehicles that were newly introduced or redesigned during these years, the results shown in this publication are based only on the most recent model years for which the vehicle designs were unchanged--either 2004-05 or 2005 only. The results in this publication are generally good predictors of the experience of current versions of the same vehicle models. But when automakers substantially redesign their passenger vehicles, the experience of an earlier model with the same name, but not same design, may not predict the experience of the newer design."
In forming our list of the seven luxury cars with the highest rates of theft losses, we looked at only one model per nameplate: the one with the highest rate. For example, our story includes the Escalade EXT pickup--the Escalade model with the highest rate of theft losses--but not the more commonplace Escalade SUV.
Below are the top 5 most stolen luxury cars:
1. Cadillac Escalade EXT
2. BMW 7 Series
3. Land Rover Range Rover SUV
4. Lincoln Navigator four-wheel-drive SUV
5. Lexus GS sedan"
44731,hey guys i recently converted my Gli onto CNG .. so i thought i should share my experiance with u fellow PW's
CNG pe zaiyda farak nai para.. bass pick bohot he ma'moli se kam hovi hai .. and i think its got more to do with me adjusting with new CNG settings on the clutch and me releasing the clutch .. than any thing to do with car running on CNG or petrol... but my guess is car wont cross 130km/h mark on CNG?? wat do u say? i'm shifting its gears on higher rpms e.g. 4k to 5k rpm.. so that engine zara use to ho jaye to fast running and becomes responsive in face of overtaking dilema.. hhmm CNG cost=32k .. he installed another UNIT along with the CNG kit (lady renzo) and told me this unit is ADVANCER PLUS EMULATOR.. these days these two COME in one unit??? ( i think name is TOMASTO (spell) ..i was confuzed and i still dont think he was being honest?? wat do u say? althought the unit has clearly written on it.. advancer and emulator WORDS.. but then again these things are either chinese made or pakistani..so writing doesnt count .. but i'm very very satisfied with the connections he did.. cuz i was standing on his head through out.. he did everything so neatly that i was happy and he told me i can get back to orignal petrol whenever i want.. he will just unplug all CNG wirings .. cuz he did wiring from one GRIP to another GRIP .. no extra cutting of body parts or even wiring...
btw.. the mechanic told me there is no need to install 55L cylender.. due to following reason
50 L : capacity=~52.7kg and weight=~49kg and milage ~170km+ with AC and price=32k RS
55 L : capacity=~53.5kg and weight=~67kg and milage ~180km+ with AC and price=32k RS (no extra charges for 55L cylinder)
i dont know if these figures are correct but thats wat they told me and i went for their word as i'm going to them for tuning and regular checkups.. plus they said they always prefer installing 50 L cylinder .. and only install heavy one if customer insists.. but mostly 55L cylinder needs packing to be inserted in rear shocks of ur car..
i'll note the milage it gives me on 50 L cylender.. and then share with u guys
i'm feeling RPM drops at the moment but i think its got more to do with me adjusting with the CLUTCH than anything to do with CNG settings.. :S but once i get used to the CLUTCH then i'll surely look into the CNG settings if the RPM drop problem still persists...
oh and he said due to the settings they do on their CNG conversion.. there is very very minimal chance of BACK FIRE issue.. even if u run ur car in lowest rpms in high gears.. but to stay on safe side i'm gonna shift the gears to attain high rpms e.g. ~4.5k for every gear shift
i've been told by my friend that since my gli has only done ~700 kms so far.. so i should take it on a long trip WITHOUT AC cuz its good for engine.. e.g. take it to LHR and back WITHOUT AC so car gets some taste of long drive on newer engine and the chunks of engine that are going to trim in this initial period: get trimmed over long running instead on lower gears inside city.. hhmm i kind of agree to this theory..
oh and a few days back .. at 12am in night ...i started my car at ZERO POINT chowk and since i was in the mood of "engine-ko-kholna" wali thing.. so i took it for a test from there onwards and crossed nearlly 140km on CNG in 5th gear.. i didnt realise there was a guy (nice fellow) in baleno who saw me taking off and instantly joined me in a race.. lol it was really funny cuz we both didnt realise for starters that we were racing each other.. but then he took me over on shakarpariyan chowk and didnt let me cross him and wen he took too much lead he would stop at some point and wait for me to come from behind and then start race again..it was too much fun to race with that guy cuz he was driving very very safe and neatly.. i have to appriciate his driving skills.. and since i was on my applied for car i couldnt join him in on cutting and sneaking in from left sides but i tried my best to cross him a couple of times from right but some suzuki or taxi would come in the way plus me being very cautious over applied for car duhh..
i was sort of still not over the COROLLA BREAK ISSUE althought i've installed 195/65/15 rim and tires and i know there is NO ISSUE with corolla breaks but since i am still not used to wot sort of breaking capability it has.. i didnt try to cut from left of any car
thumbs up for WHITE BALENO guy..he is a good driver and if he is some pw member then i'd like him to response to this thread...
i liked this cat and mouse game he was playing with me knowing i'm driving APL4 car hehe .. btw i nearlly touched 145km on CNG in that race and i went on CNG all the way.. i dunno if his BALENO was a GTi 1.6L or a 1.3 on petrol? but his driving skills were very good watever the car was
just wanna appriciate that guy.. nice driving ma