The Most Stolen Cars & Trucks In Illinois? Here’s The List

Just in case you might have been thinking that car thieves are a dying breed, and that you have a greater chance of having your catalytic converter stolen than your vehicle, this is a quick reminder that car theft is still very much a thing here in Illinois and across the nation.

As someone who once had their car stolen (it was swiped here in Rockford and then taken to Texas on a failed drug run where it was eventually found on the bottom of a lake), I can tell you that it wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to me, but the whole experience sucked.

Might have been my fault for driving a 1986 fire-engine red Pontiac Trans Am that basically begged you to break speed limits and apparently worked just fine for hauling cocaine across the country.

Mine looked a lot like this. (Getty Images)

Probably shouldn't have parked next to this sign. (Getty Images)

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) Says That In 2022, Reports Of Vehicle Thefts Were Up 7% Over The Previous Year

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) also points out that a car or truck is stolen in this country every 32 seconds, which in doing some math, equals out to over 1 million vehicles getting boosted every year.

The FBI's data from 2019 (the latest year available for statistics) says that vehicle theft losses added up to over $6.4 billion. When you compare vehicle theft stats with catalytic converter thefts, it's not even close. Estimates of 153,000 catalytic converter thefts in 2022 still only gets you about $214 million in total.

"Don't know where that catalytic thing is, so I'll just take the whole thing." (Getty Images)

Here Are The Most Stolen Vehicles In Illinois And Across The United States, According To The NICB

You may notice that several of the most-stolen vehicles recently had troubles with theft deterence, in particular a security flaw that was trumpeted loudly on social media. Those problems are still going on.

Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Sonata
Kia Optima
Kia Sportage
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Kia Forte
Dodge Charger
Toyota Camry
Chevrolet Malibu

Best Looking State Patrol Cars In (Almost) Every State

For the past 10 years, the American Association of State Troopers has held a contest to determine which state has the best looking patrol cruiser. Nearly every state police agency submits their best photo of their sharpest patrol vehicle a chance to win the coveted cover photo on the association's annual calendar. From cop cars rushing through blizzards to vehicles on the Grand Ole Opry stage, here are this year's nominees.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.