Honda theft epidemic in Washington State

Yakima,Washington police had already investigated the theft of 11 Hondas in a two week period and last week they were dealing with 9 Honda thefts in a 24-hour period on Thursday and Friday.They made an arrest Monday of one suspect,who had Honda parts stashed in his home but two more hondas were stolen after his arrest and they suspect a theft-ring,as all the missing Hondas were mid-90's models.

It does not surprise me at all.In a previous post here,titled "Honda:Gone in 60 Seconds or Less",I touched briefly on why Hondas are so "hot" in the black market of stolen cars and car parts.First of all,genuine Honda parts are very expensive,and with so many Hondas on the road,and their longevity(I know of Civics with 400k on the odometer!)there is always a market for cheap parts.The second and most important factor is the relative ease in stealing a 90's model Honda-even a novice thief can take a key from ANY 1990's Honda,file it down a little and it will fit most cars from that period.This has been well known among Honda mechanics,dealers and enthusiasts for some time,police are just catching up to the fact,and our local Honda dealer,Pohanka,has a strict policy on replacement keys-a valid registration to the vehicle and a matching photo ID for the owner are required-no exceptions.Unfortunately all the safeguards in the world will not deter thieves but at least dealers are doing their part.As a Honda owner,I HATE having to fork out $$$ for replacement parts but whats the alternative?Higher insurance rates for everyone to recoup losses for the stolen cars!The Honda Civic has been the most "popular" car for thieves for over a decade now.If you own a 90's era Honda,your best bet is to equip it with an alarm system or Lojack because locking it will not help-not if the bad guys have a key that will work on it-and they do not have to "hotwire" it or tow it-they simply get in,insert the key and drive off.Newer Hondas have more complicated ignition and locking systems and are not so easily spirited away.Then again,with gas prices the way they are,maybe we better all get gas cap locks!