How to check if your car has been stolen

There were 42,592 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles stolen in Australia last year, according to the NMVRC.

It's tempting to think that smart technology can outsmart hard-boiled criminals these days, but that's only partly true, at least when it comes to car theft.

You might think that the advent of immobilizers has made car thieves practically redundant, but it's shocking to learn that an estimated 42,592 cars and light commercial vehicles were stolen in Australia last year, according to the National Car Theft Prevention Council. 

Even more troubling, almost 80% of the stolen cars were fitted with an immobilizer, which just proves that the scammers aren't all that cowardly (and just think how little they pay in taxes on their ill-gotten gains). .

The good news is that those numbers are down 7.1% from 2016, and that most of the seized vehicles are slightly older than the year they were made, meaning that technology is really starting to outpace smart thieves. (The number of car thefts has actually declined since 2001, when immobilizers became mandatory in all new cars sold). 

Three out of every five stolen cars were worth less than $5000, while cars worth more than $50 accounted for only one in 50 thefts. This would seem to indicate that the better your car is, the harder it is to steal.

However, if you have a Holden Commodore - the most stolen car in 2017 - you should be nervous.

All of this, of course, means that while we may think it's a problem of the past, buying a car and then discovering it's actually stolen is something we still need to be wary of today. 

How to check if your car has been stolen

You may remember that checking if the car you are about to buy was stolen is as easy as doing a REVS check, but apparently it was too easy. That's why it's now called a PPSR check - which means you're investigating ownership through the Personal Property Securities Registry, which is run by the Australian Financial Security Authority. 

For the absolute deal of $3.40 (if you consider how much it potentially saves you), you can do a quick car search online or through PPSR's phone support. 

The search will provide both on-screen results and a copy of the search certificate sent via email.

Why should I check if the car has been stolen?

If a security interest is registered in a vehicle, especially if it has been stolen and you are buying it, then it can be seized even after you have bought it. 

The financial company listed on the PPSR may well show up at your doorstep and take the car, and you may have to go after the car thief for the lost money. And good luck with that.

When should a PPSR check be performed?

You should check the PPSR the day you buy the car, or the day before, to make sure it is not stolen, debt-free, confiscation-proof, or written off.

If you did a PPSR search and bought the car the same day or the next, then you are legally and miraculously protected from any encumbrance and will have a search certificate to prove it.

What's more, under the national system, it doesn't matter which state you buy the car in or which states it was previously owned in.

What do you need to check a stolen car?

All you need other than a phone and/or computer is the VIN (identification number) of your potential vehicle, your credit or debit card, and your email address.

A stolen VIN is a reliable way to check your vehicle's history by effectively checking the stolen vehicle database. You also check if you are dealing with the registration of a stolen car, i.e. rebirthing.

How to find a stolen car?

If your vehicle has been stolen and you are wondering how to report a stolen vehicle, then what you are dealing with is out of scope or possibly before the PPSR check. You should contact the police immediately and file a complaint.

Finding a stolen car is a police job and can often be difficult.

What to do if you find a stolen car?

If your PPSR check shows that the car you want to buy is stolen, you must first report it to the PPSR office. Or you can just call the police. The person who is trying to sell you a car, of course, may not even know that it has been stolen. Or they can be nasty criminals, car thieves.

10 most stolen cars

The bad news is that if you own a Holden Commodore of just about any year, you should probably stick your head out the window right now and see if everything is there.

Not only was the 2006 VE Commodore the most stolen car in the country in 2017 – 918 were stolen – older versions of the same car also ranked 5th (VY 2002–2004)), sixth (VY 1997–2000) . seventh (VX 2000-2002) and eighth (VZ 2004-2006) in the list of stolen cars.

The second most stolen vehicle in this country is the Nissan Pulsar (it was number one back in 2016, but we must be running out of thefts, theft dropped from 1062 to 747), followed by the Toyota HiLux (2005 G.). -2011) and BA Ford Falcon (2002-2005). 

Nissan Navara D40 (2005-2015) barely makes it into the top 10, which closes the modern version of the HiLux model (2012-2015).

Have you ever had a car stolen? Let us know about it in the comments.