Proton Wira is ‘most stolen vehicle’

PETALING JAYA: The Proton Wira, an old Malaysian favourite, is also the car most loved by thieves, retaining its status as “most stolen vehicle” for a 11th consecutive year, says the Vehicle Theft Reduction Council of Malaysia.

Its coordinator Mas Tina Abdul Hamid (pic) said its list was based on claims received by insurance companies.

A total of 131 Wiras were reported stolen in 2021, followed by the Proton Iswara with 75 reported cases.

The Perodua Myvi – often dubbed ‘the king of the road’ – was sixth on the list.

The Toyota Hilux is the most stolen foreign-made car with 65 cases in 2021, putting it in fourth place, just behind the Perodua Kancil.

“There are stolen Mercedes Benz cars being sold for as low as RM10,000, or a Hilux for RM12,000, and Wira for only RM3,000.

“The Wira was a popular brand back then, and there are still quite a number on the road even though production stopped in 2009,” said Mas Tina, adding that it was quite often that thieves are the suppliers of Wira spare parts.

She said thieves would often target older and more popular car models, and she believed the Myvi would soon become their favourite.

“The Myvi is a target because of its looks and the fact that it is among the people’s favourites.

“The trend is almost similar (to the Wira). We now have a huge number of Myvi on the road (and they might be the target once their production stops),” she said, adding that most stolen local vehicles were sold domestically.

She said the recent shortage of vehicle spare parts due to the Covid-19 pandemic had made the problem worse.

Meanwhile, data provided to The Star showed that one Yamaha 135LC is stolen every day, making it the most stolen make of motorcycle in 2021.

Second on the list was the Yamaha Y15R with 186 reported cases, followed by the Honda C100 with 151 cases.

“Normally, thieves will target the latest model, strip it, and sell the parts.

“They also sell the Yamaha 125Z for RM1,500, Yamaha 135LC for RM500, and Honda EX5 and Honda Wave for RM300 each.

“Customers who agree to their offers will deposit money into the account belonging to the syndicate before the stolen vehicles or components are sent to them using registered parcel service,” said Mas Tina.

She added that it was very difficult for the authorities to corner the syndicates, which employ different groups of people.

“They have different people to steal and different groups to bring it to Thailand. Somebody else will sell them,” she said.