Vinnie Colasante’s ute in Paradise, SA, stolen as top-selling utes and SUVs are taken across Australia

For Vinnie Colasante and his family, the theft of his father’s ute was a shock. But he’s not alone. See where crims are stealing top-selling utes now.

For Vinnie Colasante and his family the theft of his father’s white Mazda ute was heartbreaking shock.

Stolen from their home in the north eastern Adelaide suburb of Paradise, the ute had been a part of the family for 21 years.

“In Australia you are popular if have one of two things either a pool or a ute. “I would struggle to find anyone in our family and friends that hasn’t borrowed that ute to carry things or to move house,” Mr Colasante said.

“We had the ute since brand new … it has been an absolute work horse.”

Top-selling utes are one of the most popular vehicles targeted by profit-motivated thieves, making up 17 per cent of the more than 35,000 vehicles stolen across the country.

Australia wide last year there were 8129 utes and light commercial vans stolen worth a total of $116,709,355.

Popular model SUVs were the second-most targeted vehicle, after passenger vehicles which remain at the top of the list, according to the latest data collected by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC).

Vinnie Colasante from Adelaide posted that his dad's ute that was stolen. Pictured with his wife and their two dogs. Picture: Supplied

Mr Colasante’s dad’s ute had a number of identifying features including a bull bar on the front and a KISS sticker on the tray.

Vinnie Colasante from Adelaide posted that his dad's ute that was stolen. An identifiable sticker of rock band KISS is labelled on the tray of the ute. Picture: Supplied

He said dad would never have dreamt of getting rid of it and it would have served him for the end of his days.

“It has a special place in the family,” he said.

“We have been asked if it is insured, but that is not about that. The market value is only about $3k. But he doesn’t want a replacement he just wants his car back. Unless it has been torched or blown up – he could fix it up.”

Have you seen this ute? Vinnie Colasante from Adelaide posted that his dad's ute that was stolen. An identifiable sticker of rock band KISS is labelled on the tray of the ute Picture: Supplied

While the number of ute thefts has dropped slightly during the pandemic, down from 9942 from the previous year, those that were stolen have had a devastating effect on their owners who have posted about their loss on a range of social media pages dedicated to finding the treasured vehicles.

According to its 2020-2021 annual report, the NMVTRC revealed the top three locations in Australia with the highest number of short-term thefts of vehicles (meaning vehicles that were recovered) were the Queensland cities of Brisbane (first place with 2371 thefts), the Gold Coast (second place with 1599 thefts) and the Townsville with 815 thefts.

In South Australia the most thefts took place in the city of Salisbury. In NSW the most thefts across all vehicles were from Blacktown and Newcastle, while Victoria was Hume and Casey.

Overall Queensland had the highest number of short term thefts of all vehicles at 10,310. Victoria followed with 8834 thefts, then NSW with 7763, WA at 4155.

South Australia had 1958, the ACT had 989 thefts, TAS 729, and the Northern Territory had 499.

The top theft makes and models for the year are the Ford Ranger PXMY 11+, the Toyota HiLux MY05-11 + and, Toyota HiLux MY12-15

The top target for van thefts is the Toyota Hiace MY05 19.

The number of utes and light commercial vans stolen across Australia in 2020-2021 has dropped from 9566 five years ago.

Originally published as Vinnie Colasante’s ute in Paradise, SA, stolen as top-selling utes and SUVs are taken across Australia