Toyota LandCruiser Qld’s most stolen vehicle as worst postcodes for car thefts mapped

One make of vehicle has emerged as being stolen more often than any other in Queensland as the state’s worst suburbs for car thefts are revealed. SEE THE MAP

Stolen car offences have almost doubled since 2017 with Queensland police slapping offenders with 55 unlawful use charges a day, as three popular Toyota models are revealed as the most targeted vehicles.

The damning police statistics also reveal 89 stealing from a vehicle or entering with intent offences are being recorded each day across Queensland, as a leading criminologist believes “attacks” relating to stolen cars are becoming more “violent”.

Statistics from Queensland Police showed 20,190 unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences were recorded in 2023 compared to 19,260 in 2022.

The number has almost doubled since 2017 where it was 12,110.

The number of stealing from a vehicle or entering with intent was even higher with 32,720 in 2023 – a rate of 89 charges per day.

Data from RACQ shows they received 1,595 claims for car theft in 2023 with the most common cars the Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota HiLux and Toyota Corolla.

The regions with the highest claims were Townsville, Cairns, Brisbane, Logan, Brisbane City and Gold Coast.

RACQ data showed there was a claims frequency of 52 per cent in Townsville, 28 per cent in Cairns, 27 per cent in Brisbane’s South and 26 per cent in Logan.

An RACQ spokeswoman said according to claims data they had seen an increase in luxury car theft compared to 2022 with Mercedes, BMQ, Audi, Lexus and Land Rover among the car brands.

Suncorp Group and RACQ both recorded Toyota, Holden, Ford and Mazda as the most stolen car brands.

While Suncorp Group said the most common models to steal was the Toyota LandCruiser and Holden Commodores.

Toyotas are the most stolen make of car in Queensland. Picture: David McCowen

Criminologist Terry Goldsworthy said the numbers of unlawful use of a motor vehicle offences had been going up for sometime.

“Queensland has been problematic in terms of unlawful use of a motor vehicle now for some years now, they are probably the worst state in Australia for that type of crime,” he said.

“If you can get on top of the youth crime problem, in particular the serious repeat offenders you probably will make a substantial dent in the range of stolen vehicles, I would think.

At the start of the month, 70-year-old, Vyleen White was stabbed in what was described in a “heinous” carjacking at Redbank Plains.

Mr Goldsworthy said the attacks were becoming more “violent”.

“I think it is becoming more violent. You know, we’ve seen offences in general terms of personal offences, robberies, assaults have risen in Queensland, so there’s definitely an aspect of violence is increasing,” he said.

“We’ve had more homicides in the last financial year than we did the year before. So I think it’s quite reasonable to suggest that we’re seeing more violent crime.”

In January, Queensland Police launched a stolen car registry – giving previously off-limits access to information about active stolen vehicles across the state – which as of March 11, had 500 outstanding cars.

Car thefts have almost doubled since 2017.

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said the public portal had been widely adopted across social media outlets with crime-watch and community group pages actively adopting it.

“The QPS monitors the social media pages closely and it is evident that the portal is having a positive effect with a large amount of vehicles being identified as stolen and action taken for their recovery,” she said.

“In the first 30 days, there has been 60,788 views to the site.

Members of the public have adopted the online portal and continue to provide information to the police which is significant for investigations and the recovery of the stolen vehicles.

Car thefts across Queensland were valued at $24.1 million in total cost.

An RACQ spokeswoman said car thefts across Queensland were valued at $24.1 million in total cost.

“The average cost of stolen vehicles increased to $15,134 in 2023, up by almost 14% due to inflation and a rise in car prices,” she said.

“The best way to protect yourself against car theft is to protect your keys and store them in a safe place out of reach and sight of potential thieves.

“Don’t leave your keys lying around in an easily accessible location such as a table near the door or a key hook, and don’t tag your keys with identifiers like your name or address.”

A Suncorp Group spokesperson said while their theft related vehicle claims in Queensland have returned to pre-Covid levels over the last two years, there had been some positive improvements with fewer claims so far in 2024 in comparison.

Originally published as Toyota LandCruiser Qld’s most stolen vehicle as worst postcodes for car thefts mapped