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Year 1974 Convertible Base Price $ 5,765
Theft Protection for Your Corvette
Introduction:
A vehicle is stolen every 20 seconds in the United States. No vehicle or anti-theft device is 100% theft-proof, and discouraging thieves is not an easy task. A thief's greatest enemy is time. The more difficult your car is to steal, the longer it takes to be stolen. And the more time a thief has to spend stealing your car, the greater the chance of detection. By making your car a tougher target, the thief will probably move on to a car that is easier to steal.

After falling 31 percent from 1991 to 1999, U.S. motor vehicle thefts rose 0.7 percent to in 2000, compared with 1999, and 5.7 percent in 2001 to total 1,226,457. In 2001, the value of stolen motor vehicles was $8.2 billion, up 5.1 percent from 2000. Preliminary data show another increase 1.2 percent in 2002.

Insurance for theft is included in the comprehensive part of an auto insurance policy. This coverage, which is not mandatory, also covers fire, vandalism and weather-related damage. Premiums are affected by the number of insured cars stolen and their value. The dollar size of claims has been going up, reflecting the higher value of new cars on the road, the cost of vehicle bodywork, which rose 2.4 percent in 2002 compared with 2001, and a 1999 Illinois court decision that led many insurers to stop using generic auto parts.
Key Facts
Only 13.6 percent of thefts were cleared by arrests in 2001.
Carjackings occur most frequently in urban areas. However, nationwide, they account for only 3.5 percent of all motor vehicle thefts.
The U.S. average comprehensive insurance premium rose 5.6 percent from 1997 to 2001, the most recent data available. Current Developments
Thefts By City
According to a National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) study released in June 2003, nine of the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas for vehicle theft rates in 2002 are in or near ports or communities with easy access to Mexican or Canadian borders, as shown below:

1. Phoenix, AZ 6. Miami, FL
2. Fresno, CA 7. Sacramento, CA
3. Modesto, CA 8. Oakland, CA
4. Stockton-Lodi, CA 9. Seattle WA
5. Las Vegas, NV 10. Tacoma, WA