“They’re brilliant,” he said.
“I’ve sold a few Tiidas, I’ve never had one stolen or ever heard of one being stolen.
“They’re cheap, reliable, economic, good size – I mean, [I’m] not sure why they’re stolen.”
Vesty said that insurance is always required for any car and recommended investing in theft prevention for any worried car owners.
“Buy one of the steering wheel locks and that’s a huge deterrent,” he said.
“You should be right with that, it’s a simple $100, $150 fix.”
George Masters from George Masters Motors sells the occasional Tiida and believed it was the age of the vehicles that made them easy to steal.
“Any of those older cars with a manual key are a lot easier for thieves to steal,” Masters said.
“So I’m not surprised, but I am surprised it’s that particular car.”
According to Masters, the Tiida hatchback stopped being produced in 2012 and the aged technology makes thefts even easier.
“The newest Tiida is probably going to be 13 years old and more modern cars all have remote immobilisers and push button starts and things like that.
“So they’ve just got older security technology.”
Masters recommended Tiida owners alarm their cars and “keep it in the shed at night”.
Following the Tiida in the top 10 for 2024 was the Mazda Demio and Toyota Aqua with 24 theft claims each.
The Toyota Aqua was the most stolen car nationally for the third year running according to AMI, making up 8% of all stolen vehicle claims.
In fourth place on Hawke’s Bay’s top 10 was the Toyota Corolla with 16 theft claims made, and the Mazda Atenza in fifth with 12 claims.
In sixth was the Ford Ranger with 10 claims, the Ford Courier in seventh with nine claims made, and the Mazda Axela, Mitsubishi Lancer, and Suzuki Swift tied at eighth with eight claims each.
Wayne Tippet, AMI executive general manager claims, said vehicle theft claims in Hawke’s Bay had decreased from 420 in 2023, to 405 in 2024.
Tippet notes that stolen vehicle claims have begun to decrease for the first time in four years nationally, with stolen vehicle claims related to ram raids down by 50% compared to 2023.
“This might suggest that, among unprecedented vehicle theft rates, New Zealanders have put security measures and practices in place, and are being more mindful about where they park their cars,” he said.
According to AMI’s data 30% of stolen vehicles were not recovered in 2024 and 52% of recovered stolen vehicles were repairable.
Tippet warns that AMI is seeing car theft claims resulting from carjackings in low-speed areas such as intersections, traffic lights, or car parks too.
“We should always lock our car doors when driving and consider keeping the windows up,” he recommends.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
