I'm 99% certain I'll be buying a Honda Civic 2009 in the next few weeks. My primary concern right now is the issue of theft. Regular Civics are among the most stolen cars in the US.

1) Do thieves know the difference between a hybrid and a non-hybrid Civic? If so, are Civic hybrids less likely to be stolen?

2) The dealer wanted to charge me $795 for LoJack in the car I looked at yesterday. Is LoJack necessary for the hybrid? If so, is this a decent price, or should I consider getting it installed somewhere else after I buy the car?

Thanks for the advice!

 

I remember going through the same thing when I bought my car, and it was used HCH I at the time. Call me paranoid, but I'd had a car stolen from me once before so it wasn't something I wanted to experience again.
Anyway, my dealer offered us LoJack at about the same price you've been quoted. We declined. They said the usual schpeil, that the Civic is the most stolen car, yada yada. I drove it for over a year with no alarm in it. I work in the same bad neighborhood where my old car had been stolen, and nobody ever bothered the hybrid. About the only "protection" it had was the chip technology that prevents the car from being started without the corresponding key.
Eventually I bought an aftermarket audible alarm for about $300 that works fine, makes me feel safer, etcetera, so for me that has been good enough.
The impression I get is that the Civics that they were referring to as being so "stealable" were the older models, but they just like to rattle off that generic warning so you feel compelled to buy the LoJack. I imagine a car thief would be more inclined to steal what they'd consider a "fast" car rather than a less-powerful hybrid.

Doesn't the HCH II come with some sort of antitheft device anyway?

 

The HCHII comes with an intrusion alarm. The key has something in it that identifies it upon insertion. Any unwarranted entry into locked car will trigger the alarm. For example, locking the doors with the windows down, and then reaching in and opening the door.

Every once in a while we set it off inadvertantly, when either me or my wife go into a store while the other sits in the car. Upon return and when opening the door, the alarm goes off. We've yet to figure out why, or how to avoid this.

I think if you look up theft statistics it's older Hondas that are more popular targets, due to easier to defeat locks I assume.

 

Save your hard earned money!!! Hal

 

There's a lot of data out there if you want to google it. I was looking for a link that I saw a while back, listing insurance stats for various makes & models of cars, but I couldn't find it. I remember that the Prius was one of the least stolen car models on that list. If I ever find it I'll post it here.

Some of the lists are rather old, but here's a short one that's more recent:

http://www.rmiia.org/Auto/Auto_theft...n_Vehicles.htm

 

Thanks for the info. I found the 2008 list here: https://www.nicb.org/cps/rde/xchg/nicb/hs.xsl/index.htm It does look like it's older Civics, with 1995 being at the top.

The Prius dealer did push its "least stolen" status as another selling point, but I like the Civic better overall. I will probably not get the LoJack, then, as I don't really go many risky places.

 

There is an engine immobilizer. There is a chip in your key that the car wont start without. I'd be more worried about replacing lost keys!!

nf

 

The HCH 2 uses a Type 6 immobilizer and a lot of the parts have what is known as a very small market. The car is just not much of a target for professional steal and strip clubs.