National Insurance Crime Bureau in its annual "Hot Wheels" studyreports that in 2005 there was a tiny dip in auto theft levels andthe car most often stolen was the 1991 Honda Accord.

The next nine vehicles in order of popularity with thieveswere:

2. 1995 Honda Civic

3. 1989 Toyota Camry

4. 1994 Dodge Caravan

5. 1994 Nissan Sentra

6. 1997 Ford F150 Series

7. 1990 Acura Integra

8. 1986 Toyota Pickup

9. 1993 Saturn SL

10. 2004 Dodge Ram Pickup

Nationally, according to NICB, thefts occur every 25.5 secondsand about 38 percent of all stolen vehicles are neverrecovered.

NICB said 1,235,226 motor vehicles were reported stolen--2,625fewer than in 2004. Using the FBI's average valuation of $6,173 perstolen vehicle, the NICB calculated this amounts to over $7.6billion in losses in 2005--just in vehicle value alone.

The FBI Uniform Crime Report divides the nation into fourregions: Midwest, Northeast, South and West. The Midwest, with 22.3percent of the nation's population, reported 225,519 vehicle thefts(an increase of 0.4 percent over 2004) and represents 18.3 percentof the total number of vehicles stolen in 2005.

The Northeast, with 18.4 percent of the population, reported129,835 vehicle thefts (a decrease of 9.5 percent from 2004) andrepresents 10.5 percent of the total stolen.

In the South, with 36.3 percent of the population, reported412,033 thefts (a decrease of 2.3 percent from 2004) and represents33.4 percent of the total number of vehicles stolen.

With 23 percent of the population, the West reported 467,839vehicle thefts (an increase of 4.5 percent over 2004) andrepresents 37.9 percent of the total number of vehicles stolen.

NICB said only 62.1 percent of stolen vehicles were recoveredlast year and many of the more than 450,000 missing vehicles areinvolved in insurance fraud and related vehicle theftactivities.

NICB said a good percentage of stolen vehicles end up in chopshops where thieves sell the individual parts from older models formore money than the vehicle is worth intact.

This type of fraud is helped by unethical body shops submittingrepair bills to insurance companies, which show original equipmentmanufacturer replacement parts were obtained and used when inreality the parts used were obtained from a chop shop.

Insurers, NICB said, pay the higher invoice cost and the bodyshop pockets the difference. The legitimate purchase price for aright rear panel set for the popular Honda Accord is $582,according to the group.

NICB said agents have recovered a significant number of stolenvehicles that were exported to foreign countries. The organizationsaid it is not unusual for stolen vehicles to be shipped intact toother countries where prospective buyers can have them for afraction of what they would legitimately cost and with no questionsasked.

Stolen exports are enclosed in shipping containers at coastalports or simply driven across the border into Canada or Mexico andelsewhere, contributing to "tens of thousands of stolen vehicleswhich are never recovered," NICB said.

The organization reported that the NICB Foreign Operations groupactively pursues the re-patriation of stolen vehicles in foreigncountries and works closely with U.S. embassy personnel and foreigngovernment officials to return those vehicles.

Last year, it said over 3,000 vehicles were returned to theUnited States from Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, DominicanRepublic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Lituania, Mexico, Nicaraguaand Venezuela.

More details are available on the organization's Web site atwww.nicb.org.