The Most Stolen Vehicles 2025
Data source: New Zealand Police website excel spreadsheet of reported thefts from 1st March to 31st August 2025.
Why the “Top 19” most stolen vehicles?
Technically, this is the Top 20, but the Police list ranks a Homebuilt Trailer as the 20th most stolen “vehicle.” Since that’s included in the data, you’ll see it here too.
Toyota Hilux: The most stolen vehicle in the last 6 months
You might notice the photo shows a Hilux Surf. Why?
Because the Police data is a little messy. Some stolen Hilux models are recorded as station wagons. Obviously, anyone familiar with a Hilux knows it’s a Ute, not a wagon. Sadly the spreadsheet doesn’t always get this right.
So when you include those mislabelled Hilux Surfs, the Hilux clearly tops the list as the most stolen vehicle in New Zealand over the past 6 months.
If you want to know more about the current most stolen vehicle in NZ then you can find the Toyota Hilux security guide here.
It’s not just the Hilux where the data is a little muddled.
Take the Toyota Corolla, for example. Many imports are recorded under different model names such as Auris or Fielder. What shows up on the “most stolen” list depends entirely on how the vehicle was labelled in the Police spreadsheet.
If it was entered as Corolla, then it’s counted as a Corolla.
If it was entered as Auris or Fielder, then it’s not included under Corolla at all.
This inconsistency means the official numbers don’t always reflect the full picture of which models are actually being stolen.
How I Made the Messy Police Spreadsheet Readable
The raw data from the New Zealand Police isn’t exactly user-friendly. To make sense of it, I fed the spreadsheet into ChatGPT and asked it to create a clear list of the top 20 most stolen vehicles.
I also asked it to break each model down by production year, so we get a more realistic picture of what’s actually being stolen right now.
Here is the AA top 10 stolen car list from 2024. as a comparison. Clearly it’s only a small part of the picture!
Why Is This Data Better Than the Usual “Top 10” Lists?
Most of the time, the New Zealand media simply regurgitate numbers released by the AA or by individual insurance companies. That data only reflects claims made through those companies.
It’s not a full national picture.
It excludes uninsured vehicles.
Even if all insurers combined their data, there would still be gaps.
The Police data, on the other hand, captures all reported vehicle thefts, whether insured or not.
Why Vehicle Year Matters
If I owned a Toyota Hilux, I wouldn’t just want to know it’s the most stolen vehicle overall. I’d want to know which years are most at risk.
The Hilux has been in production since 1968, covering dozens of generations and designs. Without knowing the specific years being targeted, the raw “most stolen” label doesn’t tell you much about your actual risk.
That’s why breaking theft data down by production year is far more useful than the blanket lists usually published.
New Zealands Most Stolen Vehicles 2025
The chart shows the stolen number of vehicles for the past 6 months.
Click on each model to see how many were stolen for each build year.
Toyota Hilux: 176 (Really 131 as 45 are Hilux Surfs)
Year Number Stolen
1987 1
1988 0
1989 4
1990 1
1991 3
1992 2
1993 3
1994 14
1995 8
1996 16
1997 5
1998 2
1999 3
2000 5
2001 5
2002 5
2003 6
2004 6
2005 3
2006 6
2007 6
2008 9
2009 4
2010 7
2011 0
2012 5
2013 4
2014 7
2015 4
2016 0
2017 8
2018 1
2019 3
2020 1
2021 2
2022 7
2023 1
Ford Courier: 120
Year Stolen
1996 1
1997 0
1998 0
1999 1
2000 11
2001 12
2002 14
2003 20
2004 16
2005 22
2006 20
2007 1
Toyota Hiace: 96
Year Stolen
1990 1
1991 1
1992 2
1993 1
1994 1
1995 5
1996 1
1997 5
1998 5
1999 3
2000 3
2001 0
2002 4
2003 3
2004 1
2005 9
2006 2
2007 4
2008 8
2009 6
2010 8
2011 3
2012 5
2013 1
2014 1
2015 3
2016 1
2017 1
2018 1
2019 3
2020 0
2021 0
2022 0
Holden Commodore: 89
Year Stolen
1980 1
1990 0
1991 0
1992 1
1993 0
1994 0
1995 0
1996 0
1997 0
1998 0
1999 0
2000 0
2001 0
2002 0
2003 8
2004 5
2005 9
2006 7
2007 10
2008 8
2009 8
2010 6
2011 4
2012 8
2013 1
2014 5
2015 1
2016 2
2017 3
2018 0
2019 2
2020 0
Ford Ranger: 86
Year Stolen
2006 1
2007 8
2008 8
2009 2
2010 6
2011 4
2012 11
2013 10
2014 8
2015 5
2016 2
2017 3
2018 6
2019 5
2020 2
2021 1
2023 0
2024 2
Mazda Atenza: 82
Year Stolen
2002 11
2003 11
2004 2
2005 12
2006 18
2007 2
2008 9
2009 1
2010 3
2011 3
2012 0
2013 5
2014 3
2015 2
Toyota Corolla: 78
Year Stolen
1981 1
1990 0
1991 1
1992 0
1993 0
1994 1
1995 1
1996 1
1997 3
1998 1
1999 1
2000 1
2001 9
2002 2
2003 1
2004 4
2005 3
2006 4
2007 8
2008 2
2009 1
2010 0
2011 0
2012 1
2013 2
2014 13
2015 6
2016 3
2017 5
2018 0
2019 1
2020 0
2021 1
2022 0
2023 0
2024 1
Nissan Tiida: 75
Year Stolen
2004 5
2005 27
2006 12
2007 12
2008 8
2009 5
2010 0
2011 4
2012 2
Toyota Landcruiser: 74
Year Stolen
1988 1
1989 0
1990 1
1991 5
1992 3
1993 3
1994 6
1995 4
1996 12
1997 10
1998 7
1999 3
2000 4
2001 0
2002 2
2003 2
2004 0
2005 2
2006 1
2007 0
2008 1
2009 0
2010 1
2011 0
2012 0
2013 0
2014 0
2015 1
2016 0
2017 0
2018 1
2019 0
2020 1
Nissan Navara: 72
Year Stolen
1988 1
1989 0
1990 1
1991 5
1992 1
1993 1
1994 1
1995 2
1996 1
1997 1
1998 4
1999 1
2000 1
2001 3
2002 1
2003 6
2004 2
2005 2
2006 6
2007 8
2008 1
2009 4
2010 6
2011 4
2012 3
2013 4
2014 0
2015 5
2016 1
2017 0
2018 0
2019 1
2020 0
2021 0
2022 0
2023 0
2024 1
Mazda Bounty: 67
Year Stolen
1999 1
2000 3
2001 6
2002 9
2003 11
2004 7
2005 14
2006 16
Toyota Aqua: 67
Subaru Impreza: 59
Year Stolen
1993 1
1994 0
1995 0
1996 5
1997 1
1998 3
1999 1
2000 1
2001 5
2002 7
2003 7
2004 4
2005 0
2006 2
2007 3
2008 5
2009 0
2010 2
2011 0
2012 4
2013 3
2014 1
2015 3
2016 1
Mazda Axela: 57
Year Stolen
2003 2
2004 5
2005 9
2006 8
2007 9
2008 9
2009 5
2010 7
2011 2
2012 1
2013 5
2014 3
2015 2
Subaru Legacy: 54
Year Stolen
1995 0
1996 5
1997 1
1998 1
1999 3
2000 5
2001 5
2002 7
2003 2
2004 7
2005 7
2006 2
2007 2
2008 1
2009 3
2010 3
2011 0
2012 2
Suzuki Swift: 53
Year Stolen
1994 2
2005 8
2006 13
2007 6
2008 9
2009 3
2010 3
2011 3
2012 1
2013 1
2014 0
2015 0
2016 2
2017 0
2018 2
2019 0
2020 0
2021 0
2022 1
Mazda Demio: 44
Year Stolen
1996 1
1997 0
1998 1
1999 0
2000 2
2001 0
2002 1
2003 6
2004 8
2005 5
2006 8
2007 3
2008 2
2009 1
2010 2
2011 3
2012 0
Ford Falcon: 40
Year Stolen
1979 1
2000 2
2001 0
2002 1
2003 5
2004 3
2005 1
2006 7
2007 2
2008 4
2009 3
2010 3
2011 1
2012 3
2013 4
Nissan Skyline: 40
Year Stolen
1989 2
1990 2
1991 2
1992 2
1993 1
1994 0
1995 0
1996 2
1997 0
1998 0
1999 0
2000 1
2001 0
2002 2
2003 1
2004 2
2005 5
2006 5
2007 7
2008 1
2009 1
2010 4
Homebuilt Trailers: 38
You clicked on this! I only included it because 19 was not a round number.
Various Homebuilt Trailers are listed as being stolen. Build years range from 1958 to 2004.
Trailer theft is huge, these figures do not include branded trailers.
Update, 03/09/25
I revisited the Hilux numbers as the Surf data was bugging me, so went through the list manually. There were 45 Station wagons (Hilux Surfs) which would put the Surf at number 17 on the list knocking the trailers of the top 20 list. The Hilux still remains at number 1 with 131 Stolen.
