The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) based in Delhi collates information on crimes across the country. Motor vehicle theft is one of heads under which crime is classified. The NCRB maintains computerised records of missing vehicles and recovered vehicles and allows prospective car buyers to check their database before buying a used vehicle. Stolen vehicles usually find their way into used car markets in another part of the country where unwary buyers can end up with a vehicle that has forged registration documents. The NCRB database can be queried at www.ncrbindia.org

The data available in Crime Records Division is used for the purpose of co-ordination of recovered / seized Motor Vehicles with data of lost / stolen Motor Vehicles and vice versa. In case of co-ordination the concerned District Superintendent of Police are informed through wireless message accordingly. The data of Motor Vehicles is also used to cater the need of the issuing theft clearance reports to 10 Transport Authorities of Delhi Administration and certain other States for the purpose of transferring the ownership of the vehicle.

• In 1999, an estimated 1.1 million vehicles where stolen in the United States (FBI Uniform Crime Reports).
• The estimated value of motor vehicles reported stolen in 1999 was over $7 billion with an average value of $6,104.
• The recovery rate for vehicles stolen in 1999 was 67 per cent, showing that most thefts where either for necessity or used for joyriding.
• Seventy-five per cent of all motor vehicles reported stolen during 1999 were automobiles. Nineteen per cent were trucks or buses.
• The most commonly used tool for thieves is a screwdriver.
• Auto theft is an estimated $7.5 billion business and continues to grow, according to the FBI.
• In 1998, auto thieves grabbed 8.4 per cent fewer cars than in 1997, but the average value of the cars stolen was 11 per cent higher. That means the auto theft industry's cost to consumers and insurers rose $200 million in 1998.
• One car is stolen every 19 seconds in the US. That's a shorter time than it takes most people to unlock their car, put on their seat belt and start the engine.
• More than two thirds of all auto theft occurs at night. Over one half of all auto theft occurs in residential areas.
• If auto theft was a legitimate business, it would be ranked 50th among the Fortune 500 companies.
• The thief who drives your car away is 200 times more likely to have a serious accident with it than you are.

• The odds of your car being taken were 1 in 171 in 1998.
• Police apprehend 14 per cent of all auto thieves - a percentage that has remained constant for the past decade.
• The majority of vehicle thefts are done by non-professionals.
• 23 per cent of vehicles stolen are by professionals for profit by supplying to chop shops or exporting the vehicle.
• 77 per cent of vehicles stolen are by non-professionals that steal for transportation or joyriding.
• 67 per cent of persons arrested for vehicle theft are under the age of 25.
• 64 per cent of persons arrested for vehicle theft are under the age of 18.

Locations: Most vehicles are stolen from in front of the victim's home or apartment.

Suspects have a preference for stealing cars that they already know how to steal, and are easily stolen: Chevy/Olds/Pontiac/Buick/Dodge/Plymouth and Chrysler products are most popular in Pittsburgh and account for 8 of the top 10 models stolen. Honda and Toyota products are popular throughout the USA due to popularity and ability to resale parts.

Tools typically used are slide hammers, flat metal strips, screwdriver, slip tools such as a common butter knife.