Which cars are least likely to be stolen in South Africa?

Is there a list of the least stolen cars in South Africa?

One, and it is out of date. King Price compiled “reported incidents of hijackings from January 2021 to April 2023” and named ten cars “that were the least hijacked cars within their footprint”, in no particular order: the Audi Q3, Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, Ford Fiesta, Ford Figo, Hyundai Creta, Nissan Almera, Nissan Magnite, Subaru Forester, Suzuki Vitara and Renault Clio. BusinessTech, which published the list in June 2024, suggested many “may not be desirable to hijackers because of their popularity in the rest of Africa and the lack of parts availability”.¹

It also shows how quickly such a list goes stale. The Almera is on it, yet Fidelity ADT named the Almera among the cars hijackers were targeting in February 2026.⁴ The list counts one insurer’s clients and ranks nothing, so treat it as a snapshot. Beyond it, we found no “top 20 least hijacked cars” list from any South African source: SAPS publishes hijackings by type of vehicle, not by make, and the other published lists name the cars considered most targeted.^2,3

By type, the SAPS figures for April to June 2026 put SUVs and station wagons at 386 carjackings, motorcycles at 360 and minibuses at 268, against 1 552 sedans, hatchbacks and coupés and 1 083 bakkies and panel vans.² Those are totals, not rates: SAPS doesn’t say how many of each type are on the road, so a smaller number doesn’t prove a type is safer.

A Pineapple article on KwaZulu-Natal hotspots has a shorter version, naming models “less likely to make the list of high-risk vehicles in South Africa (in no particular order)”, among them the Audi Q3 and Hyundai Creta, which are on King Price’s list too. It gives no source for its list.⁹

Models from listed brands that aren’t named

Some models from brands that are on the lists are missing too. The Suzuki Swift, Ford Everest and Volkswagen T-Cross aren’t named on Fidelity ADT’s 2026 list, King Price’s top 10, Auto Trader’s 2026 ranking or MasterDrive’s 2026 list, even though the Ertiga, Ranger and Polo are.^3,4,5,6 Our Volkswagen page covers the T-Cross.

Not on a list doesn’t mean safe

Cars that no list names are still stolen. In February 2026 a white Range Rover worth R2.1 million, stolen in Bramley and “flagged by a tracking company”, was stopped at Kranskop on the N1 in Limpopo.¹⁰ In September 2025 a T-Cross taken in the Pietermaritzburg CBD was tracked and recovered, and in August 2026 two stolen Navaras were recovered on the N1 heading for Beitbridge.^11,12

Syndicates also steal to order. Willem Els of the ISS, quoted by IOL in April 2026, described orders such as “We need Range Rovers, this year, so and so.”⁸

What makes a car less of a target?

The lists suggest it’s mostly about demand. Fidelity says the targeted models are “widely available in the domestic market” and in demand “for resale or stripping for parts”, and in 2025 it said syndicates like cars that blend in, especially white and silver ones.^4,7 By that reasoning, a less common model or colour is in less demand.

Visible security may help too: Bidvest says steering-wheel locks work as “visible deterrents that may encourage criminals to seek easier targets”.¹³ We found no South African test of which cars are hardest to steal, and factory security isn’t proof: in 2026 TopAuto reported a method that gets past the alarm and immobiliser on several Toyotas.¹⁴

Will an insurer treat a car on no list differently?

We found no insurer that publishes a list of low-risk cars: the ones we checked set their requirements per vehicle when cover starts. King Price confirms any required anti-theft device “at the inception of your cover”, and MiWay says it “may require additional anti-theft devices in my vehicle”, noted on its coversheet.^15,16 So ask your insurer what it needs for your car, whatever list it is or isn’t on.

Insurers have said a lower risk should cost less, in general terms. Prime wrote in December 2020 that “Buying a car that does not pose a high theft risk should attract a lower premium”, and that anti-theft equipment “could also help to lower the premium”.¹⁷ King Price’s 2025 guide to the cost of cover puts it on the car’s security rather than its model: “If your car has tracking, alarms, and immobilisers, you could save big.”¹⁸

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