Kelowna News

The Ford F-series continues to be one of the top vehicles of choice for truck thieves.

Three stolen Ford pick-ups rolled into the claims bay at ICBC headquarters in Kelowna this week.

“The Ford F150 is the number one stolen vehicle in the Okanagan, so we aren’t really surprised to see it here," says Michelle Hargrave of ICBC. "The three Fords found are a mix of the F150, 250 and 350. Any truck in those series are the most popular stolen trucks in the Okanagan.”

She says one of the reason why thieves continue to favour Fords is because of a lack of security features.

“The F150 and the 250 do come standard with a vehicle immobilizer, but the 350 doesn’t because it is in a different weight class. So we are seeing thieves target those vehicles more.”

ICBC says the preferred method of gaining access to the Fords is simply by popping the door's key panel with a screwdriver. The F-350 series is particularly vulnerable to thieves because they can actually start the vehicle by inserting a screwdriver in the ignition without having to damage it.

According to Hargrave, the other top stolen vehicles across the Okanagan are the Chrysler Dodge Caravan, the Dodge Ram, Honda Civic and the Dodge Dakota.

Interview with Michelle Hargrave (Kelly Hayes)