Chicago Experiencing an Uptick in Airbag Theft: Here are the Vehicles Being Targeted

Not long ago, catalytic converter thefts around Chicago and the surrounding Chicagoland area were making headlines. That problem is still prevalent today, but becoming increasingly common in the city is cars being broken into and airbags being stolen.

Last week, multiple Chicago-based media outlets, including the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote at length about airbags being stolen from vehicles. While exact numbers are difficult to track, as many impacted elect not to report the theft to law enforcement, just this weekend, the Little Italy reported over a dozen Hondas were broken into with the airbag being the only thing missing from each.

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Airbag Thefts Proving Costly for Innocent Parties:

The Chicago Sun-Times caught up with 26-year-old Kieran Degenaars, who saw his 2018 Honda Civic sitting in front of his home with a shattered window and glass everywhere. He initially assumed the pricey work boots in his backseat would be missing, but those were still there. The only thing absent was the airbag tucked insider the steering wheel.

Degenaars was left with a $3,300 repair. While his insurance company reimbursed him $2,000, he was still on the hook for more than $1,200 while his car took nearly three weeks to be repaired.

Per the Chicago Sun-Times, it takes some experienced burglars less than one minute to break into a car and steal the airbag. Thieves put the airbag on the black market, or in some cases, coordinate with local body shops based on models that are in high demand, suggesting internal corruption. Retired CPD First Deputy Superintendent Anthony Riccio revealed that a body shop might tell a person they need an airbag for a specific make/model; that person would go out, find that specific vehicle, break into it, and steal the airbag.

Some Shops are Seeing a Backlog of Airbag Repairs:

Sair Arapovic, owner of Royce Auto in Bensenbille, has seen more than 60 cases of stolen airbags in the past three months, per the Chicago Sun-Times. In most cases, airbags have a serial number associated with a generic car model as opposed to a specific year. It's virtually impossible to tie an airbag to a certain vehicle. You can tie it to the vehicle type, but not the minutiae that distinguishes vehicle types.

Dealers often sell new airbags for an upwards of $1,000. Used airbags can range from $150 to $600, per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Some sites, including eBay, require sellers to verify airbag listengs with unique vehicle identification numbers and certification by the Automotive Recycles Association in lieu of the rise in thefts.

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Which Vehicles' Airbags are Being Targeted?:

After approximately 67 million airbags were recalled about 10 years ago, black market demand has risen substantially. Japanese auto supplier Takata was responsible for manufacturing defective airbags that exploded, killing 28 people in the United States alone. The recall that began in 2016 and continued through December 2019 has created a backlog for the auto industry writ large. Not enough airbags have been produced to rebound from that loss of existing inventory.

Hondas and Acuras suffered the most from the airbag recall, and thus, those particular vehicles are targeted by thieves at disproportionately higher rates. Find out more about the rise in airbag thefts across Chicago and the Chicagoland area on the Chicago Sun-Times' website.