Motor vehicle theft is a crime of theft. This is generally understood to refer to the stealing of automobiles, buses, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trucks, trailers and the like; but not to aircraft, boats, bulldozers, and spacecraft.

In almost all jurisdictions, theft of a motor vehicle is punishable as a felony due to the extreme emotional and economic distress it causes to the victim and to society.

The crime is commonly charged under the name grand theft, auto in the U.S., however, other places refer to it as simply "felony theft" or "theft over", i.e., theft over a dollar amount that exceeds misdemeanor proportions. In any case, as with other thefts, the prosecutor must usually prove that the alleged thief intended to deprive the owner of his or her property permanently. Taking a motor vehicle without consent and then abandoning it (or intending to abandon it) is known as joyriding.

Colloquially, stealing a motor vehicle while it is occupied is known as carjacking, and in many legal systems is treated as a form of robbery. Another term used for car theft is boosting. Theft of a vehicle while the driver is warming it up and de-icing it may be called frosting.

To prevent vehicle theft, some statutes require drivers to stop the engine, remove the ignition key, and lock an unattended vehicle left on a public way. Failure to do so may expose the victim to a fine for a traffic code violation.

This crime, though common throughout the 20th century, has been in decline in most jurisdictions over the last decade. One big exception is the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which has seen the number of motor-vehicle thefts increase dramatically in recent years. Prince George's County, Maryland, a nearby suburb of the US capital, had more than 18,000 cars stolen in 2004, many by juvenile car thieves, according to an investigation the Washingtonian magazine published in December 2005.

In order to deter motor vehicle theft, most jurisdictions in North America require that the vehicle identification numbers (VIN) of motor vehicles be registered with a vehicle licensing authority, making it difficult to resell a stolen vehicle or possess stolen parts. Most motor vehicle theft involves dismantling the vehicle and selling its parts which are not registered and for which there is a large market, or by moving the vehicle to another country, where the local authorities may not be linked to the same database or such protections may not be in place.

See also

• VIN etching
• TWOC (Taken Without Owner's Consent)
• Car alarm
• Vehicle tracking system

In popular culture, the video game series Grand Theft Auto uses car theft as a main focal point of its games.

Illegal occupations | Theft | Car theft