Australia's car theft rates are rising. 9 women share their stories.

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I knew something was wrong the moment my introverted neighbour approached me. I had barely locked my front door before she caught my eye, bee-lining in my direction.

"Your wheel is gone," she told me.

Those were the first four words she had ever said to me.

"I'm sorry?" came my reply.

Those were the first two words I had ever said to her.

"No, I'm sorry. But your wheel is gone," she said, before walking off without any further explanation.

With my jaw opening and closing like a goldfish, I slowly headed towards my car. It wasn't until I reached the driver's side that my neighbour's words clicked in my sleep-deprived brain. The front right wheel of my car was missing.

Goodbye wheel, I'll miss you. Image: Supplied

In the dark of the night, someone had jacked up my car with an abandoned desk drawer (gotta admire the ingenuity) and been on their merry way with my wheel.

There was no other damage to my car. The hubcap and bolts were still there, scattered forlornly across the bitumen. But the wheel? Nowhere to be seen.

Let's just say, the stolen wheel became my personality for the next week.

"Did you know my WHEEL got stolen?" I would tell every poor soul in my vicinity.

"Yes, JUST the wheel."

My story, however insufferable and repetitive, taught me something. I was by no means an anomaly. Of all the people I tortured with my wheel anecdote, a good 80 per cent of them had either experienced a similar car-related theft or knew someone who had.

And it got me thinking… is car theft on the rise in Australia?

"Car theft claims across Australia skyrocket, with a new report showing 96 per cent increase."

Yep, a report from the Insurance Council of Australia showed that car claims jumped from $270 million in 2015 to a whopping $428 million in 2024.

In Victoria, motor vehicle thefts increased by 47 per cent in 2025. In Queensland, insurance claims for motor vehicle thefts more than doubled between 2015 and 2024. NSW, meanwhile, reported a more modest increase of 2.1 per cent compared to five years prior. (Um, as a Sydneysider, I object. Where are the stolen wheel statistics?)

My research also taught me that a car is stolen every 11 minutes in Australia. You're telling me that 60 seconds after I finish the 10-minute version of Taylor Swift's 'All Too Well', another car is gone??

With so many cars vanishing, I had to know if you, our readers, had your own car theft stories. And, boy, did you deliver. From stolen licence plates to siphoned petrol, here's what you shared…

9 women share their wildest car theft stories.

"My plates were stolen while [my car] was parked in my parents' driveway and we were all overseas," one reader told us, revealing the financial burden that followed.

"I had to lodge a police report in case they were used for crime and then buy new ones."

Another respondent added: "Mum had her car stolen from the hospital when she was on night shift. I still remember a couple of weeks after it was stolen I was woken up at about 2am to loud voices — the police were at the door to tell her they had found it. Miraculously, it was not damaged. But it still baffles me why they didn't wait until the morning to come and tell her!"

A third person had her car broken into during a work function. She caught the man in the act, and things escalated quickly.

"I had parked it on a busy street… it was still light. I was walking back to my car and I could see a man walking back and forth from a car taking things out of it. I soon realised it was my car," they shared.

"I screamed at him to stop and give me back my baby bag, which had my electric pump in it and the cooler bag with all the milk I had pumped that day. After firmly telling the man to give me back my baby's milk, he confronted me with a large screwdriver. I screamed out for help and another lady rushed to help me."

The man eventually gave her the baby bag back before running away from the scene. But the emotional toll lingers.

"I still feel really unsafe," she shared. "I know my car was locked, but I will always triple-check that I have locked my car."

Another reader had their spare tyre stolen from the back of their boot.

"I had an old Mini back in the day and someone stole the spare out of the boot and bounced it up the road for fun," they said. "I didn't realise it was gone until the drive home when someone pointed out my boot was hanging open."

A fifth recalled the time she was living in Toorak, the wealthiest suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, and had the rear window of her car smashed in.

"Someone had opened the door, then gone on to pop the bonnet open and steal my car's battery. I had to pay for a new battery and to replace the window.."

Another had their car broken into in a commuter car park.

"They disassembled the seatbelt and the driver's side airbags but took nothing else. Obviously, they needed it to finish a repair job."

A seventh wondered why their car "looked so strange" as they approached it before work. Then they realised both of their headlights had been stolen in the middle of the night.

"Apparently about 12 other sets were stolen the same night, according to the police," the respondent said.

A eighth person was convinced they once had petrol siphoned from their car.

"I, all of a sudden, was low on fuel, and when I went to fill up I noticed that a little bit of paint was missing on my fuel cap thingy that swings open — they had pried it open to steal my fuel and closed it so I wouldn't notice! I got a fuel cap with a lock on it after that."

A ninth person didn't realise their car was gone until they received a phone call from family members.

"I drove to the train station and caught a train to work. One day, I got a phone call from my mother and brother asking why I wasn't at work. I said, 'I am'. They said, 'but we are following you'."

At that point, they realised the car had been stolen and decided to call the police.

"I will never know for certain, but in the weeks before this I had made a comment about how I never remembered where I parked my car, and always parked somewhere that I didn't think I did park it at. So it was speculated they took my car regularly and returned it to the car park before I finished work."

Needless to say, my stolen wheel is by no means an outlier — car thefts are on the rise nationwide.

And while it might sound funny in hindsight, losing a wheel was stressful, inconvenient, and unsettling.

For many women who shared their stories, the impact went beyond repairs — it left them shaken and feeling unsafe at home.

These crimes are worryingly common, a reminder to stay vigilant, insured… and maybe check your tyres if you spot someone propping a car up with a desk drawer.

To learn more about your insurance options, head over to Youi's website.

Product issued by Youi Pty Ltd. Consider our Car PDS when deciding if this product is right for you. PDS and TMD available at youi.com.au.

Feature Image: Supplied.

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