Hertz Moves to Combat San Diego Thefts

PARK RIDGE, N.J. —  Hertz Corp., trying to combat soaring auto thefts near the Mexican border, said Tuesday that it will stop offering vehicles popular with car thieves to California and Nevada customers likely to drive in the San Diego area.

The world’s largest car rental company also said it will issue warnings to customers in the San Diego area and equip cars rented for use there with anti-theft devices.

According to the California Highway Patrol, 1,800 vehicles were stolen in San Diego County in January, up from 1,300 in January 1995.

“Hertz alone has lost 15 vehicles since the beginning of the year, with the vehicles almost certainly going into Mexico,” said Charles Shafer, Hertz regional vice president of the Western region. “Without border controls going into Mexico, all the police in the world can’t stem this epidemic.”

Hertz wouldn’t say what models are on thieves’ “hit list.”

Officer Timothy Santillan of the California Highway Patrol in San Diego said the cars stolen most often are Honda Accords, Toyota Camrys and older Toyota Corollas. Hertz also has had some its minivans stolen, he said.

Citing San Diego authorities, Hertz said a number of Mexicans youngsters have obtained one-day work papers to enter California, steal new cars and drive them back across the border to Tijuana.

The cars are sold for $200 to $500 each and then taken deeper into Mexico, where they are resold for a significantly larger amount, the company said.

Hertz, a unit of Ford Motor Co., has a sufficient number of vehicles that aren’t on the hit list or are equipped with anti-theft devices to meet demand, Hertz spokeswoman Lisa LoManto said.