LONDON-- April 14, 2011: British motorists regularly leave an astonishing 3.2 BILLION pounds Sterling worth of belongings in their cars overnight, according to new research from leading insurer, Your Cover car insurance, part of Allianz Insurance.

The research showed that despite the ever present risk of car crime, motorists appear to be content to leave expensive items in their cars and hope the vehicle will not be broken into while they sleep.

According to the survey, the most common high value items left in unattended cars overnight include:

• Portable sat navs
• MP3 players
• Golf clubs
• Mobile phones
• Sun glasses
• Cameras
• Handbags
• Wallets
• DVD players
• Jewellery

Andy James, a spokesman for Your Cover, which conducted the poll of 2,000 motorists said:

"People are taking a risk if they leave high value items in their cars overnight. 53 per cent of motorists also reported that they did not always lock their cars at night which is asking for trouble. Most insurers will insist that items stolen from an unoccupied car such as sat navs, MP3 players, and mobile phones must be in a locked boot and the keys must be removed from the vehicle."

He added: "People who make claims for theft from their cars risk losing their no claims discount. Drivers could also find that they have insufficient cover as insurers impose financial limits for items stolen from cars."

The report also identified some of the more 'unusual' items people leave in their cars which include:

• A spare set of false teeth
• A dead hamster's ashes for good luck
• Tomato ketchup
• Sewing machine
• Air beds
• Vacuum cleaners
• Board games -- presumably to play in traffic jams
• And not forgetting Harry the Lamb. (The assumption is that Harry is a cuddly toy and not a real Lamb!)

Male and Female Variations

As you might expect the most popular items ladies keep in their cars are make up and spare shoes. For the men it's sports and car equipment. Men it seems are much more likely to leave their gym shoes in the car then women because, as one respondent delicately put it:

"My trainers smell so bad even the dog runs a mile if I bring them into the house."

Men and women are neck and neck when it comes to leaving eight CDs in their cars. However, women are much more likely than men to have an umbrella in the car, but men pip the ladies when it comes to having that all important set of spanners in the boot. Although as one male respondent put it:

"I've got a set of spanners in the boot but I've no idea what I'd do with them if the car broke down."

1 in 3 ladies compared to 1 in 4 men confess that they consider their cars to be a bit of a 'dumping ground' for things they did not want to keep in the house. But perhaps the real answer as to why some people's cars are home to so much 'stuff' is that nearly half the survey sample admitted they had not sorted out the contents of their car at all in the last 12 months.

Notes to Editors:

1. Allianz Insurance is one of the largest general insurers in the UK and part of the Allianz SE Group, the largest property and casualty insurer worldwide. Reassuringly in these uncertain financial times, in July 2010 the Standard and Poor's rating for Allianz Insurance was reaffirmed as AA- with a stable outlook and the rating of Allianz SE was also reaffirmed as AA with a stable outlook.

Also in July 2010, Allianz Insurance won the General Insurer of the Year title at the prestigious British Insurance Awards, the third time the Company has won the award in the last six years.

2. Your Cover insurance quotes are available online at Your Cover Insurance . Your Cover Insurance policyholders have the option of varying the amount they insure the contents of their cars for online.

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By Hannah Elliott

By all accounts, Detroit's Big Three automakers have begun producing better-made, longer lasting, more efficient vehicles. It's a distinct change from the 1990s and early 2000s, when they fell behind their European and Asian counterparts in each category.

"This change is not even a gradual thing," says Christine Overstreet, an automotive consultant and director of Heels and Wheels. "It's like they've said, 'OK, we really want to step it up, we really want to compete, we're ready.' After past years of being so bad, they've really stepped up their game."

But with three exceptions -- the Mercedes-Benz S550, Smart Fortwo and Nissan Titan -- all of the cars on this year's list of the Worst Cars on the Road are (still) made by domestic companies. That includes the Dodge Dakota, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Chrysler Town & Country. The only American car company with zero vehicles on the list? Ford.

In Pictures: The Worst Cars On The Road

Behind the Numbers

To determine our list of the worst-made cars on the road, we started with the lowest-rated vehicles from six reliability and performance studies conducted this year by Consumer Reports (for more details, click here).

Any car, truck or SUV named among the worst in at least two of those studies made the final cut to be on the "Worst" list.

We should note that the Mercedes S550 is the only vehicle that qualified for our list because of a high cost of ownership, low fuel efficiency and a low rating for overall value, not because of any problems with reliability, safety or performance, which affected every other vehicle in the top 10. Indeed, luxury vehicles like that sedan and the Cadillac Escalade are arguably at a disadvantage on lists like this -- their luxurious interior upgrades, high-quality trim and powerful engines work against them.

"The worst value, the highest cost of ownership -- you've got to remember there is a numerator and a denominator in these things," says Terry Woychowski, the vice president for quality and global launches for General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people). "To use an analogy of a watch: If you looked at dollars to buy a watch vs. accuracy of time, you'd probably buy a Casio. [Compare that] to the price and value in a Rolex -- you'd say, 'Well, shoot. It costs so much!' For vehicles like this, it's an uphill battle."

We should also note that nearly every car or truck made today is safer, more efficient and more reliable than anything on the road even as recently as 15 years ago. But that doesn't excuse just how often vehicles like the Jeep Liberty are panned for poor reliability or poor fuel economy -- or both.

Jeep's Liberty and Wrangler earned spots on Consumer Reports' Least Reliable list for 2011. The Wrangler also received Consumer Reports' Worst Value and Worst Cars distinctions, the latter of which is based on more than 50 individual Consumer Reports tests and evaluations. The Wrangler also appeared on our Worst Cars list last year.

Doug Betts, Chrysler's senior vice president of quality, says the Consumer Reports tests don't reflect the latest, most up-to-date vehicles the company is currently manufacturing. The cars and trucks Chrysler has coming off the line now are far better than cars made even last year, he said in a statement about the reports.

"Customers will see 16 all-new or significantly updated vehicles at Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat dealers this year," Betts said. "These vehicles represent a new level of interior refinement, world-class fit and finish and significantly enhanced driving dynamics."

Similarly, and despite significant improvements since hitting bottom in 2009, GM has some work to do before it can regain a good reputation fleet-wide. Four GM-made vehicles -- the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Chevrolet Colorado, and Chevrolet Aveo/Aveo5 -- are ranked as among the worst on the market today. All but the Tahoe Hybrid qualified for the Worst Cars list last year as well.

"As our new vehicles come in, as we continue to launch vehicles, as we continue to do exceedingly better, I think the perception that we've noticed is already turning," Woychowski says. "I look forward to the next year or two when we continue this momentum to where it simply becomes a [good] reputation."

Woychowski expressed the same frustration with the ratings that Chrysler's Betts did. He noted a 45% reduction in GM-brand warranty repairs since 2007 and said cars like the Aveo won't be on lists like this much longer anyway.

"We get paid to get smarter every day," Woychowski says. "When we build that last Aveo, it will be the finest one we've ever made... because the person who goes to buy this vehicle this afternoon, we want them to have the best vehicle we've ever produced."

In Pictures: The Worst Cars On The Road

Copyright © 2011 Bonten Media Group, Inc     Abilene, TX USA - All Rights Reserved.

In association with:

Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Advertising | Job Openings | Public File | EEO Report | Microsoft MapPoint Terms of Use | Microsoft Privacy Statement | Site Map | Some Images Provided by Weather Underground, Inc.