There's a hack that makes stealing Hyundai and Kia cars easier--and thieves are taking note

[Demsrule86]

My daughter's car was stolen in Cleveland. She was advised to buy a 'club'...remember that thing that immobilized steering wheels in the 90's I think! Screw you Hyundai and KIA...bad customer service...should have been recalled. See how many folks by your crappy cars now.

And what makes it worse as there is a Tik Tok craze sweeping the internet. Thieves are stealing 2010-2021 Kia and Hyundai vehicles that use mechanical keys, not key fobs and push buttons to start the car. These are kids who use a USB cord to hot wire the car-mostly young teens who use a USB cord to hot wire the car. They post videos on social media using the hashtag “Kia Boys” — which has more than 33 million views on TikTok. An insurance industry group says these cars are stolen at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the auto industry because their keys lack computer chips for theft “immobilizer” systems.

The thefts apparently started in the Milwaukee area two years ago and spread to multiple Midwest cities and as far away as Colorado and New Mexico after instructional videos appeared on social media.

The Highway Loss Data Institute, a unit of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that Hyundais and Kias without immobilizers had a vehicle theft claim rate of 2.18 per 1,000 insured vehicle years. The rest of the industry combined had a rate of 1.21. An insured vehicle year is equal to one vehicle insured for one year.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/index.php

[SheltieLover]

1. Sorry to hear about your daughter's car!

[Farmer-Rick]

2. My Kia is so old

They hadn't invented computer chips for theft “immobilizers” yet.

Take that car thieves.......oh wait.

[LiberalFighter]

3. What is TitTot doing to stop it?

[Demsrule86]

6. Not a thing...

[MerryHolidays]

4. The Club wasn't a real deterrent

Thieves would just use a hacksaw to cut through the steering wheel to remove the Club. Happened to us!

[Demsrule86]

7. But in this case they might move on to the next car. That is the hope...it is all there is which

ridiculous. A recall should have happened.

[MerryHolidays]

13. I see the point. I too thought it was a deterrent.

But these folks will do anything. Here on the West Coast, we now have tons of catalytic converters being stolen for the platinum they contain.

Crazy.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Next time get a trunk Monkey

[MerryHolidays]

14. I had never seen these before. Absolutely brilliant! nt

[IL Dem]

5. The city of St. Louis has filed a suit against them.

They are regularly stolen and used to commit other crimes. Some of those involve driving the stolen vehicle into the walls or display windows of gun shops and stealing the guns.

[Demsrule86]

8. I want my daughter to park in the garage at her job but it is expensive. I just don't think it is

safe for her walking out after dark in the winter like four blocks to an empty lot with no security.

[Demsrule86]

10. It always goes back to guns...sigh.

[Zeitghost]

11. Recall?

Because somebody bought a cheap import without upgraded options? That's a little over the top.

[Demsrule86]

12. No, that isn't true. At the some of the cars were sold in 2010 through 2020, it was the normal

technology and putting a chip in the car so only the driver's key is recognized shouldn't be an upgrade and it wasn't... back in 2010, there was no key fob. And it needs to be recalled. I imagine it will be a cold day in hell before people feel comfortable doing business with two companies that didn't warn customers and did recall the cars.

[Zeitghost]

15. It's very true

Recalls should involve safety, defect or fraud issues.

These are some of the most affordable car brands on the market. People often buy them because they are cheap and reliable, not because they come with options that are standard on other brands. The cars worked exactly as they were designed and advertised to work. That it didn't come with some features that made it harder for thieves to hot-wire is not a recall issue.