Saint Louis Donald Nelson left his Shrewsbury house at around five in the morning one morning in June, only to discover that he was the most recent casualty of a widespread pattern. Vehicle thieves are taking advantage of a flaw in the ignition systems of some well-known car brands.
With little more than a USB cord, it enables thieves to steal thousands of Kias and Hyundais, much like Nelson’s.
Nelson recounted, “When I got out, I believed I was in the Twilight Zone.” “Maybe I parked my automobile in a different spot?” I pondered.
The final few seconds of his 2020 Hyundai Elantra driving away without Nelson in the driver’s seat were captured by his cameras.
“I started wondering right away, “What am I going to do? How will I travel to work? What should I do next? How will my insurance be affected? “asked he.
Kia automobiles from 2015 and Hyundai models from 2012, according to police across the nation, are at risk.
According to St. Louis Police Capt. Janice Bockstruck, thefts of those kinds of cars have increased by almost 400% in St. Louis compared to this time last year.
Bockstruck said that if Hyundais and Kias were excluded from the equation, the city’s overall car theft rate would decrease by 6% rather than increase.
The fact that Kias and Hyundais are more prevalent in our city than other makes and models of cars “speaks volumes in and of itself,” she said.
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Using Just a USB Cable, Thieves Are Stealing Hyundais and Kias
Thanks in part to popular social media posts, thieves all around the United States are targeting Hyundai and Kia cars because they are simple targets. Basically, they can start the car and go in less than a minute if it’s a modern car from one of those automakers that doesn’t use push-button start. The only equipment needed is a USB charger, which can be found in almost all cars.
Over the past year, more thefts of both brands have been reported in a number of states. This is consistent with the rise in viewers and sharers of films of the Milwaukee-based “Kia Boyz” speeding around in snatched Korean vehicles.
Videos demonstrate the exact procedure they’re using, which entails removing the steering column cover and disassembling the key hole. The vehicle can then be started, the steering lock released, and the ignition tumbler turned using a USB cord. As a result, the Hyundai or Kia can be started and driven away at any time by utilizing the same cable. The thieves target Korean vehicles with physical key slots in particular because push-button start variants are more difficult to circumvent.
According to reports, vehicles that employ a physical key are vulnerable to this technique because they lack an immobilizer, a factory-installed anti-theft mechanism. These immobilizers check the authenticity of a key against an automobile’s ECU using a chip, or transponder. This implies that the vehicle cannot be started unless the transponder has been matched with the vehicle, even if a thief has copied the physical cuts on a key. The vulnerable Hyundai and Kia vehicles purportedly lack an immobilizer, allowing the thieves to accomplish the same feat on an automobile from the 1980s by simply forcing the ignition cylinder.
Hyundai and Kia representatives claim that the 2022 vehicles are exempt from the technique. Despite this, numerous news organizations have continued to record automobile thefts. When there are no stylistic changes, it’s unlikely that a would-be thief would be able to distinguish a 2022 from a 2021, therefore owners may still be targeted and vandalized even if thieves are unable to drive away.
Milwaukee is probably one of the worst cities in terms of thefts, even though it is not the only one. In fact, more than two-thirds of all vehicle thefts in the city involve Korean cars, and they’ve grown by 2,500 percent annually. Since the situation has “a significant harmful impact on the quality of life for [its] inhabitants,” city alderman Michael Murphy told WISN, Milwaukee has even considering legal action against Hyundai and Kia. A different class action case was filed last June under seal against the automakers and their parent firm, alleging that inadequate security measures are used in the production of the automobiles.
A higher level of security may be something affected Hyundai and Kia owners want to think about adding. For instance, they might decide to buy a wheel lock shaped like a club or an aftermarket immobilizer system. Even if it doesn’t necessarily address the root cause, this does contribute by thwarting potential crimes of opportunity.
Following an increase in thefts fueled by social media challenges, new lawsuits claim that Hyundai and Kia vehicles are too simple to steal.
Typically, the person who steals the car receives the majority of the blame for the actual crime. That is no longer the case for Hyundai and Kia, however, as state officials, clients, and attorneys are urging the business associates to take action.
The action comes after a spate of vehicle thefts involving each brand that were sparked by widely popular social media challenges on TikTok, YouTube, and other platforms. These challenges typically used the hashtag “Kia Boys.” Usually, the vehicles are employed for fast thrill rides or other criminal activities. The tendency is growing throughout the United States, despite the claims made by social media firms that they remove such content because it violates their regulations.
The majority of the cars being targeted are specific 2010–2021 Kia and Hyundai models with traditional mechanical keys and no key-fob or push-start system. All vehicles produced after 2022, according to the two Korean businesses, are equipped with the technology.
The automakers are currently dealing with multiple class-action lawsuits in various states.
In December of last year, there was the first indication that there might be an issue for Hyundai and Kia. At that time, we announced that both manufacturers had started collaborating with Milwaukee police to offer free steering wheel locks to deter theft of automobiles without immobilizers.
Then, in July, we informed you that the Minnesota Police Department had noted an increase in Kia thefts of more than 1,300% from the previous year. At same time, thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles were also reported to have increased in Grand Rapids, St. Louis, Memphis, Cincinnati, and Columbus. Milwaukee even went so far as to claim that the rise in thefts was “directly caused” by the Korean automakers.
By August, St. Petersburg, Florida police had also noted a rise and had even gone so far as to tweet about the problem. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that the rash of thefts has sparked a number of lawsuits that claim these cars are just too simple to steal. Hyundai, for its part, claims that beginning in October, a security upgrade will be available for purchase at its dealers.
At least one federal action has been filed against the Korean automakers, and Ken McClain, the lead attorney on 13 claims against Kia and Hyundai, told CBS Chicago that “Kia and Hyundai have known for a long time that their refusal to add an immobilizer put their automobiles at a disadvantage.”
While no automobile can be rendered theft-proof, according to a statement from Kia to the WSJ, thieves are only interested in cars with a steel key and a “turn-to-start” ignition system.
The statement continued, “The majority of Kia vehicles sold in the United States come with a key fob and ‘push-button-to-start’ system, making them harder to steal.
The two Korean manufacturers told CNBC that they are distributing steering wheel locks in an effort to remedy the issue; Hyundai added that it will start selling a “security kit” in October.
Some American communities are requesting a repair from the companies since the problem has gotten so terrible.
For obvious reasons, we won’t list the models that are impacted, but by connecting a USB phone charger to a certain circuit in the steering column, thieves can bypass the chip in the key. Vehicle immobilizers are commonly found in current cars to prevent situations like these, however Hyundai and Kia decided not to include them in many of their models.
The theft problem has gotten so terrible that some cities, including Milwaukee, have tried to pressure Hyundai and Kia into improving the poor security on their vehicles, but it appears that those requests have mainly gone unheeded.
Dealers are also coping with the effects of the rise in thefts as they struggle to find the parts needed to fix the recovered automobiles. Lock cylinders, for instance, are in great demand but difficult to locate because of continuous supply chain problems. This puts a lot of impacted vehicle owners in an uncomfortable position.
Hyundai Motor America expressed alarm about the increase in local auto thefts in a statement. “Our major goal has always been and will continue to be the safety and well-being of our clients and the neighborhood. All new Hyundai vehicles come standard with engine immobilizers, and these vehicles meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
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Lack of engine immobilizers on Kia and Hyundai models
The lawsuit claims that one of the reasons the cars are flawed is because they lack engine immobilizers, which are devices that prevent ignition systems from starting without a key.
The lawsuit claims that despite having the ability and means to do so, the defendants “failed and refused to warn/disclose these problems to customers, knowing their automobiles were defective in this manner.”
Slovak, Newman, and Davies are also asking for a reimbursement of all or a portion of the money used to buy their individual stolen vehicles.
According to the lawsuit, the three plaintiffs were more vulnerable to thieves because they had no means of knowing that their cars lacked engine immobilizers.
In fact, Defendants’ decades-long concealing of the Defect “became evident” only when thefts “exploded” in Columbus, all of which happened in the same manner and spread across various social media venues, according to the lawsuit.
The case claims that defendants purposefully designed the automobiles to be defective and concealed important information regarding the defective vehicles in order to maximize profits at the expense of other people’s health, rights, and safety.
Through representatives, Kia America Inc. and Hyundai Motor America declined to comment, stating that they do not comment on ongoing litigation.
All Kia vehicles will have an engine immobilizer starting in 2022, according to a previous statement from Kia America “installed as a default. The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are met or exceeded by all Kia vehicles sold in the United States “The business said.