Chicago Sues Kia And Hyundai After Over 7,000 Cars Stolen Last Year
Chicago Sues Kia And Hyundai After Over 7,000 Cars Stolen Last Year
Reactionaries have used rising car thefts to justify ineffective tough on crime policies despite widespread knowledge that the increases are largely a result of negligence from Kia and Hyundai and the inability to hold corporations accountable.
This issue has added onto the ever-present feeling of chaos in the US and I'm shocked these companies haven't seen more consequences for this deceit. I really hope they do and we get the recalls these owners deserve, we get new regulation on minimum anti-theft requirements.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The suit also alleges that Kia and Hyundai deceptively assured consumers these vehicles possessed “advanced” safety features, despite knowledge of the “critical defect and its consequences.”
“The impact of car theft on Chicago residents can be deeply destabilizing, particularly for low- to middle-income workers who have fewer options for getting to work and taking care of their families,” Johnson said in a statement.
“The failure of Kia and Hyundai to install basic auto-theft prevention technology in these models is sheer negligence, and as a result, a citywide and nationwide crime spree around automobile theft has been unfolding right before our eyes.”
The suit comes days after a federal judge declined to approve a class action settlement that would’ve offered cash to owners of vehicles prone to theft.
NPR reported in May that some insurance companies — including Allstate — have even stopped offering coverage to owners of vulnerable Kia and Hyundai vehicles due to the high rate of thefts.
Chicagoans who own Kias and Hyundais can share their experiences related to the ongoing vehicle thefts via email to the city’s Consumer Protection department: consumerprotection@cityofchicago.org.
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I hope they get reamed and I recommend people avoid Hyundai/Kia (although note that while technically separate entities, they do share a LOT of engineering and usually work together) since it seems that while they make nice cars on paper and I enjoy mine in a vacuum, there always seems to be some fatal flaw lurking whether by poor engineering or dumb penny pinching/corner cutting. I'm a car dork and while I was comparing everything before settling on buying my affected Sorento, I never once thought to ask "does this car include an immobilizer and have an easy to defeat ignition lock?" and neither did my parents. Even Nissan included immobilizers on their cheapest models a decade ago.
This is a ridiculous lawsuit by the city. Why does a car manufacturer have to care about theft at all? I also have no idea why Kia and Hyandai or responsible for Chicago's crime problem. Reactionary crime policies are bad, reactionary abuses of the legal system by incompetent government official who also happen to be pushing those same reactionary crime polices are also bad.
The city’s complaint claims that Kia and Hyundai failed to equip cars sold between 2011 and 2022 with engine immobilizers, an anti-theft technology. Most car manufacturers made it a standard feature over a decade ago, and the automakers have included it in vehicles sold outside of the country.
Fun fact. These are legally mandated in Canada (since 2007/8). So the north american models are already built to accept the tech.
Yup, my Canadian 2020 Elantra with turn key ignition is chipped. I'm always worried when I go to the US that someone is gonna pop the window, rip off the steering wheel cover and try to turn the barrel just to realize that it's chipped, then proceed to destroy my interior in a fit of rage because they couldn't steal the car.
Kia and Hyundai skipped installing industry standard immobilizers in order to save money. The cars are incredibly easy to steal. Kia and Hyundai should be held responsible.
Why does a car manufacturer have to care about theft at all?
This argument doesn't make any sense to me. Why bother with keys and locks then? Is it more practical to expect society to eliminate literally all crime?
I'm sure there are good reasons to dislike this lawsuit, but this isn't one of them.
Should bike manufacturers be sued as well? This seems like a victim blaming mentality to me. When a car gets stolen there is exactly one party to blame. If I create a line of cars that doesn't have key's or locks is that just not allowed according to you? If someone leaves their front door unlocked and they get robbed is it their fault?
The only relevant question is whether the cars satisfy the legal requirements of the US, the state of Michigan and Chicago.
And the answer to that question is presumably yes, considering they have valid license plates.
If politicians think them unsafe, they need to increase security standards.
As an European I'm extremely confused by this news as well.. so Chicago has a high crime problem and the city's solution is to sue Asian carmakers? Sorry but this only makes sense in the US, I guess..
PS: maybe Hyundai should also sue Chicago city for failing to curb crime, a failure that leads to many car thefts?
Troll
It's odd that a federal judge denied a class action lawsuit. I didn't know that they could do that.
Who would be able to do that if not a judge?
Honestly thank god, because if being easy to steal was something you could sue for, every bicycle company about to go out of business.
Except we all know that and expect that to be the case when owning a bicycle.
I think it's more like failing to meet basic standards and practices for a consumer product. Like how would you feel if the next cell phone you bought couldn't be locked? Failure to comply with basic standards of what your selling is wrong.
Also this.