1y ago

Kias and Hyundais Keep Getting Stolen by the Thousands and Cities Are Suing | A viral Tiktok trend that began in 2021 demonstrated how the companies failed to install a basic anti-theft technology ...

www.vice.com Kias and Hyundais Keep Getting Stolen by the Thousands and Cities Are Suing

A viral Tiktok trend that began in 2021 demonstrated how the companies failed to install a basic anti-theft technology that made them trivially easy to steal.

Kias and Hyundais Keep Getting Stolen by the Thousands and Cities Are Suing | A viral Tiktok trend that began in 2021 demonstrated how the companies failed to install a basic anti-theft technology ...::A viral Tiktok trend that began in 2021 demonstrated how the companies failed to install a basic anti-theft technology that made them trivially easy to steal.

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It's worth mentioning that this impacts only US vehicles from those brands.
- And only the key operated ones. Push to start are not affected.
  
  "Push to start" may stop someone driving off in the car, but they are still targets.
  Thieves smash the windows, hop in, see the lack of key startup, then hop out. You still will end making a call to the police or insurance company.
  Having "Hyundai" or "Kia" anywhere on the car makes them a target of thieves, even with push to start.
  
  Nah, the proximity key cars have buttons on the door handle. It's a dead giveaway sign that it's pushbutton inside. Most thieves know this/figure it out real quick so they don't waste their time/risk getting caught.
  
  More needs to be said. Insurance companies have raised the rates of basic, liability only, for a salvage title car, by more than 70% increase in the last 3 years. $440/6mo > $770/6mo.
  This is an attack on all motorists in a way I've never seen. Financially attacking everyone for two car models that have been designed to be targets of "model", and to allow children to make a mess of their futures.
  What leverage can we possibly have against this exploitation?
- I hope it's the result of not using the metric system.
  
  No, but it is the result of deregulation. Similar models sold in Canada don't have this issue because (drumroll please), federal regulations require immobilizers on new cars. Free market at work folks.
  
  But Canada operates as a free market without the issue...sounds more like a US govt with a weak regulator problem.
  
  A free market requires stringent regulation to function humanely and morally. The two are at odds with each other. My final sentence is a critique of neoliberalism, an ideology in which regulation is reduced and power is given to corporate entities and away from regulators. It's been impossible to escape in politics since Thatcher and Reagan, and leads to some of the worst aspects of today's society that we havr to suffer. One of which is the poor people who bought a car assuming it'd be safe, just to find that the companies saved a quick buck to their loss. I hope the people win these lawsuits, but I doubt the justice system has the teeth (or willingness) to prosecute this negligence as it should be.
  
  I said this above, and more needs to be said. Insurance companies have raised the rates of basic, liability only, for a salvage title car, by more than 70% increase in the last 3 years. $440/6mo > $770/6mo.
  This is an attack on all motorists in a way I’ve never seen, and a further attack on new car owners who are unwittingly being sold these cars by car dealerships.
  Financially attacking everyone for two car models that have been designed to be targets of “model”, and to allow children to make a mess of their futures. What leverage can we possibly have against this exploitation?
- Are you sure? This stuff is happening in Australia too. Something about the key hole size being the exact size as a USB-A cable.
  
  That's only a small part of it. The bigger issue was that Hyundai/Kia removed like a 10 cent chip that would have prevented this issue on the US and a few other markets to save money.
  Still, everyone puts the blame on Hyundai, and while they definitely deserve some blame in all this, let's not forget the fact that people are still actively stealing these cars. These are still scumbag criminals doing this. An average person could see a car with its doors unlocked and the engine running and they won't hop in and steal it, because they're not asswipes.
  
  Here it says that this should not be possible in Australia due to the immobilizers.
  https://www.drive.com.au/news/us-kia-and-hyundai-thefts-what-it-means-for-australia/
  Maybe some thieves believe all KIAs and Hyundays are targets and eventually some are stolen due to other factors.
  
  Car thefts are up here anyway, but a lot of it is break and enters where they just get into your house to grab the keys.
  There is a diagnostic USB port in the steering column of the car, they are plugging a cable into that then the car just starts without the key.
  Immobilizers are required here in Australia so it's not that, I think it just inspired a bunch of kids to go steal cars in other ways.
- Can you link any additional information regarding that ? I just got my Hyundai stolen in the EU (from 2019) and last week apparently another one was stolen in the same area.
  
  Did you have an immobilizer on your car? Where I live the insurance basically requires one if you want to be insured, so virtually all private cars have one installed.
  The original article on the TikTok video that has "started" the trend refers only to low end models without one installed, so starting it without a key becomes trivial.
  
  That's why I'm searching for some answers, cause I don't really know. It was a Kona model, and last week a Tucson was stolen (2018 make) so I don't know what to tell you. I'm currently trying to find out if I can start a lawsuit against Hyundai for this exact reason.

69 comments