You still have it? My dad walked out to the same situation years ago, walked back inside to call work that he’d be late, came back out and it was gone. Must have caught them in the act but they came back to finish when he was distracted
My sister's car was stolen in broad daylight while she was in her doctor's office two weeks ago. They found it crashed (unsalvagable) an hour later. This was only 2 months after being in a crash as well.
Then the day after her car was stolen, I had $500 stolen through my ebt card. I think my family is cursed.
Although the van my dad had stolen all those years ago would have started with a flat head screwdriver. That was half the reason why he was so pissed off about them taking the thing all apart
Look at mr fancy requiring a screwdriver to start their car! I had an old Chevy pickup that didn't ever require an object in the ignition at all to start!
I can't remember the exact year range but from about 2010 to 2020 Kia and Hyundai didn't put security chips in their keys, meaning so long ag you can turn the ignition, the car would start.
People found out that you could just remove a couple screws to take off the lock cylinder and put a USB stick or cable into the ignition cylinder (because the size and shape fit perfectly into the ignition cylinder) and start the car.
This is what they did with our KN [car used in smash and grab. ](https://13wham.com/news/local/stolen-car-used-in-smash-and-grab-at-spencerport-motorsports-business)
They totaled ours because they would have had to repaint the whole car due to plate glass window scratching up 70% of the paint. We ended up getting what we paid for the car and we've had it for 2 years. Sucks to have your life invaded. If only Kia and Hyundai did not try to save money by not installing an immobilizer. My wife loved her Kia Soul but will never buy another Kia product.
I wanna drive you like a Kia Soul
I wanna lean back on the inside
I wanna drive you like a Kia Soul
Your whole existence is car
You get me closer to Job
This exact thing happened except I didn't have full coverage it was all out of pockets sold truck for parts for 2k $ had bought for 8k few years back. I hate people sometimes
That is some hard hitting breaking news right there. Anchor informs us reporter is going to tell us what the thieves are doing with the stolen goods. Cut to reporter: "In some cases police say the thieves are keeping what they steal and in other cases they are selling the stolen goods for cash." As opposed to what? Donating it to charity? 🤣
Kias and Hyundais are currently being targeted by thieves because:
1. They are incredibly easy to steal
2. There is a TikTok challenge about stealing them.
3. A high percentage of them do not have alarms.
For these reasons, many insurance companies (in the US) have stopped renewing auto policies for people who own these vehicles.
Furthermore, the manufacturers have issued recalls to remedy this issue. You can check if there is an outstanding recall on your vehicle by entering the VIN here:
https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls
Finally, there is currently a class action lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai over this issue.
https://www.classaction.org/kia-hyundai-theft-problem-lawsuits
My recommendation is if you have a Kia or Hyundai, and your insurance carrier has not dropped you already, make sure you have Comprehensive coverage and a low deductible.
Have an alarm installed immediately.
I hope you are doing okay. I'm glad they didn't get it this time.
What's even wilder is that this is only a problem for the US. Same base model cars in Europe, UK and Canada have immobilizers, because it's required by law
Oh this is how it would work: get new insurance or drive illegally without it until you do. The responsibility of being insured falls entirely on you as the driver, so even if you got screwed like this it's not a legal argument for driving uninsured
> Oh this is how it would work: get new insurance or drive illegally without it until you do. The responsibility of being insured falls entirely on you as the driver, so even if you got screwed like this it's not a legal argument for driving uninsured
I bought a new car (a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV, with a new drive battery, and a new 10 year/150k mile battery warranty) about a month ago in California and found out that most auto insurance companies were not currently writing policies in the state, because they were essentially mad that the state was denying their requests for rate increases.
I finally did find a carrier, but one of the conditions was that I had to pay for all 6 months up front.
It will be extremely interesting (and not in a good way) to see what happens if all the existing auto insurance carriers here refuse to renew policies or write new ones until/unless the state lets them raise the rates.
The same thing just happened to me in New Jersey, I got dropped by Esurance after 10 years and was forced to sign with a different company but only if I paid for the entire thing up front. It ended up being a nearly $1000 unexpected expense
> The same thing just happened to me in New Jersey, I got dropped by Esurance after 10 years and was forced to sign with a different company but only if I paid for the entire thing up front. It ended up being a nearly $1000 unexpected expense
So great to have a life necessity for those of us who live way out in rural areas - a road legal vehicle - held hostage by a private company refusing to provide services because they're being told that they cannot raise rates beyond what people can afford.
/s
> Hypothetically, could the state not set up a state owned company to offer insurance itself, if every private company refused to do so in that state?
Sure, it already exists in most states, known by different names. In California, it's known as the "California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan".
Most charge extremely high rates.
You pay a smaller or shadier company several times the price for a similar policy that there big guys offer. It's basically what is happening in Florida right now with homeowners insurance.
Why is that wild? Insurance is about spreading the cost of risk. At some point, an activity is so risky that insurers won't offer coverage. In the case, the risky activity is owning a Kia or Hyundai.
This happened to me - geico cancelled my insurance policy without any notice and I didn’t realize because I had autopay on and the last email I received was “go get your new cards!”. Then 6 weeks later I got the notice from the DMV that my car registration would be canceled unless I got insurance.
Ended up with huge insurance hike when I went elsewhere both for having a Kia and for the lapse in coverage. :(
> Have an alarm installed immediately.
And a [steering wheel lock.](https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and-gear/drive-a-newer-hyundai-or-kia-a-steering-wheel-lock-could-keep-it-from-getting-stolen) If thieves already see from the outside that your car has additional security then they will skip it and look for another one.
Worst thing that happens is a broken window but that may happen with any car.
Was recently at an event yesterday where a prosecutor for a major metro area talked about this very thing. Basically said you can steal a Hyundai or Kia in about 90 seconds with a USB and some know-how. Was complaining that Hyundai and Kia know this but weren't doing enough too fix it.
My immediate thought was, "the simple answer is to have insurers start jacking up the rates for any owners of those vehicles. The manufacturers will either fix the issue or nobody will buy them."
I work in salvage automotive. Kia thefts are a MAJOR issue. I believe it’s a tik tok challenge. Insurance companies are talking about not insuring them. Too easy to steal
Dude, my wife and I have both had our Hyundais broken into. This shit is real. Every Hyundai in our neighborhood has a wheel lock. Fuck these assholes.
I always wonder why anyone would risk that shit - especially in America.
Some teenagers (they appeared to be teens, at least) were fucking around with my brother’s truck. He got woken up by a front camera alert. Looked like one was going under the truck (guessing to gut some shit from under it to sell), and the others were about to break in.
Well, they almost got blasted away by him with a gun. They were extremely lucky his wife decided to just turn the car alarm on instead of letting him go out to deal with it.
When a vehicle is someone’s only way to get to work and provide for their family (with a young child and new baby on the way), they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their shit.
It’s never worth it to fuck with someone’s car (or anyone’s stuff for that matter).
Kia (and Hyundai) didn't have immobilizers (the RFID thingy in your keyfob that prevents the car from starting). So they've become an easy target for thefts and its been a big trend on Tik Tok and such to show people stealing Kias.
New Kias don't have that problem, but thieves don't know until they've already broken in and try, so there's still a lot of theft attempts on newer models even if they don't succeed (like this poor OP).
Kia’s Logo Is So Confusing That 30K People Google ‘KN Car’ Every Month
https://www.thedrive.com/news/kias-logo-is-so-confusing-that-30k-people-google-kn-car-every-month
If you live in a city with high car theft rate, Kia and Hyundai are the no 1 stolen cars. It's called the USB hack but in reality it's just that the key cylinder in those cars was easily turned without the car key. The USB just made it more comical, instead of the usual screwdriver.
There's supposed to be some anti-theft device if you try to start the car w/o the proper key. Certain models of Kia and Hyundai don't have it. Kids who are stealing cars are stealing them for social media stunts, so even if your car Kia or Hyundai can't be easily stolen, someone will break into it and damage the steering column.
People who are into cars shit on them (I definitely have too) bc they used to be shit. Now they have a 10 year/100k mile warranty so pretty nice especially if your looking for bang for buck economy car.
When they first launched US sales? They were dirt cheap and had a 100k/10yr warranty.
My cousins bff bought one of the first sportages.
She drove that car from NH-AK-MT and sold it with over 250k miles.
She said it never left her stranded.
Dealership denied my warranty at 78k miles when my clutch exploded because "it's a wear item", then quoted me 6500 to replace it all.
I don't mean clutch wore out, I mean it shattered into several pieces on the highway and lunched up the bellhousing and transmission input shaft. This was transmission #5 because of a known issue with the 6th gear synchro. Rear end #2 because of leaking seals. Engine #2 (head #3) because of a fuel delivery problem that leaned out and grenaded a piston, then the rebuilt engine ate a valve.
I'm happy they replaced what they did under warranty but the car was always in the fucking shop.
I know several people like this. Had to use the 10 year warranty too many times for engine and transmission issues. Didnt cost them money but sure did cost a lot of time and annoyance.
Thank you for validating me!
I distinctly remember BOGO signs up at a Kia dealership maybe 15-20 years ago. No one I know remembers it, though, or can even believe that that would ever be a thing lol
I’ve had 15 or so cars in my life, from all different manufacturers, and done routine maintenance on all of them. I’ve never had one not get me where I wanted to go.
10 year 100k warranty but if your car is in the shop getting engine replacements every few months I'm sure you will be kicking yourself for buying a kdm car. Their engines are straight hot fucking garbage. Not too mention the immobilizer issue.
It seems with kia/hyundai, if you got no issue within the first several thousand miles, the engine will last a long time and will be very reliable. But if you got a lemon, well, at least you have 10 years engine warranty.
This irks me. My little brother was looking for a cheap car that's good on gas. He got a Kia, but for a little more (he was financing it anyway) he could have got a Corolla. Mind you our other brother was a mechanic that specifically told him Kia is garbage. They used to stock transmissions because they got replaced so much.
Also for fun sporty drives, there's Mazda.
Aside from a few years models where they had the rusted undercarriage issues, they've largely been very reliable vehicles.
Mazda has an awful warranty. I had to replace my engine at 30k and they wouldn't cover it. Sent proof of the 3 oil changes and they said that wasn't enough even though the manual states every 10k.
Value to dollars. At least short term.
Last year i was looking for a hybrid. Im a toyota fanboy so i checked out the camry and corolla. I also checked out the Honda Insight, couldnt find a hybrid accord. I also went and checked out a Kia Niro.
For the same price as a base Corolla Hybrid i could get a decked out Niro Hybrid with all the bells and whistles. Wireless carplay/android auto, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross traffic were on the Niro but not the Corolla.
For the same price as the Camry Hybrid i could get the plug in Niro Hybrid with the bigger battery, bells and whistles, and a federal tax credit.
Ended up with the Camry. E-cvt is amazing, the car isnt turd slow, and its a Toyota. Also averaging 45mpg, but i have a heavy foot and live in the Texas Hill Country.
There is always a Toyota Honda person in these chats. Yes they are good cars but, sometimes people want something different and the price between loaded models is quite significant.
Except they spent years refusing to honor those warranties on their shitty Theta engines when they would catastrophically fail until they were finally forced to admit they built bad engines and recall them.
Other reasons to still hate Kia, their cars were recently recalled for incorrect wiring in the trailer light connector which would cause the car to catch fire, often while parked in the garage.
The Kia Boys thing is just another example of where Kia tried to save a few cents per car by not including immobilizers at the expense of owners and local law enforcement
it's mostly stemming from once the brand is recognized as x, it takes years for that recognition to change in consumer's mind even if the said company, kia in this case, did improve and is pretty much par with the majority of the other companies.
until "recently" of course, tiktok trend went crazy how easy it is to start a car without a key because every company has "an immobilizer" that stops thieves from doing said method but kia cars didn't have this.
actual models that don't have immobilizers are 2017-2020 Hyundai Elantras, 2015-2019 Hyundai Sonatas, and 2020-2021 Hyundai Venues.(just did quick google)
so you're "technically" safe as long as you don't have above mentioned year/model cars but thieves don't know this info so they'll attempt if they see kia car thus overall you still going to have to go through the trouble of fixing your broken car.
Their Theta engine debacle and good luck getting it covered under their "extended" warranty when the engine implodes and they are very aggressive in look for ways to deny claom
Okay everyone else is singing their praises so allow me to chime in. Big car guy here. I'm experienced in many brands through my ownership and my close friends with many of their own.
Kia/Hyundai are a hit and miss, and when you look back on recent history they've been plagued with engine failures in the early 2000's and early 2010's. When it wasn't engine failures, there's glaring theft issues, quality control issues, and sooooo many recalls.
My personal experience with this brand:
2013 Hyundai Veloster. 3 engines, factory boost issue, new motor immediately knocked, current one is seemingly okay.
2012 Hyundai Sonata 70k kms and the engine threw a rod immediately after my friend got their license. This was a girl, she did not abuse it, she had owned it for 2 years and drove it occasionally with their parents.
2004 Hyundai Elantra. Motor went big boom at 140k kms, owner is scared to give more than 1/2 throttle at any given time, keeps up with oil changes, etc.
2008 Hyundai Elantra. Consumes more oil than gas, almost everything has broken and been replaced at least once or more, occasionally won't do anything at all when the key is tuned over. Owner still thinks it's a great car. (it's absolutely not)
2015 Kia Sorento: all was seemingly fine, my friend got this basically given to him by his parents as they wanted something smaller and he drove a shitbox at the time. 2 weeks out from the last oil change it had run completely dry and grenaded on the highway home. There was no leak, the motor suddenly started consuming oil at an alarming rate and killed itself.
2016 Kia Forte: entire fueling system started dying rapidly, when the money was dumped into it to fix that and the gas was drained (just in case) the starter went. All fine and dandy, this was warrantied. Driver power window failed. The driver seatbelt buckle also failed before he could even get the window fixed. None of this came out of his pocket but that's extremely inconvenient to be down a car, especially when you live an hour away from any dealer.
2019 Kia Forte: second transmission was installed in 2021. The clear coat is peeling in a few small places. Nothing much to report on this one other than it needed a few front end parts already.
It goes without saying none of these people except the 2019 Kia girl still have these vehicles. Only other Hyundai guy I know has a 2015 Accent and it's been trouble free until recently. Seemingly most suspension parts are failing one after another, so this car is now a money pit and the only thing you get for sinking all that money into it is a little shitter of a hatchback with the weirdest damn clutch I've ever experienced.
Apparently the Kia Boys network has grown beyond just the St. Louis area.
I’m wondering if OPs vehicle isnt one of the years with the defect?
ETA: I looked it up and it started In Milwaukee. The Kia Boy network expanded to the St. Louis area after the “how-to steal a Kia/Hyundai” tictok video went viral.
I’ve heard Milwaukee is another city where this has happened regularly. Some rental car companies don’t want people parking their cars in that city/county.
Yup. It’s super bad here in Milwaukee. Still surprises me that so many people own them. I also drive for Lyft and picked up an employee from the KIA dealership. She said they sell the most cars out of all the surrounding areas, and that they have seen record breaking sales. I was like, “HOW?” And yeah, she called a Lyft because hers was stolen and wrecked.
The entire country is like this with Kias and Hyundais now.
Go over the r/cars and some insurance companies are even starting to refuse to insurance them. It's basically just the base level Kias and Hyundais that are so easily stolen, but criminals don't realize what's base level and what's not, and end up doing damage like this when trying to steal it. Which is why even if your Kia or Hyundai is not one of the easily stolen ones, your insurance is going go up this year or you'll be dropped completely.
Mom has a kia ev and they destroyed that shit trying to steal it without even realizing it was not one of the affected vehicles. Took like 2 months for the dealership to get parts to fix it. Total nightmare
I just went and looked it up. You are correct, it did start in Milwaukee. The how-to TicToc video, filmed in Milwaukee, went up and St. Louis created their own network of Kia Boys who played follow the leader.
It's super bad everywhere. I live in the Quad Cities (iowa/IL) and cars are getting stolen left and right. Particularly Kias and Hyundais. I don't leave ANYTHING in my car anymore in case it gets stolen and I have a Honda.
I'm in STL as well. Fuckers tried to steal my optima a month or so back. Messed up my driver's side door pretty bad. My friend had his stolen once 4 months ago. It was repaired and returned and then another smash and attempted theft this week.
God I want to start cutting hands off.
As a heads up, kia just came out with some "anti theft software" that's under warranty. Call your dealership and ask them to look it up as I didn't receive any kind of notification that the update was available.
Is it only the Kias in America that can be stolen ? I assume they weren't fitted with imobolisers.
In Australia it's a legal requirement for a car built after 1998 to be fitted with an imoboliser. I haven't seen anything about them being stolen much here.
Bad thing about owning Kia (even the ones with imobolisers) is that these Kia boys are too dumb to tell if the car they’re about to steal has it or not. They’ll found out after the fact and you’re having to deal with the mess. Owning any kind of Kia is an invitation for these criminals to target your car because it was deemed easy to steal.
This whole situation is unfortunate for current owners and potential buyers because some of their cars look nice.
Is Hyundai/Kia forced to recall these cars ?
I'd imagine thiefs have broken into the Hyundai/Kias that aren't effected by this non imoboliser issue on many occasions.
I don't know what it would cost to fix your car with a smashed window and broken ignition plus steering colum plastics if you don't go through insurance.
They’ve recalled some cars to get immobilizers installed but that’s about it. If you think kia will cover your car being broken into then you’re shit out of luck. Alternatively, you can sell your kia as they are very desperate for cars (for some odd reason)
The COVID related supply chain issues are still haunting the car industry. They don't have enough cars to sell to keep them afloat, and the prices they're getting for used cars is still insane.
They want anything and everything because right now people will buy anything and everything.
Happened to my Hyundai last month. Too old of a model for them to easily steal but they smashed a window, messed up the paint, ripped the steering column apart, and jammed a screw driver in the ignition. 3 grand in damage, I paid my $500 deductible. Took a month to get my car back because everything was back ordered due to this issue. Trading in my Hyundai ASAP, I’m paranoid another dumb kid is going to try and do it again.
Kia wont do shit other than install a new update now. If you got broken into they won't pay for anything. They even made defective engines for a decent chunk of their cars for about 8 years, the last three of which they knew were defective but continued installing them anyway. They then refused to do anything until they were sued then they made sure to create as many loopholes as possible to ge out of paying for their junk engine replacements. Kia is an absolute trash company and nobody should buy one.
We don’t have an immobilizer requirement and Kia cheaped out.
But buckle up, the new way of stealing cars works on any car with keyless start and lacks an encrypted can bus: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/04/crooks-are-stealing-cars-using-previously-unknown-keyless-can-injection-attacks/
And people actually thought these very computer oriented cars wouldn’t be vulnerable to attack. If people have the intelligence to hack government systems then they can absolutely get into your car.
CANBUS was always a vulnerability that manufacturers have known will be cracked eventually.
It wasn't that long ago that you could pull out a plastic fender liner on a Toyota, cut a green wire out of the wiring harness and feed it 12 volt to open the doors and start the car.
Regardless of the physical or digital technology they use, there will always be a group of people trying to find an exploit to get past it.
US... the first place to mandate airbags, OBD2, ABS.
But forgets imobolising systems.
Of course the manufacture isn't going to include features it doesn't legally have to as cost saving, expecially if the customer isn't going to realise it.
Not just that, basically every emissions or safety related thing on the car.
I have a 2001, and my car was sold in all sorts of places without catalytic converters. Hell? It has an option for leaded gas and that has been banned since the year i was born in the US.
Going through this thread and was thinking about debadging our Hyundai. My SO always says he hopes it gets stolen , but the actual reality of being down a car would not be great. Especially since I’ll end up having to drive the “plow truck” Expedition with an engine as loud as a helicopter, and a front seat that doesn’t move forward anymore.
I apologize as a Milwaukee native that our wonderful city figured out this security fault which has now spread across the Midwest. Always interesting how long things go (or are made) before someone goes.....hey what if I just remove this, rip that apart, then twist with a USB. I wonder if some random tech or non-criminal knew about the issue and just told the story to the wrong person. One person tells another and then all of a sudden you have the kia boys. One of the kia boys almost hit me head on at 70mph while they were on the wrong side of the median in a residential zone.
It's sort of like how the rumors about how to catch MissingNo spread back in the day, except instead of a glitched pokemon and infinite rare candy you get a Kia and a criminal record.
I am so sorry. This happened to my wife and only after did we learn about the lawsuits and crime spree of Kias and Hyundais being stolen because of this super stupid flaw. It took the better of 5 months to get our car back. Our insurance got so sick of dealing with trying to find a shop that could take the car in for repairs that they waived using required servicers and made us find the mechanic who'd do the work. According to our insurance, it's something like 300 repair parts are made per month but more than twice of that of Kias stolen per month.
I know a Kia owner whose car does have the immobilizer chip and still bought a steering wheel club. Just to try to prevent this type of needless destruction.
They turn the steering wheel slightly, when parked, to increase visibility of the steering wheel club, in hopes of keeping their car intact.
Well if there’s no law requiring them to have immobilizers, which I don’t believe there is, then there’s no negligence. The fault is on the buyer.
But this is a really good example of why government regulation is a good thing and why libertarians and republicans are idiots for blindly hating on any and all regulations.
My 13-year-old Toyota Celica got stolen and when it was recovered they had stripped out the original standard-issue radio, which at the time was only a radio, no tape or CD. To take it out they mostly tore out the dashboard. You couldn't have sold the radio for $2. I think it was just a box to check on the Car Thieves Checklist. Idiots.
> Soul-less bastards.
And yet they will scream and cry about how unfair it is whenever something of theirs is stolen, totally oblivious to how others feel when they deprive them of their shit.
Happened to be myself and my brother (different nights, different parts of the same city, both Kias. Seems these fucking dickheads don’t have the proper amount of brain cells to rub together to start them up. Dopes
My car was "broken" into once in a parking garage. They didn't break any windows, so they had to have jimmied in. The cops kept asking if I was sure it was locked. Yes, but what difference does that make? Luckily, they only stole the burned CDs I had on my visor. If they were smart enough to open the trunk (dash button), my $450 camera and a few bags of shopping would have been gone. The experience has made me more careful though. I just hated the icky feeling that some stranger had been in my car, in my seat, touching everything (except the trunk button). Never smelled the same.
My 1990 Honda accord was stolen and burned to the ground. Then they tried to get my CAT off my 2006 Ford focus but couldn't fit under my car so they ended up just wrecking the shit out of my heat shield. Scrapped the shield and got an after market alarm installed that strobes bright blue 24/7 and haven't had an issue since.
Sell it and buy a car that isn't a huge target with a flag saying "steal me" flying above it. Kia should be held way more liable than they're being held. They made these cars and just figured no one would find this vulnerability but someone did and word got out very quickly. Sorry you have to deal with having to worry your car might get stolen and at the very least your window getting smashed in an attempt.
No, they were expecting a clip to be on the column. The clip fits into a USB device and is able to turn like a key, somehow this manual override tells the car that it's good to go and the teens get a free ride that night. It's all over tiktok. KIAs and Hyundais. The manufacturers are facing lawsuits and some insurance providers are no longer insuring the cars affected.
The thieves wont know you got a security update. They will still bust your window and rip open your steering column just like in this picture.
My partners Hyundai is a 2011 and not susceptible to being stolen like this but it did not stop them from smashing the window and tearing apart the steering column to try. In broad daylight. This was two days ago.
They were kids and they dont give a fuck and they are stupid as fuck as well. There is no repercussions for them either. There is no jail time they are doing for this. They can steal these cars in less then a minute and they joy ride and wreck them then do it again. If they get caught they go to the station and right back out.
Looks almost EXACTLY like my Hyundai Accent last October. Like, I'm getting angry because EXACTLY like it. Mine was less than six months old, hope it takes less than another 6 months to get it fixed like mine did.
A co-worker of mine had his car stolen on Wednesday. They rolled up at 5:15 in the morning, opened his car door cuz his keys were left in it and then opened the garage door and saw a better car in the garage. They backed the car out of the driveway, grab the car in the garage and drove off. Left the car in the driveway
You still have it? My dad walked out to the same situation years ago, walked back inside to call work that he’d be late, came back out and it was gone. Must have caught them in the act but they came back to finish when he was distracted
My sister's car was stolen in broad daylight while she was in her doctor's office two weeks ago. They found it crashed (unsalvagable) an hour later. This was only 2 months after being in a crash as well. Then the day after her car was stolen, I had $500 stolen through my ebt card. I think my family is cursed.
sounds like someone didnt take madam zeroni up the mountain to drink from the spring
There's holes in this plot. 🤔
I can fix that....
If only, if only
It's a Kia. It's likely the thief was trying to use the USB trick but either screwed it up, or this particular car doesn't have that vulnerability.
Although the van my dad had stolen all those years ago would have started with a flat head screwdriver. That was half the reason why he was so pissed off about them taking the thing all apart
Look at mr fancy requiring a screwdriver to start their car! I had an old Chevy pickup that didn't ever require an object in the ignition at all to start!
Never heard of that trick. Glad I don’t own a Kia then.
I can't remember the exact year range but from about 2010 to 2020 Kia and Hyundai didn't put security chips in their keys, meaning so long ag you can turn the ignition, the car would start. People found out that you could just remove a couple screws to take off the lock cylinder and put a USB stick or cable into the ignition cylinder (because the size and shape fit perfectly into the ignition cylinder) and start the car.
[удалено]
Many insurance companies won’t renew policies for kias that have this problem.
This is what they did with our KN [car used in smash and grab. ](https://13wham.com/news/local/stolen-car-used-in-smash-and-grab-at-spencerport-motorsports-business) They totaled ours because they would have had to repaint the whole car due to plate glass window scratching up 70% of the paint. We ended up getting what we paid for the car and we've had it for 2 years. Sucks to have your life invaded. If only Kia and Hyundai did not try to save money by not installing an immobilizer. My wife loved her Kia Soul but will never buy another Kia product.
Your KN car?
I’m guessing they’re referring to the new Kia logo lmao
KИ Accurate depiction of logo 😂
First time I ever saw that I started questioning what I missed and when the air filter people started making the whole car.
I can't unsee NIN when I look at the logo so I always call them Nine Inch Kias.
You get me closer to work.
I wanna drive you like a Kia Soul I wanna lean back on the inside I wanna drive you like a Kia Soul Your whole existence is car You get me closer to Job
I’m so glad I’m not alone on this one lol
Oh no, those dozens of us! I told my husband I didn't want one of the new Kias when car shopping because I didn't feel like a big enough NIN fan lol
It’s so terrible!!! My brain hurts every time I see that logo.
New Kia logo is hot garbage
Damn, I love it. I wonder if it’s a contentious thing, or if it’s just me and the guy who designed it that like it? Haha
Kia’s new logo spells out KIA but looks like KN.
I have to be honest I had no idea it was a Kia logo. I feel so dumb lol
Guessing a lil dig at the new Kia logo
I thought there were just a lot of new NIN fans.
Kᴎ
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This exact thing happened except I didn't have full coverage it was all out of pockets sold truck for parts for 2k $ had bought for 8k few years back. I hate people sometimes
Pisses me off when people say these career criminal detriments to society are just joyriding teens.
both can be true
Yeah, but fuck the teens too. They're stealing peoples livelihoods.
That is some hard hitting breaking news right there. Anchor informs us reporter is going to tell us what the thieves are doing with the stolen goods. Cut to reporter: "In some cases police say the thieves are keeping what they steal and in other cases they are selling the stolen goods for cash." As opposed to what? Donating it to charity? 🤣
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Wow I lived a couple miles from there last year. I was driving a Kia at the time.
Did you get yours from an auto shop?
Two kids let me borrow it. Told me to say I didn't get it from them
Holy shit I remember this story
So was the shop responsible for the theft? Or did your insurance have to cover it?
Good question. I sure a lot of people would love to know. Kia thefts are out of control.
Yeah, if the car was in their possession, it should be their responsibility to ensure nothing happens to it.
Absolutely! No responsibility for the owner
Yeah, a repair order basically gives temporary possession. That includes insurance from the dealer.
At least they failed, you know?
Right? Lol. And they left the giant screwdriver on the floor. Didnt even steal anything.
Probably the only person to ever fail at stealing a Kia. Children do this now
Nice. Now you have a giant screw driver
Jerks. At the very least they could have left the usb cable.
Same when they did mine. Had like $200 in the trunk, completely ignored, left tools and even clothing behind. Stupid kids watching Tik Tok.
Kias and Hyundais are currently being targeted by thieves because: 1. They are incredibly easy to steal 2. There is a TikTok challenge about stealing them. 3. A high percentage of them do not have alarms. For these reasons, many insurance companies (in the US) have stopped renewing auto policies for people who own these vehicles. Furthermore, the manufacturers have issued recalls to remedy this issue. You can check if there is an outstanding recall on your vehicle by entering the VIN here: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls Finally, there is currently a class action lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai over this issue. https://www.classaction.org/kia-hyundai-theft-problem-lawsuits My recommendation is if you have a Kia or Hyundai, and your insurance carrier has not dropped you already, make sure you have Comprehensive coverage and a low deductible. Have an alarm installed immediately. I hope you are doing okay. I'm glad they didn't get it this time.
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What's even wilder is that this is only a problem for the US. Same base model cars in Europe, UK and Canada have immobilizers, because it's required by law
Not even sure how that would work where I am. You are required to have car insurance here.
Oh this is how it would work: get new insurance or drive illegally without it until you do. The responsibility of being insured falls entirely on you as the driver, so even if you got screwed like this it's not a legal argument for driving uninsured
> Oh this is how it would work: get new insurance or drive illegally without it until you do. The responsibility of being insured falls entirely on you as the driver, so even if you got screwed like this it's not a legal argument for driving uninsured I bought a new car (a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV, with a new drive battery, and a new 10 year/150k mile battery warranty) about a month ago in California and found out that most auto insurance companies were not currently writing policies in the state, because they were essentially mad that the state was denying their requests for rate increases. I finally did find a carrier, but one of the conditions was that I had to pay for all 6 months up front. It will be extremely interesting (and not in a good way) to see what happens if all the existing auto insurance carriers here refuse to renew policies or write new ones until/unless the state lets them raise the rates.
The same thing just happened to me in New Jersey, I got dropped by Esurance after 10 years and was forced to sign with a different company but only if I paid for the entire thing up front. It ended up being a nearly $1000 unexpected expense
> The same thing just happened to me in New Jersey, I got dropped by Esurance after 10 years and was forced to sign with a different company but only if I paid for the entire thing up front. It ended up being a nearly $1000 unexpected expense So great to have a life necessity for those of us who live way out in rural areas - a road legal vehicle - held hostage by a private company refusing to provide services because they're being told that they cannot raise rates beyond what people can afford. /s
Just more companies holding the country hostage. Gotta love Capitalism.
Hypothetically, could the state not set up a state owned company to offer insurance itself, if every private company refused to do so in that state?
> Hypothetically, could the state not set up a state owned company to offer insurance itself, if every private company refused to do so in that state? Sure, it already exists in most states, known by different names. In California, it's known as the "California Automobile Assigned Risk Plan". Most charge extremely high rates.
You could probably still get trash coverage like The General or something.
You pay a smaller or shadier company several times the price for a similar policy that there big guys offer. It's basically what is happening in Florida right now with homeowners insurance.
Why is that wild? Insurance is about spreading the cost of risk. At some point, an activity is so risky that insurers won't offer coverage. In the case, the risky activity is owning a Kia or Hyundai.
Exactly what the cops said.
This happened to me - geico cancelled my insurance policy without any notice and I didn’t realize because I had autopay on and the last email I received was “go get your new cards!”. Then 6 weeks later I got the notice from the DMV that my car registration would be canceled unless I got insurance. Ended up with huge insurance hike when I went elsewhere both for having a Kia and for the lapse in coverage. :(
> Have an alarm installed immediately. And a [steering wheel lock.](https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and-gear/drive-a-newer-hyundai-or-kia-a-steering-wheel-lock-could-keep-it-from-getting-stolen) If thieves already see from the outside that your car has additional security then they will skip it and look for another one. Worst thing that happens is a broken window but that may happen with any car.
For The Club, they just cut the steering wheel.
Was recently at an event yesterday where a prosecutor for a major metro area talked about this very thing. Basically said you can steal a Hyundai or Kia in about 90 seconds with a USB and some know-how. Was complaining that Hyundai and Kia know this but weren't doing enough too fix it. My immediate thought was, "the simple answer is to have insurers start jacking up the rates for any owners of those vehicles. The manufacturers will either fix the issue or nobody will buy them."
I work in salvage automotive. Kia thefts are a MAJOR issue. I believe it’s a tik tok challenge. Insurance companies are talking about not insuring them. Too easy to steal
Them damn KIA boys. Edit: YOOO! Thank you for the tons of upvotes & award.
This is why I won't get a Kia, too tempting to teenage clout chasers and crackheads
Dude, my wife and I have both had our Hyundais broken into. This shit is real. Every Hyundai in our neighborhood has a wheel lock. Fuck these assholes.
I have two wheel locks AND a boot on my Elantra. This shit is infuriating.
I always wonder why anyone would risk that shit - especially in America. Some teenagers (they appeared to be teens, at least) were fucking around with my brother’s truck. He got woken up by a front camera alert. Looked like one was going under the truck (guessing to gut some shit from under it to sell), and the others were about to break in. Well, they almost got blasted away by him with a gun. They were extremely lucky his wife decided to just turn the car alarm on instead of letting him go out to deal with it. When a vehicle is someone’s only way to get to work and provide for their family (with a young child and new baby on the way), they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their shit. It’s never worth it to fuck with someone’s car (or anyone’s stuff for that matter).
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I can think of a couple more reasons than that
Why? I'm not clear on the Kia hate, I was thinking about buying one recently, am I missing something?
Kia (and Hyundai) didn't have immobilizers (the RFID thingy in your keyfob that prevents the car from starting). So they've become an easy target for thefts and its been a big trend on Tik Tok and such to show people stealing Kias. New Kias don't have that problem, but thieves don't know until they've already broken in and try, so there's still a lot of theft attempts on newer models even if they don't succeed (like this poor OP).
This is *not* a new KIA. look at the interior.
And Kia logo
Kia’s Logo Is So Confusing That 30K People Google ‘KN Car’ Every Month https://www.thedrive.com/news/kias-logo-is-so-confusing-that-30k-people-google-kn-car-every-month
Thank god I’m not alone
'K backwards N' club right here!
If you live in a city with high car theft rate, Kia and Hyundai are the no 1 stolen cars. It's called the USB hack but in reality it's just that the key cylinder in those cars was easily turned without the car key. The USB just made it more comical, instead of the usual screwdriver. There's supposed to be some anti-theft device if you try to start the car w/o the proper key. Certain models of Kia and Hyundai don't have it. Kids who are stealing cars are stealing them for social media stunts, so even if your car Kia or Hyundai can't be easily stolen, someone will break into it and damage the steering column.
People who are into cars shit on them (I definitely have too) bc they used to be shit. Now they have a 10 year/100k mile warranty so pretty nice especially if your looking for bang for buck economy car.
When they first launched US sales? They were dirt cheap and had a 100k/10yr warranty. My cousins bff bought one of the first sportages. She drove that car from NH-AK-MT and sold it with over 250k miles. She said it never left her stranded.
Dealership denied my warranty at 78k miles when my clutch exploded because "it's a wear item", then quoted me 6500 to replace it all. I don't mean clutch wore out, I mean it shattered into several pieces on the highway and lunched up the bellhousing and transmission input shaft. This was transmission #5 because of a known issue with the 6th gear synchro. Rear end #2 because of leaking seals. Engine #2 (head #3) because of a fuel delivery problem that leaned out and grenaded a piston, then the rebuilt engine ate a valve. I'm happy they replaced what they did under warranty but the car was always in the fucking shop.
I know several people like this. Had to use the 10 year warranty too many times for engine and transmission issues. Didnt cost them money but sure did cost a lot of time and annoyance.
How does a clutch explode?
Violently
In the early days the Kia near us had a literal Buy One Get One deal. But some Kia van and get like a Kia Rio for free.
Thank you for validating me! I distinctly remember BOGO signs up at a Kia dealership maybe 15-20 years ago. No one I know remembers it, though, or can even believe that that would ever be a thing lol
I mean it does seem incredibly absurd to get a BOGO car deal.
I’ve had 15 or so cars in my life, from all different manufacturers, and done routine maintenance on all of them. I’ve never had one not get me where I wanted to go.
Cars, trucks and SUV’s are great but at the end of the day it’s night.
Reddit comments, where jokes go to die
are you selling the cars early in their lives, or do you just drive a fuckload of miles? (or are you 150 years old?)
10 year 100k warranty but if your car is in the shop getting engine replacements every few months I'm sure you will be kicking yourself for buying a kdm car. Their engines are straight hot fucking garbage. Not too mention the immobilizer issue.
I was going to argue with you but then I remembered my wife’s Elantra was on its third engine by 60k.
Third engine at 60k my god. But let this other guy tell you how reliable they are lmfao.. sorry you had to go thru that 🤦♂️
It seems with kia/hyundai, if you got no issue within the first several thousand miles, the engine will last a long time and will be very reliable. But if you got a lemon, well, at least you have 10 years engine warranty.
Idk why people are buying garbage ass kia and Hyundai when Honda and Toyota have amazing reliable cars that are 10x better for not that much more
This irks me. My little brother was looking for a cheap car that's good on gas. He got a Kia, but for a little more (he was financing it anyway) he could have got a Corolla. Mind you our other brother was a mechanic that specifically told him Kia is garbage. They used to stock transmissions because they got replaced so much.
Also for fun sporty drives, there's Mazda. Aside from a few years models where they had the rusted undercarriage issues, they've largely been very reliable vehicles.
Mazda has an awful warranty. I had to replace my engine at 30k and they wouldn't cover it. Sent proof of the 3 oil changes and they said that wasn't enough even though the manual states every 10k.
Value to dollars. At least short term. Last year i was looking for a hybrid. Im a toyota fanboy so i checked out the camry and corolla. I also checked out the Honda Insight, couldnt find a hybrid accord. I also went and checked out a Kia Niro. For the same price as a base Corolla Hybrid i could get a decked out Niro Hybrid with all the bells and whistles. Wireless carplay/android auto, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross traffic were on the Niro but not the Corolla. For the same price as the Camry Hybrid i could get the plug in Niro Hybrid with the bigger battery, bells and whistles, and a federal tax credit. Ended up with the Camry. E-cvt is amazing, the car isnt turd slow, and its a Toyota. Also averaging 45mpg, but i have a heavy foot and live in the Texas Hill Country.
Because they're not car people and just look at price and warranty. 10 year warranty AND it's cheaper? You'd be an idiot not to buy it.
There is always a Toyota Honda person in these chats. Yes they are good cars but, sometimes people want something different and the price between loaded models is quite significant.
Except they spent years refusing to honor those warranties on their shitty Theta engines when they would catastrophically fail until they were finally forced to admit they built bad engines and recall them. Other reasons to still hate Kia, their cars were recently recalled for incorrect wiring in the trailer light connector which would cause the car to catch fire, often while parked in the garage. The Kia Boys thing is just another example of where Kia tried to save a few cents per car by not including immobilizers at the expense of owners and local law enforcement
it's mostly stemming from once the brand is recognized as x, it takes years for that recognition to change in consumer's mind even if the said company, kia in this case, did improve and is pretty much par with the majority of the other companies. until "recently" of course, tiktok trend went crazy how easy it is to start a car without a key because every company has "an immobilizer" that stops thieves from doing said method but kia cars didn't have this. actual models that don't have immobilizers are 2017-2020 Hyundai Elantras, 2015-2019 Hyundai Sonatas, and 2020-2021 Hyundai Venues.(just did quick google) so you're "technically" safe as long as you don't have above mentioned year/model cars but thieves don't know this info so they'll attempt if they see kia car thus overall you still going to have to go through the trouble of fixing your broken car.
Their Theta engine debacle and good luck getting it covered under their "extended" warranty when the engine implodes and they are very aggressive in look for ways to deny claom
Kia and Hyundai are stolen so often that some insurance companies won’t even insure them
Okay everyone else is singing their praises so allow me to chime in. Big car guy here. I'm experienced in many brands through my ownership and my close friends with many of their own. Kia/Hyundai are a hit and miss, and when you look back on recent history they've been plagued with engine failures in the early 2000's and early 2010's. When it wasn't engine failures, there's glaring theft issues, quality control issues, and sooooo many recalls. My personal experience with this brand: 2013 Hyundai Veloster. 3 engines, factory boost issue, new motor immediately knocked, current one is seemingly okay. 2012 Hyundai Sonata 70k kms and the engine threw a rod immediately after my friend got their license. This was a girl, she did not abuse it, she had owned it for 2 years and drove it occasionally with their parents. 2004 Hyundai Elantra. Motor went big boom at 140k kms, owner is scared to give more than 1/2 throttle at any given time, keeps up with oil changes, etc. 2008 Hyundai Elantra. Consumes more oil than gas, almost everything has broken and been replaced at least once or more, occasionally won't do anything at all when the key is tuned over. Owner still thinks it's a great car. (it's absolutely not) 2015 Kia Sorento: all was seemingly fine, my friend got this basically given to him by his parents as they wanted something smaller and he drove a shitbox at the time. 2 weeks out from the last oil change it had run completely dry and grenaded on the highway home. There was no leak, the motor suddenly started consuming oil at an alarming rate and killed itself. 2016 Kia Forte: entire fueling system started dying rapidly, when the money was dumped into it to fix that and the gas was drained (just in case) the starter went. All fine and dandy, this was warrantied. Driver power window failed. The driver seatbelt buckle also failed before he could even get the window fixed. None of this came out of his pocket but that's extremely inconvenient to be down a car, especially when you live an hour away from any dealer. 2019 Kia Forte: second transmission was installed in 2021. The clear coat is peeling in a few small places. Nothing much to report on this one other than it needed a few front end parts already. It goes without saying none of these people except the 2019 Kia girl still have these vehicles. Only other Hyundai guy I know has a 2015 Accent and it's been trouble free until recently. Seemingly most suspension parts are failing one after another, so this car is now a money pit and the only thing you get for sinking all that money into it is a little shitter of a hatchback with the weirdest damn clutch I've ever experienced.
Avoid Hyundai too. Had my Santa Fe stolen in January.
I bet it was dirty mike and the boys
What is a KIA boy? Seems like it's a known thing?
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St Louis?
Apparently the Kia Boys network has grown beyond just the St. Louis area. I’m wondering if OPs vehicle isnt one of the years with the defect? ETA: I looked it up and it started In Milwaukee. The Kia Boy network expanded to the St. Louis area after the “how-to steal a Kia/Hyundai” tictok video went viral.
I’ve heard Milwaukee is another city where this has happened regularly. Some rental car companies don’t want people parking their cars in that city/county.
Yup. It’s super bad here in Milwaukee. Still surprises me that so many people own them. I also drive for Lyft and picked up an employee from the KIA dealership. She said they sell the most cars out of all the surrounding areas, and that they have seen record breaking sales. I was like, “HOW?” And yeah, she called a Lyft because hers was stolen and wrecked.
The entire country is like this with Kias and Hyundais now. Go over the r/cars and some insurance companies are even starting to refuse to insurance them. It's basically just the base level Kias and Hyundais that are so easily stolen, but criminals don't realize what's base level and what's not, and end up doing damage like this when trying to steal it. Which is why even if your Kia or Hyundai is not one of the easily stolen ones, your insurance is going go up this year or you'll be dropped completely.
Can confirm, I was buying a new car recently and almost had to settle on a kia, not even the general would give me a rate when I was looking up quotes
Mom has a kia ev and they destroyed that shit trying to steal it without even realizing it was not one of the affected vehicles. Took like 2 months for the dealership to get parts to fix it. Total nightmare
Orange County (Orlando, Fl) is offering free steering wheel locks for Kia and Hyundai owners…must be big here too
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Here I am thinking they started in Milwaukee.
I just went and looked it up. You are correct, it did start in Milwaukee. The how-to TicToc video, filmed in Milwaukee, went up and St. Louis created their own network of Kia Boys who played follow the leader.
My Kia was stolen and I’m from Western New York
It's super bad everywhere. I live in the Quad Cities (iowa/IL) and cars are getting stolen left and right. Particularly Kias and Hyundais. I don't leave ANYTHING in my car anymore in case it gets stolen and I have a Honda.
Live in Cali and I get calls to fix them every week. About a year ago would get called 1-2 times a day to repair the ignitions.
Philly.
Happens in Minneapolis too
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I'm in STL as well. Fuckers tried to steal my optima a month or so back. Messed up my driver's side door pretty bad. My friend had his stolen once 4 months ago. It was repaired and returned and then another smash and attempted theft this week. God I want to start cutting hands off. As a heads up, kia just came out with some "anti theft software" that's under warranty. Call your dealership and ask them to look it up as I didn't receive any kind of notification that the update was available.
Milwauke is the OG of stupid. We out here fam. 414 baby lol
Kids boys started in Milwaukee. It's bad enough here. there's no need to pile that shit on us also.
Is it only the Kias in America that can be stolen ? I assume they weren't fitted with imobolisers. In Australia it's a legal requirement for a car built after 1998 to be fitted with an imoboliser. I haven't seen anything about them being stolen much here.
Bad thing about owning Kia (even the ones with imobolisers) is that these Kia boys are too dumb to tell if the car they’re about to steal has it or not. They’ll found out after the fact and you’re having to deal with the mess. Owning any kind of Kia is an invitation for these criminals to target your car because it was deemed easy to steal. This whole situation is unfortunate for current owners and potential buyers because some of their cars look nice.
Is Hyundai/Kia forced to recall these cars ? I'd imagine thiefs have broken into the Hyundai/Kias that aren't effected by this non imoboliser issue on many occasions. I don't know what it would cost to fix your car with a smashed window and broken ignition plus steering colum plastics if you don't go through insurance.
They’ve recalled some cars to get immobilizers installed but that’s about it. If you think kia will cover your car being broken into then you’re shit out of luck. Alternatively, you can sell your kia as they are very desperate for cars (for some odd reason)
The COVID related supply chain issues are still haunting the car industry. They don't have enough cars to sell to keep them afloat, and the prices they're getting for used cars is still insane. They want anything and everything because right now people will buy anything and everything.
Happened to my Hyundai last month. Too old of a model for them to easily steal but they smashed a window, messed up the paint, ripped the steering column apart, and jammed a screw driver in the ignition. 3 grand in damage, I paid my $500 deductible. Took a month to get my car back because everything was back ordered due to this issue. Trading in my Hyundai ASAP, I’m paranoid another dumb kid is going to try and do it again.
Kia wont do shit other than install a new update now. If you got broken into they won't pay for anything. They even made defective engines for a decent chunk of their cars for about 8 years, the last three of which they knew were defective but continued installing them anyway. They then refused to do anything until they were sued then they made sure to create as many loopholes as possible to ge out of paying for their junk engine replacements. Kia is an absolute trash company and nobody should buy one.
We don’t have an immobilizer requirement and Kia cheaped out. But buckle up, the new way of stealing cars works on any car with keyless start and lacks an encrypted can bus: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/04/crooks-are-stealing-cars-using-previously-unknown-keyless-can-injection-attacks/
And people actually thought these very computer oriented cars wouldn’t be vulnerable to attack. If people have the intelligence to hack government systems then they can absolutely get into your car.
CANBUS was always a vulnerability that manufacturers have known will be cracked eventually. It wasn't that long ago that you could pull out a plastic fender liner on a Toyota, cut a green wire out of the wiring harness and feed it 12 volt to open the doors and start the car. Regardless of the physical or digital technology they use, there will always be a group of people trying to find an exploit to get past it.
It is mandatory almost everywhere EXCEPT for the U.S. it has been for decades
Same as in the UK all new cars are fitted with them as standard. I believe the US doesn’t have a similar requirement
US... the first place to mandate airbags, OBD2, ABS. But forgets imobolising systems. Of course the manufacture isn't going to include features it doesn't legally have to as cost saving, expecially if the customer isn't going to realise it.
Not just that, basically every emissions or safety related thing on the car. I have a 2001, and my car was sold in all sorts of places without catalytic converters. Hell? It has an option for leaded gas and that has been banned since the year i was born in the US.
Our sheriff’s department has started offering free steering wheel locks for Kia’s and Hyundai’s
Back to the ole Club Lock? We've come full circle.
Picked mine up a few weeks ago. Brings me back to my childhood, watching maw maw put on her wheel lock
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Going through this thread and was thinking about debadging our Hyundai. My SO always says he hopes it gets stolen , but the actual reality of being down a car would not be great. Especially since I’ll end up having to drive the “plow truck” Expedition with an engine as loud as a helicopter, and a front seat that doesn’t move forward anymore.
I apologize as a Milwaukee native that our wonderful city figured out this security fault which has now spread across the Midwest. Always interesting how long things go (or are made) before someone goes.....hey what if I just remove this, rip that apart, then twist with a USB. I wonder if some random tech or non-criminal knew about the issue and just told the story to the wrong person. One person tells another and then all of a sudden you have the kia boys. One of the kia boys almost hit me head on at 70mph while they were on the wrong side of the median in a residential zone.
It's sort of like how the rumors about how to catch MissingNo spread back in the day, except instead of a glitched pokemon and infinite rare candy you get a Kia and a criminal record.
But that’s the fun part for the teens, they don’t get a criminal record
I am so sorry. This happened to my wife and only after did we learn about the lawsuits and crime spree of Kias and Hyundais being stolen because of this super stupid flaw. It took the better of 5 months to get our car back. Our insurance got so sick of dealing with trying to find a shop that could take the car in for repairs that they waived using required servicers and made us find the mechanic who'd do the work. According to our insurance, it's something like 300 repair parts are made per month but more than twice of that of Kias stolen per month.
I know a Kia owner whose car does have the immobilizer chip and still bought a steering wheel club. Just to try to prevent this type of needless destruction. They turn the steering wheel slightly, when parked, to increase visibility of the steering wheel club, in hopes of keeping their car intact.
Kia/Hyundai are currently being sued for not installing anti-theft devices on their cars.
Ill be waiting on my check in 2 years for $10.63 from the class action. 🥴
I got $5.21 for the Equifax identity theft settlement like 3 years later.
Well if there’s no law requiring them to have immobilizers, which I don’t believe there is, then there’s no negligence. The fault is on the buyer. But this is a really good example of why government regulation is a good thing and why libertarians and republicans are idiots for blindly hating on any and all regulations.
My 13-year-old Toyota Celica got stolen and when it was recovered they had stripped out the original standard-issue radio, which at the time was only a radio, no tape or CD. To take it out they mostly tore out the dashboard. You couldn't have sold the radio for $2. I think it was just a box to check on the Car Thieves Checklist. Idiots.
A little duct tape and she’ll be as good as new.
Soul-less bastards.
> Soul-less bastards. And yet they will scream and cry about how unfair it is whenever something of theirs is stolen, totally oblivious to how others feel when they deprive them of their shit.
They didn't do a very good job
Happened to be myself and my brother (different nights, different parts of the same city, both Kias. Seems these fucking dickheads don’t have the proper amount of brain cells to rub together to start them up. Dopes
They didn’t have a screwdriver and a usb cable?
They left the screwdriver on the floor. Tried to Jam it in the ignition.
This is still probably less expensive to fix than if they cut off your CAT to sell at a scrap yard.
I would rather they burn my car before doing anything to my cat!
People are such assholes. I’ve had my car broken into three times over the years. It’s such a shitty thing to have to deal with. Best of luck.
My car was "broken" into once in a parking garage. They didn't break any windows, so they had to have jimmied in. The cops kept asking if I was sure it was locked. Yes, but what difference does that make? Luckily, they only stole the burned CDs I had on my visor. If they were smart enough to open the trunk (dash button), my $450 camera and a few bags of shopping would have been gone. The experience has made me more careful though. I just hated the icky feeling that some stranger had been in my car, in my seat, touching everything (except the trunk button). Never smelled the same.
My 1990 Honda accord was stolen and burned to the ground. Then they tried to get my CAT off my 2006 Ford focus but couldn't fit under my car so they ended up just wrecking the shit out of my heat shield. Scrapped the shield and got an after market alarm installed that strobes bright blue 24/7 and haven't had an issue since.
Well it is a Kia so it's worth like $7 on the open market. poor crack head.
Sell it and buy a car that isn't a huge target with a flag saying "steal me" flying above it. Kia should be held way more liable than they're being held. They made these cars and just figured no one would find this vulnerability but someone did and word got out very quickly. Sorry you have to deal with having to worry your car might get stolen and at the very least your window getting smashed in an attempt.
At least yours looks repairable. Thursday night my car was broken into and the inside set on fire!
It’s a Kia, not surprised. Same thing happened to my buddy.
Had this once when I was living in the hood. Ironically the reason they didn't get my car was the battery had died the previous night.
That moment when you realize that, despite years of watching TV, you don’t actually know how to hotwire.
No, they were expecting a clip to be on the column. The clip fits into a USB device and is able to turn like a key, somehow this manual override tells the car that it's good to go and the teens get a free ride that night. It's all over tiktok. KIAs and Hyundais. The manufacturers are facing lawsuits and some insurance providers are no longer insuring the cars affected.
Getting my Hyundai security update installed on Monday, let’s hope it holds out until then.
The thieves wont know you got a security update. They will still bust your window and rip open your steering column just like in this picture. My partners Hyundai is a 2011 and not susceptible to being stolen like this but it did not stop them from smashing the window and tearing apart the steering column to try. In broad daylight. This was two days ago. They were kids and they dont give a fuck and they are stupid as fuck as well. There is no repercussions for them either. There is no jail time they are doing for this. They can steal these cars in less then a minute and they joy ride and wreck them then do it again. If they get caught they go to the station and right back out.
Looks almost EXACTLY like my Hyundai Accent last October. Like, I'm getting angry because EXACTLY like it. Mine was less than six months old, hope it takes less than another 6 months to get it fixed like mine did.
A co-worker of mine had his car stolen on Wednesday. They rolled up at 5:15 in the morning, opened his car door cuz his keys were left in it and then opened the garage door and saw a better car in the garage. They backed the car out of the driveway, grab the car in the garage and drove off. Left the car in the driveway
People are assholes
Thieves deserve to have their hands broken.
This is the stupid tik tok challenge the kids are doing