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Past decisions to cut corners can prove costly Hyundai and Come on while New York City joins a growing list of cities suing them for unspecified damages.
By failing to equip their older vehicles with the immobilizers found on most other competitor models—to save costs—officials argued in a complaint filed Tuesday that they “opened up the floodgates to car theft, crimes, reckless driving and public harm.”
Thanks to a TikTok challenge popularized by the “Kia Boyz” of Milwaukee, teenagers have learned how to easily steal some cars like the Kia Sportage or Hyundai Tucson that still use conventional ignition through using tools costs more than a few dollars, such as a screwdriver for jimmy to open the steering column and a USB cable plug to fool the steering lock mechanism.
A Milwaukee journalist, whose daughter was affected, claimed that the 2017 Hyundai Elantra he borrowed in March 2022 was stolen. in just two minutes.
Since almost all modern cars from other manufacturers only start when there is a matching radio identification signal from the owner’s chipped key fob, the resulting epidemic of car theft specifically targets both brands when the social media challenge begins to spread starting in 2021.
Milwaukee reportedly saw a 2,500% increase year-on-year in the number of Hyundai and Kia vehicles stolen as a result. Seattle has since filed a complaint, calling the vehicles “sitting ducks” forcing it to “transfer funds and risk officer safety.”
Every day, the NYPD works to make our city safer and continues to crack down on major crimes in New York City. But we continue to see problems with grand theft auto. Join us today at 1 Police Plaza.
https://t.co/4zyhYIcIf7— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMyor) March 30, 2023
In April, 17 states prompting the federal government to recall millions of Hyundai and Kia models as a result.
For his part, NYC Mayor Eric Adams has urge the residents Apply Apple Airtags on their vehicles as a preventive measure. He also came out to support the ban on TikTok due to the Kia Boyz challenge, calling a summit this week to discuss the harmful effects of social media on youth.
“TikTok really [held] responsible,” he was quoted as saying by a New York Times journalists as said in March.
Meanwhile, Hyundai and Kia are starting to include immobilizers in their cars as standard starting in the second half of 2021.
In the statements of Reuters, the two Korean carmakers said they are taking steps to reduce the risk of theft, including working with NYC law enforcement. Recent attempts to update the car’s software to make it more difficult, however, has not been proven effective. Kia claimed separately that the lawsuit was “without merit.”
The duo, which operate independently in the market but share much of their engineering to save costs, had already agreed in May settle the class action case out of court by paying $200 million to about 9 million affected customers.
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