A social media trend, dubbed the “Kia Challenge,” has appeared to compound the automakers’ problems in recent years, with people posting videos showing how to steal Hyundai and Kia cars. At its height, the Kia Challenge was linked to at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities, according to figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
About 9 million vehicles have been impacted by the rash of thefts, including Hyundai Elantras and Sonatas as well as Kia Fortes and Souls. Hyundai and Kia earlier this year agreed to pay $200 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by drivers who had their vehicles stolen.
Technology is helping foil car thieves making life miserable for owners of Hyundai and Kia vehicles.
Hyundai and Kia upgraded their cars’ anti-theft tech in early 2023. Vehicles equipped with the enhanced software will only start if the owner’s key, or an identical duplicate, is in the ignition.
The rate at which the Korean automakers’ cars are stolen has fallen by more than half since the companies upgraded their anti-theft software, according to new research from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI). Hyundai and Kia thefts have soared in recent years after criminals discovered that certain car models lacked engine immobilizers — technology that has long been standard in other vehicles.
I just had to purchase a vehicle. My insurance company basically asked me not to buy a KIA or Hyundai and warned that the premiums for those makes were super high.
It’s funny that even though theft rates have plummeted since the mass software upgrade, premiums have stayed high. They have savant-level mathematicians (actuaries) evaluating risk and even with compelling data showing otherwise, they choose to keep labeling these cars high risk and continue to charge exorbitant premiums.
The whole “insurance price is determined by geniuses” thing is just bullshit. They benefit greatly from perpetuating the myth but never really demonstrate competence. Their calculations are very non-specific. For example determining risk by ZIP code in places where one side of the tracks/street/infrastructure built with structural discrimination in mind is just not granular enough. Another example would be that some model of vehicle came with optional emergency braking, but taking the option doesn’t change insurance calculations at all, but having the feature as standard for all models reduces the price for those models.
“Insurance actuaries are sevants” is just an extension of the lie that “free” markets are 100% efficient and always correct.
Well I mean actuaries are like savants. Years ago in uni my calc III college prof was one. Amazingly sharp dude. Do I think insurance companies over-generalize their risk assessments? Yupp. Do insurance companies likely ignore their actuaries and set premiums to make outrageous profit? Probably.
Disclosure: I hate insurance companies. Also that professor was super weird
Well, the cars do not get stolen, but the windows sure as hell get smashed to check if it works. This costs money as well.
Hyundai and Kia upgraded their cars’ anti-theft tech in early 2023. Vehicles equipped with the enhanced software will only start if the owner’s key, or an identical duplicate, is in the ignition.
Fucking… What? A 2023 anti theft technology upgrade added the space age cutting edge concept of starting the car with… the key?
If my car could start without the key in the bloody ignition I’d be furious, that’s what the key is for, haha. You can add extra doohickeys to enhance security, but the first line of defence is the key that starts the car.
Absolute madness.
They were vulnerable because they didn’t use chipped keys therefore people could break the ignition cylinder off and rotate the actual switch behind it to start the car. Cars with immobilizers still wouldn’t start even if you removed the lock cylinder because the sensor didn’t detect the chip. This is basically how most all cars worked prior to the 90s/00s which is where the trope of “using a screwdriver to steal a car” came from.
I’m really curious how they were able to add this in using software alone since you’d need some sort of sensor to detect the key along with keys that have a chip embedded in them.
😄so, my dacia spring can be stolen like that as well? It has one key without even a battery 🤣 (I think) Luckily I live in peaceful Switzerland, so I don’t even have to lock the car overnight…
Edit: it locks the steering wheel if not started, maybe that would be enough?
You might have an immobilizer as no battery is needed in the key, it’s just a little chip embedded inside.
As far as the steering wheel lock, I think it can be defeated as well as those were used at least as far back as the 1970s and cars were still stolen then too. I believe people just hammered a screwdriver into the ignition to be able to bypass it.
You should Google your model of car to see if it has an immobilizer.
I see 😁👌🏻 good to know
You’ll still get a broken window and steering column because the thieves can’t tell if the car has had the update or not and will still attempt to steal it.
I have a Kia and got the software upgrade; they put a little red sticker on your windows saying the vehicle is equipped with anti-theft software.
But something tells me most thieves aren’t checking for a sticker before they smash the window…
