- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmit.online
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmit.online
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.
It’s getting near impossible to insure Kias/Hyundais in some states now because this is so bad. I’d actually be considering buying one of their EVs or Hybrids if it wasn’t such an issue.
Are insurers refusing all Kia/Hyundai or just the affected ones?
None of the push to start ones are affected, only the base model key operated ones because they didn’t install immobilizers on them.
My wife has an affected model, but a push to start version. Getting insurance was fine. They did call to verify that it was the push to start before they finalized the policy, though.
There are other auto makes besides KIA/Hyundai, to be considered… that didn’t overlook a “easy to steal with a USB” type problems.
If you’re trying to find a manufacturer that hasn’t had some colossal/nefarious fuck up in the past, good luck to you because they don’t exist.
Seriously wtf is with the state of cars today?
Or were they always shitty and we just never told people how easy they are to steal?
Most modern cars have immobilizers that read the key and won’t allow the engine to start if it isn’t the correct key. Hyundai/Kia decided not to include these on some of their models to save costs. This was all well and good until it was discovered and spread across the internet. Now everyone knows these cars are easier to steal than others, with no easy way for owners to fix the issue.
It was security through obscurity, which is useless without the obscurity part.
Older cars up into the 90s were much easier to steal since you only needed to break the ignition lock or break the steering lock and touch the right ignition wires together. That’s essentially what they’re doing with these cars now.
Of course, I just really like the styling and price range on a lot of their newer models. I’m not seriously looking to buy right now, but if these problems didn’t exist they’d be the top of the list probably.