Seattle has taken Kia and Hyundai to federal court because some cars don’t have the right anti-theft technology. In the lawsuit, the companies are named as defendants. Kia and Hyundai cars have been stolen a lot more in cities across the United States in the last two years, partly because of a popular TikTok trend. Due to the rise in car thefts, some big insurance companies, like State Farm and Progressive, are reportedly refusing to cover cars in certain cities that have been broken into. Kia and Hyundai are still feeling the effects of the “Kia Boyz” TikTok craze, which has increased vehicle thefts from both brands. Thieves specifically target cars made by these companies because many of their older cars don’t have a critical anti-theft feature called an engine immobilizer, and they know they can break rear windows without setting off an alarm. Due to the increase in thefts, some major insurance companies are reportedly refusing to sell new policies on Kias and Hyundais that are affected, and some drivers who already have insurance are paying steadily rising rates. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a resident of a St. Louis suburb started looking for a new insurance company after the six-month Geico price for his 2020 Hyundai Elantra went up by around $200, from about $600 to $800 when he renewed his policy in December. The same St. Louis resident was turned down for coverage by Progressive, and another company quoted him up to $350 per month. Many insurance companies are starting to respond by either not covering people or making coverage more expensive. A Progressive employee told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that when Hyundai and Kia owners in St. Louis and other disproportionately affected cities ask for an online quote, Progressive automatically sends them a message saying “No.” According to the same article, Nationwide and Geico have decided to raise driver premiums for specific makes and models instead of giving out blanket denials. When we talked about it in the fall, both companies had taken steps to stop thefts. Kia and Hyundai give steering wheel locks to local law enforcement. Hyundai has started selling Firstech/Compustar security kits that add immobilizers to cars that don’t already have them. Both Hyundai and Kia have made immobilizers standard on all of their vehicles. Hyundai will do this for all cars made after November 2021, and Kia will do the same for all 2022 models. As the number of thefts keeps increasing, owners want a more robust response from the company. Some cities are even suing the company over the problem. The Post-Dispatch says that when the number of thefts involving Kia and Hyundai cars rose to about 23 per day in August, city leaders in St. Louis promised to sue the car companies. Seattle went even further and sued Kia and Hyundai in federal court for not putting enough anti-theft systems in some of their cars. “From July of last year to July of this year, the number of Kias and Hyundais in the City of Seattle went up by 625 percent,” Seattle city attorney Ann Davison told Fox 13 Seattle. Davison said that the thefts had become a problem for the public and that both businesses were trying to cut costs on purpose. Davison wants each company to issue a general recall, forcing the manufacturers to pay for the fix and (hopefully) stop criminals from targeting the vehicles in the future. They told Hyundai and Kia about the new lawsuit and that customers and insurance companies are putting more pressure on them.
