It's a steering wheel lock you would want. Also Kia is offering anti-theft kits for purchase. Is the car still under warranty?

Really sorry to hear about your car.

 

It’s under dealership warranty, not manufacturing. Unfortunately I didn’t fully know about this trend until like a month ago. My manufacturer warranty expired in September.
What exactly is an anti theft kit? Can someone just buy one?

what’s extremely frustrating is that I’m on tight monthly budget and was planning on paying that car off with money I saved.

Do steering wheel locks actually work? I have been told that don’t do much.

 

If they want it, they'll take it. Steering wheel locks or clubs will be a visual turn off therefore visceral & move on.

It's better than nothing.

You can install an alarm, from Kia/Hyundai dealership or aftermarket from an audio/video tint & alarm automotive store.

 

Something like the club will work to prevent them from taking the car. I think that would be your best option at this point if you're on a tight budget. Contact your local police and see if they are offering clubs for free, or as a low cost option.

Then read everything you can about Kia lawsuits regarding this issue.

 

What is an anti theft kit? A steering lock?

 

Kia, Hyundai Offer Owners Security Kits, Locks After Targeted Car Thefts

A TikTok and social media trend that shows how to steal certain Kia and Hyundai cars with only a USB cable has increased thefts across the U.S.

www.forbes.com

 

I literally just walked down my street where it happened, and saw the exact same make and model (just a different color) parked 2 houses down from where it happened. Crazy

I ordered a club and am going to inquire with my dealership if they can install an alarm.

 

How prevalent is this? Is this happening to other models than forte? How common are cars with out push starters?

 

It's time to do some reading, Ry. Starting with googling "Kia Boyz".

There are also several lawsuits pending against Kia because of this.

 

My apologies, just frustrated.

 

I can’t imagine this is going to be good for the resale value of these cars. Which could completely screw you if it’s stolen.
Does Kia have any plans of doing anything others than giving away steering wheel locks? (Which I heard are on back order)

 

I hate to share bad news, but here it is so everyone can make informed decisions:

Talked to a Honda salesperson about trading the Forte for a Civic. She said the dealership just had a sales staff meeting detailing the Kia theft situation. Because in many zip codes comprehensive insurance is no longer being offered and that savvy clients will not buy theft-plagued Kias, the dealership management is reluctant to take Kias on trade. If they do, it will be with a 10-20 percent discount over Blackbook advice. (In one month the trade-in value of my Forte dropped from $20,300 to $18,900.) And this is in Columbia, Mo, a place not hard hit by the thefts, but 100 miles away from St. Louis which is a hotbed for them.

This dealership expects a large number of Kias hitting the auction market as people dump them, further pounding the trade-in value.

Sorry, but more bad news. My State Farm insurance agent, who also just had a corporate wide meeting, says to expect a rate increase because of the increase in Kia theft risk. State Farm will not dump existing customers, but will price premiums according to the theft risk in each zip code.

In terms of your question about what Kia is doing, from media reports they seem to have put their corporate head in the ground. Yes, they are offering free Clubs in certain hard hit areas, but their overall corporate response is that their cars meet all applicable federal standards. I'm afraid in the penalty phase of the coming class action lawsuit, which the legal publications say may be one of the largest in U.S. history, this will prove to be an inadequate response.

Kia is probably doing little because Fortes and similar entry-level cars without engine immobilizers are their lowest profit vehicles. Sedans are a dying part of the market, anyway. Had something like this involved their high-zoot SUVs the company would be a whole lot more robust in their response. I imagine Kia corporate has done a cost analysis and the verdict is that it will be cheaper to pay off the lawsuit rather than recall millions of Kias to install an immobilizer.

I find it interesting that there have been no calls for the Federal government to recall Kias. I guess poor owners of low-priced cars don't get much consideration from our politicians. No campaign contributions.

 

Kia & Hyundai still being gta/ broken into still?

 

Yes

 

 

View attachment 90831

Interestingly enough I live in that area.

I don’t do a consistently great job of following local news. I don’t use social media and I don’t have tv with an antenna. However I do a great job of following national news.

I didn’t take this issue seriously enough. I really really screwed up on this one.

 

I've been watching the theft situation closely and here are some suggestions for your consideration.

- De-badge your Kia so the thieves don't recognize the emblem and break into your car. Kias with the new style emblems are glued on with no prongs or holes in the bodywork. If you can't do this yourself a good body shop can in half an hour to an hour -- about $70.

- The steering wheel Club can be defeated by a thief with a hacksaw. However, the presence of the Club may deter the thief from breaking the glass in the first place because you've presented them an additional obstacle. Also, most of these thieves don't carry a hacksaw.

- Kia is providing free steering wheel Clubs through police departments in hard hit cities. Check with your local PD, sheriff office and dealer. Don't hold your breath on this as Kia, according to news reports, is only giving away a hundred or so per city. This is going to bite Kia hard in the penalty phase of any class action lawsuit. Keep a record that you tried to get a Club.

- The Kia-Hyundai anti-theft kit is a motion detector that will sound an audible alarm (hopefully) when glass is broken. Unfortunately, the cost for the device itself is $170 and up with a two hour installation that makes the total bill from $500-$700. You may be able to recoup some of this through lower insurance premiums. The alarm won't prevent your side or rear window from being broken, but it can maybe prevent your ignition from being destroyed and the car from being boosted. There are other aftermarket alarms that may cost less.

- Consider installing a defeat (kill) switch. You'll still have your glass broken and your ignition destroyed (about $10,000 to repair) but the car will probably stay in place. Back in the old days when car radios were frequently stolen, people would put a sign on their car saying 'No Radio'. I don't know if a sign saying 'Kill Switch Installed' will help. These thieves probably can't read.

- If your car has been stolen you can get involved in one of 19 class actions suits against Hyundai-Kia. Undoubtedly, these will be consolidated into one class action suit. Best bet to be the lead attorneys is the MLG group in Los Angeles. Right now they are sueing for actual theft damages, but other suits are seeking recompense for diminished trade-in value and increased insurance rates. If this class action lawsuit goes as the successful Theta II engine action, once you are listed with one law firm you will automatically go into the consolidation pool. Keep your receipts, police reports, and logs of lost wages and costs associated with the theft. Chances are any settlement will be a one-size-fits-all blanket settlement for all theft victims, but the U.S. legal system is screwy and the court may want actual damage receipts. Word in the legal profession is that the Kia theft situation may be one of the largest in U.S. history (7,000 Kias have been stolen in Chicago alone up to Nov. 1).

- Keep in touch with your insurance company. In hard hit cities insurance companies are denying comprehensive insurance to Kia owners. If you have a lien you are required to have this. My insurance company, State Farm, raised my rates 50 percent, but at least they kept me. I'm moving back to Kansas City and if my rates go up there the Kia will be traded for a Civic.

- Go online and review all of the suggestions to deter theft. Park in a garage if you have one.

- Kia and Hyundai are unofficially distributing rumors they are developing a 'software fix' to stem thefts. In my opinion they are recycling the PR strategy they pulled in their Theta II debacle. No software fix helped those engines from disintegrating. Still, keep in touch with your dealer because, who knows, something may be developed

Good luck.

 

Do you think changing the color could potentially keep it from being stolen and removing the emblem?

also it’s. 2017, so it isn’t new.

 

Some of them are going to be savvy enough to look for a key ignition.

 

Hmm only thing I saw that looked close to that is the genesis wing emblem.

 

See if your state has a lemon law. That might help you.

 

Won't do anything - lemon law is forced manufacturer buyback if you have 3 unsuccessful repair attempts of an issue or a certain amount of downtime. It says nothing about this. In fact, nothing says anything about this, because it's not illegal or a violation of any law or legal document. Federal and state laws say nothing about immobilizers in the US. The reason it's happening is because thieves became aware of vulnerabilities that exist in these cars due to a) the fact that they are cheap cars, and therefore don't have immobilizers on some trims to save costs and b) easily defeatable ignition cylinders (which is simply poor design).

 

Would those automatic starters and security system detect someone breaking your window?

Is there anything that immobilizes an engine like that company in Milwaukee came up with?

 

Can’t see it, not a deterrent. You’d still get your window smashed. These cars have alarm systems from the factory, clearly that doesn’t help

 

IMO the only way to protect your Kia now is to install a car alarm that activates when the car is simply touched AND install a bright red or yellow club on the steering wheel.

Because of "Kia Boyz" and social media If you have a pre-2021 Kia and have an immobilizer installed most likely potential thieves won't know it and will break your window, only to find out afterwards that they can't start the car. You need the club so that they can see it as a deterrent AND you need the horn blasting BEFORE they try to break the window - if they're too stupid to look for a club first.

I mean it would be nice if you have an immobilizer installed but what good is it if you find your car still there with broken glass all around?

50s, 60s, and early 70s cars were SUPER easy to hot wire! No steering wheel locks, you could open the hood from outside the car, and you just needed a jumper wire to the coil and a quick contact with the starter (Fords and Mercurys were REAL easy because the starter solenoid was right next to the battery - not on the starter like other car makes).

Early 70s and up cars had ignition switches that needed the key to remove the cylinder lock (Why Kia didn't continue that is one for the books) BUT you could still remove it with a slide hammer! Look at the top 10 stolen vehicle list EVERY year - all these cars/trucks have immobilizers and locked ignition cylinders and they still get stolen.

 

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Are there alarms that do that?

 

Why are videos still on YouTube, instagram and tik tok in how to do this? Especially YouTube? So called “reporters” showing people how to do this is essentially promoting criminal activity. They will take down a video over a joke but not this? I don’t understand

 

As I said a few days ago in a prior discussion on "Kia Boyz", a study from 2016 in US News & World Report found that at that time, only 18% of the US population could drive a car with a manual transmission. You can bet 1) the figure's even LOWER now and 2) it's LOWER STILL for the brats who are doing this. Plus, they can tell just by looking into the car that it's something they can't drive; no busted window required!

God, I love my stick!

(What?!?, I'm talking about the SHIFTER... )

 

As I said a few days ago in a prior discussion on "Kia Boyz", a study from 2016 in US News & World Report found that at that time, only 18% of the US population could drive a car with a manual transmission. You can bet 1) the figure's even LOWER now and 2) it's LOWER STILL for the brats who are doing this. Plus, they can tell just by looking into the car that it's something they can't drive; no busted window required!

God, I love my stick!

(What?!?, I'm talking about the SHIFTER... )

Exactly the reason I'm not worried either.