Council Members Blast $500 Fix To Hyundai Theft Problem

Hyundai is now offering a third-party solution to a vulnerability that has resulted in thousands of its vehicles being stolen. But the fact that the cost of the fix could be more than $500 isn’t sitting well with at least two members of the Milwaukee Common Council.

“We find it insulting and punitive to ask Hyundai owners to pay for a security kit that should not be needed in the first place,” said Milele A. Coggs and Khalif Rainey in a joint statement issued Monday. “Hyundai and Kia both should be providing kits and installing them free of charge, just as other normal vehicle ‘recalls’ are handled by other automakers. Additionally, this work should be expedited as quickly as possible to help remedy the threat of theft that already exists and which is being exacerbated by videos on social media.”

The two council members already wrote letters to both Kia and Hyundai in 2021 calling for the issue to be addressed and sponsored legislation to discuss the matter and investigate legal options. Earlier this year, the theft epidemic spread beyond Milwaukee (and Denver) to several other U.S. cities.

Both Kia and Hyundai have been provided free steering wheel locks to the Milwaukee Police Department. Those committing the thefts locally are known as “Kia Boyz.” The name is not a reference to a specific gang, but a social media brand for a type of theft often committed by teenagers. The stolen vehicles are often used for reckless joy riding. More than half of the thieves caught in Milwaukee were children according to an MPD report.

But Hyundai is now offering a kit to address the issue and a company spokesperson said the automaker is also exploring a software-based fix.

Hyundai started selling the kits through its dealerships this month for $170, but the kit also requires approximately two and a half hours of installation time. A conservative labor cost of $100 per hour would make the solution cost $420 before tax.

The kit, made by Compustar, includes both an alarm and a kill switch. The former addresses an issue where vehicles are frequently broken into without an alarm activating because not all windows are hooked into the system. The latter prevents the vehicle from starting once the alarm activates.

A cheaper option exists locally. Entrepreneur Jon Goldoff offers a $150 phone-based solution that functions as a Bluetooth kill switch. It works in vehicles of any type, including Kia and Hyundai vehicles.

Similar to the official Hyundai offering, Goldoff’s solution won’t stop your car from being broken into, but it will prevent it from being stolen.

Milwaukee has seen record-breaking vehicle theft levels since fall 2020 as information has circulated on social media about how to quickly steal many newer Kia or Hyundai vehicles. The plastic panel covering the steering column can be removed with a screwdriver and the vehicle can be started by using a USB cable (or similarly shaped object) to turn over an exposed ignition. Vehicles can be stolen in a couple of minutes.

Vehicles vulnerable to theft are those without an immobilizer in a chipped key (an immobilizer is found in push-button ignition setups common in new vehicles). The vulnerability is present in many Kias made between 2011 and 2021 and Hyundais between 2015 and 2021.

The steering wheels have not been a panacea to date, with images circulating of busted locks found itself stolen vehicles. Similarly, owners of vehicles with immobilizer keys or stick shifts have seen their vehicles broken into, but not driven away.

A class action lawsuit against the manufacturers is still pending in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, one of what is now more than a dozen suits across the country.