On a completely unremarkable Monday morning, I used to be serving to my grandmother prepare to go to a good friend when somebody knocked on my door. Upon opening it, I used to be greeted by a metropolis police officer whose first phrases have been, “Don’t fret, you are not in any bother.” That, paradoxically, shouldn’t be a comforting assertion; it hits with the identical believability as a health care provider claiming the factor they’re about to do will solely really feel like a pinch. A discombobulating 60-second dialog ensued, throughout which I gathered that one thing was occurring with my automotive, besides I wasn’t fairly positive what.
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After placing on my footwear and taking a brief journey down the elevator, I stepped into the parking storage to see that my assigned parking spot was empty. Only some spots over, a neighbor’s automotive — one which simply so occurred to be the identical make and mannequin as my 2015 Hyundai Elantra — had its driver’s door deal with partially peeled off. It turned out that a youngster had stolen my automotive in the midst of the night time utilizing a technique popularized on TikTok called the “Kia Challenge.” The ensuing joyride induced roughly $10,000 in injury.
Who the heck are the ‘Kia Boys?’
In 2021, some cities within the U.S. reported an uncommon improve within the fee of automotive thefts involving Hyundai and Kia automobiles. Over the approaching months, the rationale for that drawback turned clear: sure key-start automobiles offered by Hyundai in the USA lacked a now-common function known as an immobilizer. With out that cheap safety part, anybody with entry to a weak Hyundai or Kia may open up its steering column, slide out the ignition change, after which use an abnormal USB stick or charging cable to begin the car.
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Information of this vulnerability unfold like wildfire on TikTok, the place youngsters throughout the nation realized that it’s surprisingly simple to steal a automotive and take it for a spin -– one thing that has since resulted in a number of deaths and probably half a billion {dollars} in damages. Many cities throughout the U.S. — together with my very own — have filed lawsuits against Hyundai and Kia over the burden attributable to the TikTok problem. Some insurance coverage firms have stopped insuring these automobiles. A category motion lawsuit resulted in a settlement that’ll see Hyundai no less than partially reimburse victims for a few of their out-of-pocket prices associated to a automotive theft — although for many individuals, it will not totally make up for the bills and problem that consequence.
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Preventative measures can solely achieve this a lot
My automotive had a purposeful alarm system when it was stolen — and it did not go off at any level in the course of the ordeal. The rationale, one of many law enforcement officials defined, is that it is attainable to get into these fashions with out setting off the alarm by eradicating the door handles. That is precisely what occurred with my Elantra, which was recovered with its driver’s door deal with fully lacking.
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Whereas there are methods you possibly can (in all probability) stop your automotive from being stolen, they do not handle the foundation of the issue: these particular Hyundais and Kias are focused by automotive thieves, and those self same thieves don’t have any approach of realizing whether or not a safety add-on has been put in simply by wanting on the car. You’ll have spent a number of hundred {dollars} having a hidden kill switch put in — or maybe you are one of many drivers who pull the starter relay each time they park — however that will not stop a thief from bodily breaking in and cracking open the steering column.
Even when your car is in the end left the place you parked it, the tried theft may end in a whole lot or 1000’s of {dollars} in injury, to not point out the chance of an elevated insurance coverage premium. Hyundai will reimburse you for no less than a part of the price of a steering wheel lock, however such contraptions are little greater than a visible deterrent — one {that a} well-prepared “Kia boy” can take away in seconds utilizing a easy hacksaw. What concerning the software program safety replace Hyundai is putting in on a few of these fashions as a part of a recall? Many drivers had the software program replace put in, solely to have their automobiles stolen regardless.
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So, somebody stole your Hyundai. Now what?
Standing in your unexpectedly empty parking spot is a horrible time to comprehend you don’t have any thought what occurs subsequent when a car is stolen. The excellent news is that each your native police and insurance coverage firm will information you thru the method. Issues begin with legislation enforcement, as you will must report your car stolen (and relying on the place you reside, you may additionally must let the DMV know). From there, you must name your insurance coverage firm to file a declare. If the automotive hasn’t been discovered but, an extended ready interval begins — usually 30 days, although your personal coverage could differ. If the car is not recovered by that deadline, insurance coverage could lower you a examine for the worth of the automotive minus the deductible.
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Whether it is recovered, issues get extra sophisticated. Assuming you will have full protection insurance coverage and never simply state minimal legal responsibility, you will have to rearrange to have your car towed from its first vacation spot — doubtless a metropolis impound lot — to a restore store tasked with figuring out how a lot injury was induced and what it will price to repair it. You get to select the store, however should you do not have already got a spot in thoughts, the insurance coverage firm will advise that you’ve the automotive towed to the closest Hyundai dealership with a service heart. Some dealerships work alongside a neighborhood physique store to restore automobiles that want extra intensive work achieved, which may imply having to rearrange a second tow.
Shifting on the pace of insurance coverage claims
Although insurance coverage moved rapidly after I first filed the declare, issues slowed down significantly after that, and some days handed with none type of standing replace. The next week, I acquired the primary name from my insurance coverage adjuster, who’d taken a take a look at the automotive and gotten the preliminary restore estimate. I used to be advised that I needed to make a journey to the auto store myself to drop off the keys and signal some paperwork. I additionally needed to look over the automotive and report again with any noticeable injury that wasn’t on the preliminary estimate. That is after I bought my first post-theft take a look at the Elantra.
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The teenage thief and his good friend in all probability used the car to go on a joyride, the police stated, and I may see the proof of that. The burnt stays of some marijuana cigarettes have been left on the console and empty junk meals wrappers coated the passenger facet ground. They’d trashed the within of the automotive whereas looking it for gadgets to steal, and in some unspecified time in the future throughout their journey, they managed to tear off the entrance bumper and break up the rear bumper, amongst different issues. As a little bit of maybe unintentional salt within the wound, additionally they left behind the USB cable they’d used to begin the automotive.
Following an intensive inspection, the auto store concluded that the price of repairs would exceed the car’s worth. Insurance coverage advised me to launch the automotive in order that they might tow it to a salvage lot, and after I signed the title over to the corporate, they printed me a examine to select up at their native workplace. Your entire course of, from begin to end, took two weeks.
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Hyundai could ship you a examine, nevertheless it may take some time
If you happen to stay in the USA and somebody steals your eligible key-start Hyundai or Kia car, you possibly can file for reimbursement from Hyundai Motor America, although it could in the end solely cowl a portion of your out-of-pocket bills associated to the theft. Funds can be made to victims as a part of the revised settlement addressing a category motion lawsuit filed over these TikTok-adjacent thefts. There are some main caveats concerned with this, nevertheless, the primary of which is that funds will solely be issued if the court docket accepts the revised settlement. That announcement is scheduled to reach any day now — as of this writing –although it is unimaginable to say what the end result can be. Additionally, it’s essential to file your declare by January 11, 2025.
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Info on the settlement could be discovered on the Hagens Berman legislation agency’s web site, and victims of theft can file a declare on the devoted Hyundai Theft Settlement web site (there’s additionally a version of the website for Kia owners). If you happen to stay within the U.S. and owned your weak Hyundai or Kia car previous to March 2024, you will have additionally acquired a paper packet within the mail that included varieties you possibly can manually fill out and mail again; those self same varieties may also be downloaded as PDFs from the settlement web site. Advantages probably obtainable embrace partial reimbursement of the whole lack of a automotive, reimbursement as much as a sure threshold for prices associated to break and misplaced private property, as much as $375 towards an elevated insurance coverage premium or the deductible you needed to pay associated to the theft, and extra.
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