III: Auto insurers curtail coverage of Kias, Hyundais as thefts soar

Impacted vehicle owners are facing higher premiums and longer repair times.

A class action lawsuit against the makers of Kia and Hyundai vehicles alleges the cars lack adequate anti-theft devices and that consumers were not made aware of the manufacturing defect. (Trong Nguyen/Shutterstock)

The social media-driven fad that spurred would-be car thieves to target newer-model Kias and Hyundais is now having notable insurance implications, the Insurance Information Institute and AM Best are reporting.

See also: Latest social media craze: Stealing Kias & Hyundais

Thanks to TikTok, car thieves are exploiting a vehicle defect that makes these particular cars comparatively easy to steal with little more than a pin and a USB cable.

“They are significantly damaging the steering column of the vehicle,” in the course of such thefts, the Triple I’s Mark Friedlander recently told the Chicago CBS affiliate WBBM-TV. “That is a significant repair, and unfortunately we’re seeing this multiply by thousands across the country.”

There were 328 Kias stolen in 2021 in Chicago, the news station reported. That number swelled to nearly 3,600 in 2022.

An Allstate spokesman added that repair times and costs are up, increasing the pain for vehicle owners and insurers alike.

It follows that a class-action lawsuit has been filed in Iowa that argues Kias and Hyundais are “‘easy to steal,’ unsafe, and worth less than what drivers paid due to the vulnerability plaguing the cars’ ignition system.”

The vehicles in question reportedly lack electronic engine immobilizers that could effectively halt an attempted theft. The Iowa lawsuit argues that the vehicles are defective and that the automakers failed to share this manufacturing detail with buyers. The filing adds that the vehicles fail to comply with federal vehicle safety guidelines. What’s more, the lawsuit says, the windows on impacted Kias and Hyandais are not connected to the cars’ security systems, which means a thief can break the glass without triggering an alarm.

The lawsuit looks to cover consumers who purchased a Kia or Hyundai between 2011 and 2021. These same vehicle owners are facing higher insurance premiums and restricted coverage, AM Best reports.

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