SAN DIEGO — San Diego is among cities across the United States to sue Kia and Hyundai for failing to equip their vehicles with engine immobilizers; which means they don’t require a key or key fob to start the engine.
A TikTok trend spread showing people how easy it is to steal these vehicles.
More than 3.8 million Hyundai and 4.5 million Kia models 2011 to 2022 share this security flaw according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. All models since November 2021 have standard mobilizers, however, this still leaves many cars on the road without the security feature.
"We've seen an uptick by 164% in vehicle thefts for Kia and Hyundai which is avoidable," said San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott. "The City Attorney's Office is suing on behalf of the State of California which is somewhat unusual, but we're a big city, so we can sue for the State of California since our city has over 750,000 people."
She says they are suing for two cases, public nuisance and unfair competition.
"In this case of public nuisance, they are taxing our police department. They can be responding to more important things like gun violence or murders instead of car theft. In the second case of unfair competition: a company is skirting the law to save money which we believe is happening here."
In San Diego, since 2019, more than 2,000 Hyundais and Kias have been stolen combined. The thefts have gradually increased.
Just last year, 259 Hyundais were stolen and 304 Kias were stolen in San Diego with Hyudani Elantras and Kia Optimas leading the pack.
Kia and Hyundai responded by developing free theft deterrent software for vehicles that lack immobilizers. The software improves the alarm system and requires a key in the ignition switch for vehicles to start.
Elliot says this will take years of litigation before we see any resolution. She advises drivers to keep their receipts of any safety equipment they bought for their cars since they could eventually file a claim and be reimbursed.
WATCH RELATED: San Diego teacher's car, $10K worth of equipment stolen while grocery shopping