As you may remember, many Kia and Hyundai drivers found out the hard way that their vehicles did not have a common immobilizer device when TikTok teens decided to use simple tools and a USB cable to abscond with their prized Rios and Fortes and the like. One such owner is my dad, who has a Kia Soul with over 170,000 miles on it and has been concerned his car might get stolen. He just got a letter about the next steps and the thing he’s most excited about is a sticker.
Kia and Hyundai both have been trying to correct the issue in various ways, but with such a wide variety of cars over so many years there’s no one-sized-fits-all approach. Some owners are able to go to a dealer for a simple software update that Kia says can fix the issue. While repairs or upgrades have been considered, the first thing my dad got for his 2012 Kia Soul from Kia was essentially The Club, though it’s not Club branded.
It’s a decent stop-gap but not a real solution given that, you know, steering wheel-based impediments are easy to break.
Now, my dad has received another letter from Kia explaining that he can, in fact, get a “theft deterrent ignition cylinder protector” installed for free on his vehicle. Here’s how Kia describes the upgrade:
This new hardware modification—an ignition cylinder protector—is designed for the vehicles that are not eligible for the security software upgrade that Kia introduced earlier this year and works to combat theft by reinforcing the ignition cylinder body and preventing its removal through the method of theft promoted in videos that have spread across social media encouraging criminal activity.
Part of the process of stealing a Kia is removing the cylinder pin-tumbler part of the lock that sits at the top of a vehicle’s ignition system. Underneath is a rectangle that’s basically the size of an old USB port and thus, with a USB cable, you can twist the ignition and start it. If the cars had been shipped with immobilizers this would have likely never happened as the cars wouldn’t have started without the key.
I can’t find any photos of this device, but presumably, it locks down that pin-tumbler so it can’t easily be removed. Still, having this device might make it harder to steal, but it still sucks when someone smashes the glass of your car or jimmies the lock to get it opened. How do you avoid that? Per Kia:
Following the completion of the installation, each vehicle will be affixed with window decals to inform would-be car thieves that the vehicle is equipped with enhanced theft protection.
This, to me, is slightly hilarious. It’s a sticker! My dad is super into it, though, telling me that he wants Kia to “just send me the sticker.”
There is a logic to this. Assuming thieves are deterred by the sticker, why wouldn’t you want the sticker as fast as possible? I found a NHTSA document that shows the sticker, which says “THIS VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH KIA ANTI-THEFT LOGIC” that goes on the windows on both sides of the car. Here are instructions on how to install the sticker:
Weirdly, this isn’t the first time that stickers have been handed out as part of a recall. Ford famously saved itself the trouble of recalling almost 23 million vehicles due to a sticker explaining how to shove the shifter into park super hard.
Is this a 100% perfect theft deterrent sticker? Nope, someone with the sticker has already had their car broken into. Stupid kids.
Still, it’s better than nothing.
Don’t forget GM’s super cheesy recall about 8 years ago for ignitions that shut themselves off while driving. Instead of replacing the ignition switch, they just clipped a cheap piece of plastic in the top key slot to keep the ring centered so there’s no torque against the cylinder. Diabolically cheap…
Of course they could and should just suck it up and do a massive recall to install immobilizers, but I think they will do almost anything to avoid that. I’ve gotten the impression of late that certain cultures are less amenable to the psychology required to accept the need to eat certain losses.
I imagine thinking along the lines of: Those customer didn’t buy the immobilizer with their new car when they could have. Why should we have to pay ten times what it would have cost when built to remedy their cheapness?
It just goes against the grain for them. The don’t perceive the harm to their reputation the same way we do with respect to this subject due to their part of the world viewing things a bit differently. This is dangerously close to stereotyping, but I’m trying to comprehend Hyundai/Kia’s relative intransigence on this. So many people are going to imagine or remember that their car got stolen or their insurance went through the roof. It’s take about ten years to get clear of such stains during which time a lot of sales are lost. Not good long term thinking.
Immobilizers are required by law in Canada, so these exact same vehicles are all protected there. But it’s not the law in the USA, so instead of standardizing on one part, Kia & Hyundai went through the expense of having two separate SKUs so they could…cheap-out on a portion of their vehicles sold here? The stupidity and cognitive dissonance is astounding.
I don’t think it’s cultural — except in the sense of, their corporate culture is about having utter contempt for their customers.
Yet another reason to Choose Canada (as opposed to blaming them).
Seattle area news interviewed Kia/Hyundai owner with the official factory update. Now takes one minute to steal instead of a few seconds. The update does practically nothing. Some insurance companies no longer cover Kia/Hyundai.
1981 James Bond movie, “For Your Eyes Only”.
Tight shot of window sticker “Burglar Protected”.
Wide shot of white first gen Lotus Esprit with thief breaking the window.
Ka-boom.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rJSWHXjoGBorBZKCA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Ug4I89c98
Unfortunately, many “teens” who would steal another person’s property, a car in this case, probably do not have the ability to “read” and/or “comprehend” said signage! A sad commentary on our times.
So it is a participation sticker (award) in every sense of the meaning?
Lol. Sticker.
It sucks, because I like the designs (especially the Ioniq 6) but I just can’t see myself ever trusting Hyundai/Kia ever again. Other companies may have some flaws (Subaru) but at least in my experience they stand behind their products. Hyundai/Kia simply doesn’t.
Cars cost too much money to roll the dice with a company that’s this complacent.
It was a simple design flaw/oversight on a few models only, which the manufacturer is trying to resolve expeditiously. Don’t dismiss the entire brand as they make highly desirable, quality products.
Expeditiously? This saga has been going on since 2021! Not to mention the engines blowing up on so many of their cars. And the putrid dealers you have to deal with after that happens.
I apologize if I’m not detecting the sarcasm.
No, and no. As another reader reported here on this page. Canada law requires engine immobilizers. Hyundai/Kia sold the same models in Canada with the immobilizers, and did not install the immobilizers in US vehicles. If true, this is not an oversight or design flaw. This shows intent to offer defective products to US consumers.
I would forgive Hyundai/Kia if they admitted they screwed up and then made right by owners. Heck, they don’t even have to admit to anything — just recall the vehicles and fix them. As for highly desirable, the obvious joke here is to agree with you that some of their vehicles are highly desirable to people engaging in the Tik-Tok challenge.
Tell you what. Let’s trade cars. My Kia for whatever you have. Then you can enjoy the thrill of walking out to a parking lot a couple of times a day wondering if your car is still there.
How is the top shot not an image of William Shatner screaming “KIIIAAAAAA!!”
That’s great but none of it matters. You can do the immobilizer recall, get a club, get the protective ignition shroud, AND have a sticker but it makes no difference.
In most cases kids are the ones breaking into cars and kids are idiots. They will break in first without paying attention (sometimes not even into the right Hyundai/Kia product) and then figure out they can’t do anything afterwards.
The owner still has to deal with the broken glass, rest of the vandalism, and rising insurance premiums (assuming they don’t get their coverage dropped).
A family member’s car has been stolen 2x and vandalized 3x (twice after the recalls were done) because of where they live. Guess who’s car is headed to Carmax…. Depending on where you live, selling the car is the only real solution. Because on top of all that insurance is through the roof on these cars once you’re hit and if it happens enough times your carrier may dump you entirely (happened to the relative).
I’m mildly concerned with my 2013 Soul getting broken into, even though it has push-button start and wouldn’t be able to be stolen anyway. Broken glass isn’t fun to deal with.
Broken glass and destroyed steering column. Parts of been back ordered for months in many cases.
Can I get a sticker for my catalytic converter?
I just got that “upgrade” and had to sign a release stating that I understood that 1) I’d lose the lighted ring around the ignition, and 2) that if my ignition subsequently failed, I’d have to buy a whole new assembly because the ignition was now epoxied tight in to the steering column. However, they’d glue it up again for free! Gee thanks. Also, could you at least have put the window stickers on straight?
The update does not solve the problem. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/some-kia-owners-question-anti-theft-software-fix-after-cars-were-stolen-following-upgrade/3390525/%3famp=1
There’s two different fixes available. One is a software update that’s supposed to sort of mimic an immobilizer. Not all vehicles are able to be updated with the software fix. I’m not sure if this new upgrade is only for these vehicles, or all vehicles are eligible, including those which have already received the software update.
The new update is to the physical hardware of the vehicle. You will can no longer be able to quickly and easily separate the two pieces of the ignition system to expose the rectangular female connector that allowed the two pieces to rotate together and also happened to be adequately sized to the shape of a standard USB cable.
Either way it won’t stop someone from smashing in your glass and breaking the plastic shroud around the steering column.
Protected By Viper!
I understood that reference!
Putting an actual venomous snake in a car probably would be a decent deterrent. But disabling your security system when you want to use the car might be troublesome.
I mean, I don’t knock the stickers. Similar logic to home security systems proudly advertised on a sign or sticker. Not gonna stop everyone, but I’m sure it’s still helpful to some degree.
Or those stickers people used to put on their cars windows with “No Radio – Thank You!” Why were we thanking the criminals?
All those signs do is tell a smart thief what he’s dealing with.
I dunno…if it deters any “dumber” thieves, that’s still fewer theft attempts total, right?
Kinda like how, in a parking lot with several Priuses, one having a catalytic converter shield might cause a potential thief to move onto the next one to save time/effort.
Another sticker recall I’ve heard of; remember how 1992-94 Subaru Legacys were among the few US-market cars since 1968 not to have a side-facing amber reflectorized marker light forward of the front wheel?
It was just behind it where the RoW turn signal repeater was. NHTSA just shrugged and said don’t do it again, but Transport Canada insisted on a recall and retrofit – which consisted of reflectorized vinyl stickers that went on the sides of the front turn signal clusters.
Nissan sent us a new page for the owner’s manual to properly explain the windshield defrost system operation. This was a full recall and the new page was mailed when we didn’t go running to the dealership to pick it up. It surprises me that there was a full recall simply because the manual didn’t clearly explain how to set the defroster controls. Surely, everyone had figured it out by then – it’s a 2017 Leaf and we got the notice in 2023. If anyone went up to 6 years wondering how to see in cool damp weather……
I just saw on FB that someone put Ford badges on their Hyundai to deter crime…that makes the car worse though because Ford ha ha
Too bad they can’t fool the insurance companies with that. The savings would pay for the badge a hundred fold.
That would have worked very well on the prior Kia logo. It was an oval because they started out as a contract manufacturer for Ford, and they wanted to be able to easily place either badge on the grille.
After all the engine failures with zero will to take responsibility and now people having their worlds turned upside down because their cars were stolen 1 2, some 3-4 times! that people would ever consider owning a Hyundai/KN. I personally know several people whose engines blew up and they refused to make it right so the car sat while they made payments on a lawn ornament. Now people have insurance going sky high in price and I still see some of those people buying them again! This is not a good company folks, and they build cars that are quite sub-par beneath the surface.
I know of two accidents when Kia/Hyundai airbags did not deploy.
Or, get a MagnaVolt setup – less sticker, more shock.
The automotive industry loves the sticker solution. During my brief stint working at a Chrysler dealer one of my first jobs was applying airbag warning stickers to the sunvisors of various 90s Neons/Stratii/Caravans. Apparently the airbags could be harmful so thankfully the sunvisor would have a sticker to let you know that.
If the people who paid thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for complex equipment could be bothered to read the manual then we wouldn’t have to put stickers on everything for the customers to ignore instead.
I’ve done a tiny bit of artwork for car manuals, and also some stickers. I suggested a cost saving by replacing all of the different stickers with just one small one that said “this can kill, read manual to avoid death”.
I also had a fight with Styling who wanted a particularly important warning placed on a sticker under the dash so it wouldn’t look messy. Like people read with their knees.
Meanwhile, the insurance for my Hyundai jumped 50%. And I already HAVE the sticker.
I got tired of waiting for Kia/Hyundai to do the right thing and ordered a push button start to replace my tumbler.
My buddy’s Hyundai has been broken into twice in an attempt to steal. It was a model equipped with the push button start proving that they don’t look at that before smashing your window.
I’d rather have a smashed window than no car at all
Where I grew up, we learned it was easier and cheaper to leave the car unlocked and nothing in it, than have a window busted out and THEN the criminal finds out there is nothing in it. Of course, that requires said criminal to even try the door before breaking anything…
I agree that is a smart play and didn’t think of that, but still a risk of having broken glass.
Didn’t work where I grew up though, if you left the car open you’d just have a homeless person in it when you returned. Which also meant your interior now had feces and urine on it (probably). Be careful leaving a car open.
The problem with the Hyundai/Kia thefts is that many of the perpetrators are children so they don’t pay attention to much. Just having the car (or any Hyundai/Kia of a certain vintage) means it’s more susceptible to vandalism. And the insurance rates have adjusted tij reflect this in most cases, which gets you even if you never get hit by miscreants directly.
Wasn’t the original issue due to Kia’s logic regarding anti-theft? How is documenting that on a sticker going to improve things?
The anecdote you provided just before that seems to conflict with your conclusion. 🙂
It’s not totally crazy. There are a fair amount of economic studies/literature backing up the idea that credible signaling does make a difference. And the credible part may be why Kia isn’t just mailing out the stickers now.
Gary Becker was one of the first to show that criminals often do behave rationally in general, and (in this case), consume media, pop culture, etc. just like the rest of us.
That’s a good reference to Mr. Becker – thank you!
About the signaling – 20 years ago I was helping a colleague teach classroom-based technology sessions. We had wired and wireless connections in the classroom, so it was a self-contained environment, but we had a problem with our network patch cables disappearing after each class.
From a previous role I had a roll of stickers that read ‘OBSERVE [government security] REQUIREMENTS’. For grins – but mostly to identify our stuff – I attached one to each cable. Voilá, the cables stopped disappearing. 🙂
That’s ingenious! An economist I like – John List – is known for actually attempting to create economics experiments, rather than just observing environments. He’d have asked if you could get a colleague to NOT sticker theirs. And I know those stickers, BTW.
For awhile, I used to occasionally get my lunch stolen out of the fridge in the pantry at work. WTF? I started scrawling my name in Sharpie on it, and I noticed it stopped happening. Obviously I don’t have enough data to prove there’s causation, but…I like to think it was a deterrent, changing “food in the fridge” to “someone’s food in the fridge” in a thief’s mind.
“I used to occasionally get my lunch stolen out of the fridge in the pantry at work. WTF”
“I just put “medical sample” and biohazard stickers on mine.”
Just make a couple of ExLax brownies and leave them with your next sack lunch. You’ll know who the thief is before long.
My company added a security camera over our fridges in the breakroom and will fire anyone proven guilty of food theft. We consider it a big deal. I’ve never had food taken, but I approve of the level of interest the company takes in it.
I’m just always struck by the (lack of?) food thief thought process in these situations – these are people you work with, nobody’s lunch is that amazing (mine sure isn’t), you’re getting paid to be there/you’re not starving, and even if no major consequences, imagine everyone knowing you’re that person.
Maybe, but the problem here is that many of the criminals are legitimately children and children don’t pay attention to jack.
You can take all the precautions and do all the recalls but chances are if you park in the wrong place, you’re at least going to have to deal with broken windows and climbing insurance rates.
All that for a Hyundai/Kia that can’t keep engines running even within the warranty period. Nope.
I’ve got Unipart Security System stickers like these on my British cars under the theory that anyone familiar with Unipart will want nothing to do with them:
https://sites.create-cdn.net/siteimages/23/2/2/232266/13/7/9/13799803/200×150.JPG
Should just have Lucas Electric Equipped stickers
“Now featuring Lucas by Kia Ignition System” – that should do it.
They assume people stealing cars can read. Big if true.
Or look for stickers.
Some enterprising fool is going to make a few hundred stickers and sell them on Ebay for 9.99 each.
Considering many of the KIA Bois are actual children, it’s not great odds.