AUTONEWS

Millions of Hyundai and Kia owners can get free repairs from settlement over anti-theft technology

Millions of Hyundai and Kia owners can get free repairs under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota's attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren't equipped with proper anti-theft technology, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.

The settlement comes after a rash of Hyundai and Kia thefts prompted nearly two dozen state attorneys general in 2023 to demand the automakers take action.

In 2023, the Highway Loss Data Institute, a unit of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that Hyundai and Kia vehicles without "engine immobilizers," an anti-theft device that were standard on other new cars at the time, had a vehicle theft claim rate of 2.18 per 1,000 insured vehicle years. The rest of the industry combined had a rate of 1.21. 

Under the nationwide settlement, the companies will offer a free repair to all eligible vehicles at a cost that could top $500 million, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Hyundai and Kia must also outfit all future vehicles sold in the U.S. with engine immobilizers, as well as pay up to $4.5 million of restitution to people whose vehicles were damaged by thieves.

The settlement was reached by 35 states, including California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The vehicles eligible for fixes date as far back as 2011 and as recently as 2022. About 9 million eligible vehicles were sold nationwide.

Beginning in 2021, thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles soared in part because videos posted to TikTok and other social media demonstrated how someone could steal a car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. 

Minneapolis reported an 836% increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts from 2021 to 2022, and Ellison announced an investigation into the automakers in early 2023.

Ellison said the two companies installed engine immobilizers on cars sold in Mexico and Canada, but not widely in the U.S., leading to car thefts, crimes and crashes that injured and even killed people, including teenagers.

"This crisis that we're talking about today started in a boardroom, traveled through the Internet and ended up in tragic results when somebody stole those cars," Ellison said at a news conference.

He was joined by Twin Cities officials, a woman whose mother was killed when a stolen Kia crashed into her parents' vehicle and a man whose car was stolen nine times — as recently as Monday night, and including seven times after a previous software fix.

Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a zinc sleeve to stop would-be thieves from cracking open a vehicle's ignition cylinder and starting the car.

Eligible customers will have one year from the date of the companies' notice to get the repair at an authorized dealership. The repairs are expected to be available from early 2026 through early 2027.

In a statement sent to CBS News, Kia said the agreement is the latest step it has taken to help its customers and prevent theft.

Multi-state settlement provides fix for Hyundai and Kia owners...Auto manufacturers Hyundai and Kia will now need to install anti-theft software and offer free ignition cylinder protectors thanks to a multi-state settlement initiated by the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Office of Consumer Protection on behalf of the State of Hawaii along with 34 state attorneys general.

"These include the development and introduction of a free software security upgrade that has been found to significantly reduce theft rates, the distribution of hundreds of thousands of steering wheel locks to our customers at no cost, and the rollout of a zinc-sleeve hardware modification that combats this social media-inspired theft method by reinforcing the ignition cylinder body and preventing its removal through the technique that was made popular online," the automaker said.

This comes after the sales of millions of Hyundai and Kia vehicles nationwide that lacked industry-standard, anti-theft technology and resulted in an "epidemic of car thefts and joy riding across the country" that continues to threaten public safety, according to a news release.

Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia have agreed to:

Equip all future vehicles sold in the United States with industry-standard engine immobilizer anti-theft technology

Offer free zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors to owners or lessees of eligible vehicles, including vehicles that previously were only eligible for the companies’ software updates

Provide up to $4.5 million in restitution to eligible consumers whose cars are damaged by thieves

Pay $4.5 million to the states to defray the costs of the investigation

“This settlement ensures accountability and delivers meaningful corrective action and future protections for consumers,” said Executive Director of the Office of Consumer Protection Mana Moriarty in the release. “Automakers have a responsibility to incorporate commonly accepted safeguards into their vehicles. When manufacturers choose not to use it, they put consumers and communities at risk.”

The DCCA in the release said Hyundai and Kia chose not to include anti-theft "engine-immobilizer" technology in millions of their vehicles sold in the United States, including Hawaii. An engine immobilizer stops thieves from starting the engine without the vehicle's smart key, which stores the vehicle's electronic security code.

A 2015 report compared Kia and Hyundai to cars sold by other manufacturers — only 25% of Kia and Hyundai cars sold in the U.S. were equipped with engine mobilizers compared to 96% of cars from other manufacturers.

As a result, car thieves devised a quick way to access vehicles' ignition cylinders and start the cars without a key. It went viral, leading to a drastic increase across the nation in Hyundai and Kia thefts, according to the release.

The stolen vehicles were then used to commit other crimes and were involved in many traffic collisions, some of which were fatal.

Hyundai and Kia waited until 2023 to launch a service campaign to update the software on affected vehicles, also offering to install a zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector, but only for about 20% of their vehicles that were ineligible for the software update.

The companies claimed the software update would block the viral theft method, while states alleged that the software update could be — and in fact was — easily bypassed by thieves.

State attorneys general and the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection pushed Hyundai and Kia to do more. Through the settlement, all consumers with eligible vehicles will have zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protectors installed on their vehicles for free.

Though eligible consumers have one year from the date of notice to make an appointment at a Hyundai or Kia dealership to install the zinc-reinforced ignition cylinder protector, the DCCA urges consumers to schedule the installation as soon as possible.

In addition, those who had previously installed the software update on their vehicles — or were scheduled to do so — but still experienced a theft or attempted theft of their vehicle on or after April 29, 2025, are eligible to file a claim for restitution for theft and attempted theft-related expenses.

Information about eligibility and how to submit a claim for compensation from Hyundai or Kia is available on this website(https://www.hkmultistateimmobilizersettlement.com/)

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