Kia and Hyundai Vehicles Produced Without Immobilizers Class Action

This class action is another against Kia America, Inc. and Hyundai Motor America, alleging that certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles were made without immobilizers. The complaint claims this enables them to be easily stolen, and leads to damage to the vehicles, diminished value, and difficulty or higher costs in insuring them.

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons living in the US who bought or leased a class vehicle, during the fullest period allowed by law. A Maryland Subclass has also been proposed for those in the above class living in Maryland.

The class vehicles include Kia vehicles made between 2015 and 2021 and Hyundai vehicles made between 2011 and 2021 (including the Kia Sorento, Kia Telluride, Kia Stinger, Kia Sportage, Kia Soul, Kia Seltos, Kia Sedona, Kia Rio, Kia Optima, Kia Niro, Kia K900, Kia Forte, Kia Cadenza, Hyundai Sonata, Hyundai Venue, Hyundai Kana, Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Santa Cruz, Hyundai Palisade, and Hyundai Elantra).

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 114 requires that all vehicles have starting systems that, when the key is removed, prevent “[t]he normal activation of the vehicle’s engine or motor” and “[e]ither steering, or forward self-mobility, of the vehicle, or both.”

Immobilizers are the way most car makers meet this requirement. In order to start a vehicle equipped with an immobilizer, the complaint says, a person must have either the “unique, digitally-coded key” to the vehicle or a “Smart Key fob containing a transponder chip that stores that vehicle’s electronic security code.” The vehicle’s engine control unit must receive the correct electronic security code from one of these items or the vehicle will not start.

Unfortunately, the complaint alleges that the vehicles at issue were made without immobilizers for many years, so that they are easy to steal. The complaint describes the process this way: “Once inside the vehicle, the thief must strip off the steering column cover with a screwdriver—a simple task that takes approximately 10 seconds—to reveal the ignition switch wire assembly and cylinder. Using a USB charging cable … the thief can turn the stripped ignition switch and start the vehicle without its key.”

This became widely known from postings on social media, including an instructional video on how to do it.

The complaint offers a list of alleged statistics. For example, “Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reported that in 2021 more than two-thirds of vehicles stolen in Milwaukee were made by Kia and Hyundai and more than half of the thieves caught were children.” Also, “St. Paul, Minnesota saw Kia thefts increase by 1,300% and Hyundai thefts by nearly 600% in 2022.”

When the vehicles are stolen, the complaint alleges, owners may be left with large repair bills as well as long waits for parts that are now in short supply.

Although Kia and Hyundai have begun including immobilizers, the complaint alleges that they have done nothing to provide a free remedy to those who already own the earlier vehicles.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Defective Automobile, Immobilizer