Kias, Hyundais Without Immobilizers Frequently Stolen Class Action

A number of class actions have been filed in the past year against Kia America, Inc., Hyundai Motor America, and/or Hyundai Kia America Technical Center, Inc. for making and selling vehicles without immobilizers, so that they are easily stolen. In fact, the complaint alleges that some unfortunate owners have had their vehicles stolen twice.

Two classes have been defined for this action, based on different sets of claims:

• The Nationwide Class, based on claims of unjust enrichment, violations of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, negligence, design defect, and/or breach of express and/or implied warranty, is all customers who bought, leased, and/or own any of the defective vehicles in the US, between November 11, 2017 and November 11, 2022.
• The Minnesota Class, based on claims brought under the Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (MUDTPA), unjust enrichment, and/or breach of express and/or implied warranty, negligence, and design defect, is all customers who bought, leased, or own any of the defective vehicles in Minnesota for personal, family, business, or household purposes during the applicable statute of limitations period.

The vehicles in questions are 2011-2021 Kia vehicles and 2016-2021 Hyundai vehicles that do not have engine immobilizers.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 114 require that all vehicles must have a starting system where, when taking the key out prevents “[t]he normal activation of the vehicle’s engine or motor” as well as “[e]ither steering, or forward self-mobility, of the vehicle, or both.” This function is normally performed by an immobilizer, which is an electronic device that keeps the engine from starting without the presence of the right key.

The vehicles at issue were made without immobilizers, the complaint alleges, and can therefore be easily stolen by “stripping the plastic cover off the ignition column, exposing the vulnerable key cylinder and electronics, and using a USB drive, a knife, or similar tool to turn the ignition and start the vehicle…”

This is so simple to do that at least two videos posted on TikTok show how to do it. “Additionally,” the complaint alleges, “on information and belief, some of the Defective Vehicles’ windows are not adequately connected to the security system; this allows a thief to break open the window without the alarm being triggered.”

The complaint alleges that the companies knew about the problem with the vehicles but did not disclose it to customers.

One of the plaintiffs for this class action, Anastasia Pearson, had a 2016 Hyundai Tucson Sport that was stolen from in front of her home in July 2022. When the vehicle was recovered, the complaint alleges, “it was substantially damaged, which required her to pay over a thousand dollars out-of-pocket for repairs and necessary cleaning costs.” That wasn’t the end of it, the complaint claims: “Barely two months later, on October 22, 2022, Plaintiff Pearson had her vehicle stolen once again.” Once again, it was discovered with substantial damage, and with personal property missing from it.

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