No Immobilizers in Certain Kias, Hyundais Class Action

The complaint for this class action alleges, “Kia vehicle models from 2011-2021 and Hyundai models from 2015-2021 … suffer from a significant defect: they do not include an engine immobilizer.” Because of this, the complaint alleges, they are very easy to steal, but the companies have not issued a recall or offered a way to install engine immobilizers in the vehicles now.

The Nationwide Class for this action is all persons or entities who, within the applicable statute of limitations, bought a vehicle manufactured by Kia America or Hyundai Motor America which did not have an engine immobilizer. A Pennsylvania Class has also been defined for person or entities in the above class who are in Pennsylvania.

Engine immobilizers prevent vehicle theft by not permitting the engine to start unless the key is inserted in the ignition or the key fob is present in the vehicle. The complaint alleges, “Federal regulations require that a vehicle’s engine cannot be started and that a vehicle cannot move when the vehicle’s key is not present.”

Because the vehicles at issue do not have immobilizers, thieves can break into the vehicles and start them using any metal object, such as a screwdriver, knife, or USB charging cord. In fact, stealing the vehicles is so easy that tutorials exist on the Internet that provide step-by-step instructions on how to do it. Because of this, thefts of these vehicle have increased enormously.

The plaintiffs in this case, Adam Murphy and Julianne Shapiro, bought their 2016 Kia Soul from a dealer in 2017. It was stolen, the complaint alleges, on or around October 16, 2022 and recovered about a week later. The complaint alleges, “The inside of the vehicle was damagted, and vehicle parts were damaged.”

Almost a month later, the complaint says, they are still unable to use the vehicle because they must wait for replacement parts. The complaint alleges that they “have not been provided with a timeline for when the replacement parts will arrive and have been informed that there is a backlog in replacing parts, apparently due to the surge in thefts and resulting damage to defective Kia vehicles that lack engine immobilizers.”

In the meantime, the complaint claims, they have had to pay to rent another vehicle, and the full costs due to the theft have not yet been calculated.

Two days before the theft occurred, the complaint alleges, they had taken their vehicle in to a dealership for repairs. The complaint alleges that they “asked if the vehicle had any issues that should be addressed but were not informed about the lack of an engine immobilizer despite [Kia’s and Hyundai’s] knowledge of the defect.

The companies have not offered any solution for those who own the vehicles that lack immobilizers.

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