Hyundai stages mobile service center to speed up anti-theft software update

Getting customers to complete the patch has been slow going. In June, Hyundai said only 9 percent of its eligible vehicles had been updated with the software fix, while Kia said 11 percent of its eligible vehicles have undergone the upgrade.

Gabriel now estimates Hyundai’s completion rate is just under 17 percent. He expects the mobile clinic will help move the needle in the D.C. area and said expanding the program to other metropolitan areas in the near future will continue to remedy the situation.

Kia also estimates about 17 percent of affected vehicles eligible for the upgrade have undergone the update.

Thefts of the affected Hyundai and Kia vehicles became rampant after videos surfaced on TikTok and YouTube showing how to quickly break into them, pop off their steering wheel columns and start their engines with a USB plug or a similarly shaped tool.

Many municipalities said that in addition to the thefts, the vehicles were being used to commit other crimes, including destruction of public property.

Minneapolis police reported that in the past year, nearly 2 of every 5 vehicles stolen in the city involved Hyundai and Kia models and that five homicides, 13 shootings, 36 robberies and 265 crashes were tied to stolen Hyundai or Kia vehicles.

Some owners of the older-model Hyundais and Kias initiated a multistate class action seeking relief for the loss of value in their vehicles. In May, the automakers agreed to settle with litigants for $200 million.

But the companies are still facing lawsuits from a variety of ancillary parties, including 68 insurance companies saying the easy-to-steal vehicles are costing them millions of dollars.