Viral 'Kia Challenge' targeting Kia, Hyundai drivers in Central Texas
Thieves are taking cables like what you would use to charge a phone, breaking into the steering column and jamming the USB into parts of the car to start it.
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AUSTIN, Texas — The "Kia Challenge" is a relatively new – and illegal – trend circulating on social media. It involves thieves targeting Kia and Hyundai vehicles and stealing them within a matter of minutes.
At Tech One Auto, getting these cars is now a weekly occurrence for the shop, and they don't see it slowing down.
"We see them at least once, twice a week. So it is becoming a major problem," said Andrew West, a service advisor for Tech One Auto.
Andrew West with Tech One Auto said it's stemming from a social media trend called the "Kia Challenge". Thieves are breaking into the steering column and starting up certain Kia and Hyundai models in a matter of minutes.
"Without an immobilizer, anything that resembles a key can be used to start the vehicle," said West.
Cars like Kias are very popular, and that popularity also makes them a target.
When it comes to this illegal trend circulating social media, thieves are taking cables like what you would use to charge a phone, breaking into the steering column and jamming the USB into parts of the car to start it, allowing them to take off without much time to notice.
It's exactly what South Austin resident Nick Strole went through.
Nick parked his 2021 Hyundai Tucson at his apartment complex after work, just like any other night; however, when he went to use it the next morning, it was nowhere to be found.
"I was like, maybe it's somewhere else. So I walk around the whole complex for like 25 minutes and I'm like, 'My car is nowhere to be found.' So I didn't know what to do. So I immediately called the police," said Strole.
After a week of the police working to find Nick's car, he got the call.
"They're like, 'You know, hey, we just found your car. It didn't have any plates on it. It's totally damaged. It looks like it was in a hit-and-run collision with another vehicle,'" said Strole. "Everything was there, but it was completely damaged, wrecked, smelt terrible. It's like someone was just living in it. Yeah, it was just a wild scenario."
KIA CHALLENGE IN AUSTIN: Today I spoke with car experts about this illegal trend going around social media. I also spoke with a man who tells me he had his Hyundai, a car also victim to this trend, stolen back in March. More on @KVUE pic.twitter.com/ZOzdppEg67 — Ford Sanders KVUE (@fordsandersTV) May 9, 2023
Last summer is when the trend began to gain a lot of traction, and West said his shop still sees these issues every single day.
So what can be done to deter these criminals?
"The Club is going to be the most common, that's going to be old-school tech, but it's about the only thing that's going to really prevent besides, you know, parking in a well-lit area," said West in reference to a steering wheel lock.
To read more about Kia and Hyundai's responses to the problem, click here.
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Source: KVUE.com
