Hyundai Launches Software program Replace to Fight Automobile Thefts | The Day by day Drive | Client Information® The Day by day Drive

Final fall, we reported {that a} software program repair was within the works to assist deal with a wave of thefts of sure Hyundai and Kia automobiles. The South Korean automakers began rolling out this replace to affected house owners.
Hyundai Responds to Rash of Thefts
The thefts gained traction over social media in late 2021, the place culprits had been posting movies of their crimes, exhibiting that as a result of the automobiles didn’t use an ignition-immobilizer, they might simply be began with a easy USB gadget bought on-line. The issue grew to become so rampant that main insurance coverage suppliers began refusing to difficulty new insurance policies on the fashions in query.
The software program repair makes an attempt to work across the lack of an immobilizer by requiring house owners to unlock their automobiles with the manufacturing unit distant to have the ability to begin them. It will not be a very foolproof repair, however Hyundai says it needs to be sufficient to forestall folks from stealing automobiles based mostly on the methods used within the social media movies.
House owners of the 2017-2020 Elantra, 2015-2019 Sonata, and 2020-2021 Venue would be the first to obtain the replace, which Hyundai says ought to take lower than an hour. Different fashions, a few of which date way back to 2011, will obtain their fixes beginning in June. Hyundai and Kia house owners can go to Hyundaiantitheft.com and house owners.kia.com, respectively, to see if their automobiles are/will probably be eligible for the replace. The software program repair will probably be out there for free of charge to shoppers. A hardware-based resolution additionally stays out there, however the automakers are charging upwards of $500 for elements and labor to put in it.
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CG Says:
We’re glad to see Hyundai and Kia responding moderately rapidly to this moderately extreme difficulty. The issue with a software program replace, although, is the likelihood that it may ultimately be bypassed, which means we may see the thefts return. This might then flip right into a recreation of cat-and-mouse the place the producer must keep one step forward to the purpose the place it might find yourself being cheaper in the long term to supply the {hardware} anti-theft kits for which they’re presently charging cash.
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Hyundai Responds to Rash of Thefts