Hyundai / Kia theft are up ...

Any idea what makes them easy to steal? Cloning key fobs? No chip keys? Edit: I see HK was too d**n cheap to put immobilzer chip ignition keys on a LOT of their recent models, and the lovely non-law abiding citizens of the Upper Midwest have discovered how easy it is to steal them with a big screwdriver! Anti-theft must have been optional, along with non-exploding engines…
 
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bullwinkle said:
Any idea what makes them easy to steal? Cloning key fobs? No chip keys? Edit: I see HK was too d**n cheap to put immobilzer chip ignition keys on a LOT of their recent models, and the lovely non-law abiding citizens of the Upper Midwest have discovered how easy it is to steal them with a big screwdriver! Anti-theft must have been optional, along with non-exploding engines…
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I think some just don't have an adequate anti-theft system.

But even ones that apparently do or at least have a way to track the vehicle get stolen too. I have a body shop customer ordering parts for a theft recovery Rio or Forte, I can't remember. They have ordered the roof antenna, headliner, and fuse box cover. Apparently the thief attacked/tossed those things trying to disable something or other.

People are wrecking Kias left and right for whatever reason now too, so the parts are in high demand.
 
01rangerxl said:
I think some just don't have an adequate anti-theft system.

But even ones that apparently do or at least have a way to track the vehicle get stolen too. I have a body shop customer ordering parts for a theft recovery Rio or Forte, I can't remember. They have ordered the roof antenna, headliner, and fuse box cover. Apparently the thief attacked/tossed those things trying to disable something or other.

People are wrecking Kias left and right for whatever reason now too, so the parts are in high demand.
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It sounds more like they have NO anti-theft system, if the ignition can be turned with a screwdriver & the car driven off! My xB doesn’t have a chip key either, but it has the ultimate anti-theft device-a MANUAL TRANSMISSION!
 
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Hyundai and Kias make great crime cars. They blend in. They are discreet. The fact that they don’t have immobilizers mean they’re better than Toyota’s and Honda’s.

I’m gonna assume it’s just the cars that still use keys. It would be unreal if their push button cars didn’t have an immobilizer.
 
avacado11 said:
Hyundai and Kias make great crime cars. They blend in. They are discreet.
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Have you seen the new ones lately? I am starting to wonder if that exaggerated catfish front end on them is an effort to make them stand out in a crowd. You know, maybe so they won't get stolen and used in crimes so much.
 
01rangerxl said:
I think some just don't have an adequate anti-theft system.

But even ones that apparently do or at least have a way to track the vehicle get stolen too. I have a body shop customer ordering parts for a theft recovery Rio or Forte, I can't remember. They have ordered the roof antenna, headliner, and fuse box cover. Apparently the thief attacked/tossed those things trying to disable something or other.

People are wrecking Kias left and right for whatever reason now too, so the parts are in high demand.
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They are trying to toss the Lojack or whatever it is now out of the car.

I would imagine Lojack is useless now, with present (lack of) Police presence/attitude towards crime, dont want to come out, etc.

A skilled thief knows exactly how to steal a car in seconds, not minutes.

You'd think stolen parts would be something people wouldn't use or seek..
 
A friend got her newish Soul stolen last month. It was a decently well equipped model which probably had an immobilizer. My assumption was a black box attack - someone grabbing the key fob signal which includes the code to access car. Once in, bam. That’s how so many thieves are getting into new cars - probably easier than the old fashioned way.

The OEMs still believe in security by obscurity. FCA has went as far as installing a firewall into their cars.
 
nthach said:
A friend got her newish Soul stolen last month. It was a decently well equipped model which probably had an immobilizer. My assumption was a black box attack - someone grabbing the key fob signal which includes the code to access car. Once in, bam. That’s how so many thieves are getting into new cars - probably easier than the old fashioned way.

The OEMs still believe in security by obscurity. FCA has went as far as installing a firewall into their cars.
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I can post a video for you of thieves breaking in a door, disabling the alarm, popping the hood, switching an entire module, and starting the car.
 
schwinney said:
I can post a video for you of thieves breaking in a door, disabling the alarm, popping the hood, switching an entire module, and starting the car.
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I believe it. The “anti-theft” system in many cars from the factory is just a noise maker and a cleanly integrated starter kill.

Now, if you have aftermarket remote start, all a thieve has to do is ground the immobilizer interface or power it to give up the immo code, then start it.
 
nthach said:
I believe it. The “anti-theft” system in many cars from the factory is just a noise maker and a cleanly integrated starter kill.

Now, if you have aftermarket remote start, all a thieve has to do is ground the immobilizer interface or power it to give up the immo code, then start it.
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This isnt the one and this isnt a Kia but here you go.

It is outlined in second half.

And if they want it bad enough, they'll either carjack you for it or just get a tow truck..



Here they are, reprogramming a blank key inside the car to start it...

 
schwinney said:
This isnt the one and this isnt a Kia but here you go.

It is outlined in second half.

And if they want it bad enough, they'll either carjack you for it or just get a tow truck..



Here they are, reprogramming a blank key inside the car to start it...

Click to expand...

I know Autel does sell a immobilizer service tool - mostly Euro-focused. The whole goal of a immobilizer is to render the car dead if someone was to hotwire it. But, it’s easy to program a blank key if you have some means of accessing the PCM/ECU and the immo ECU and if the “lost key” mode was selected to erase all learned values. Some OEMs will want a immo password or seed value to access that.
 
nthach said:
I know Autel does sell a immobilizer service tool - mostly Euro-focused. The whole goal of a immobilizer is to render the car dead if someone was to hotwire it. But, it’s easy to program a blank key if you have some means of accessing the PCM/ECU and the immo ECU and if the “lost key” mode was selected to erase all learned values. Some OEMs will want a immo password or seed value to access that.
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The one of those "This is how they steal cars" shows I saw (all fake, all produced, if they had knowledge of the crimes they are obligated to tell law enforcement but whatever, much less watch them do it, but, okay...) they showed how thieves look for a certain model and then follow it and then target it. I will admit, I've never seen it done, they legit popped the hood and swapped out what I believe was an ECM and it started.

That if I recall was a Suburban but.. I'll look for the video again.
 
schwinney said:
The one of those "This is how they steal cars" shows I saw (all fake, all produced, if they had knowledge of the crimes they are obligated to tell law enforcement but whatever, much less watch them do it, but, okay...) they showed how thieves look for a certain model and then follow it and then target it. I will admit, I've never seen it done, they legit popped the hood and swapped out what I believe was an ECM and it started.

That if I recall was a Suburban but.. I'll look for the video again.
Click to expand...
It was that SRT Charger.

All aftermarket and OEM level diagnostics tools can interact with the immobilizer and body electronics on a car. The OEMs have to give locksmiths access per NASTF - there’s a per year fee for locksmiths to access OEM anti-theft info - and a process to get onboarded with NASTF.

OEM diagnostics tools do have full access to anti-theft functions. the techs at the dealer do need to register with the OEM and maybe go through a background check, IIRC. When I worked at the local dealership in college, I had access to Honda’s iN extranet for looking up key codes, but not immobilizer codes and the 2nd password/brake bypass code Honda uses in case a customer loses they keys and needs to start their car or get keys made.

The aftermarket tools(Autel, Launch, OTC and their rebrands through Snap-On/Mac/Matco) can access the anti-theft functions and in many cases do not need access codes/passwords from the OEM or registration with the OEM like FCA/Stellantis does in order for an aftermarket scan tool to interact with the security gateway.

Finally, if a bad actor has access to your car already with a key or a key fob - all they need to do is clone the key or follow the OEM procedure to add a key. The OEMs aren’t using rolling-code access even now - BMW was I think.
 
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