As Kia and Hyundai thefts climb in Philly, police halt wheel lock distribution program designed to curb crime

The Philadelphia Police Department halted a steering wheel lock distribution program offered by Kia and Hyundai to deter break-ins following a sudden uptick in thefts of the car brands. The stoppage came after commanding officers of four police districts requested the locks without permission of upper command staff, according to a department spokesperson.

Philadelphia police have said that the decision to halt the program had to do with legal liability fears. Philadelphia now has the only law enforcement agency out of a combined 725 participants to end or off-load wheel lock distributions, according to spokespeople from Kia and Hyundai.

Although car safety experts say the wheel lock programs from Kia and Hyundai aren’t sufficient, some community members say they believe they missed out on an opportunity to protect their cars.

“I received a copy of the PPD report in the mail, and it’s been crickets since. I was unaware of anything about PPD providing wheel locks,” said West Philly resident Kevin Rogers, who bought his own wheel lock after his Kia Soul was broken into in January.

The spike in Kia and Hyundai thefts is largely attributed to the Kia Boyz Challenge, a viral TikTok trend from Milwaukee that exploits a lack of theft protections in turnkey Kia and Hyundai vehicles by teaching viewers how to steal them with just a USB cord and a screwdriver. The trend caused 400% and 700% increases in Hyundai and Kia thefts, respectively, in 2022, and has persisted at similar rates in 2023 as both car manufacturers and Philadelphia police struggle to coordinate responses.

Police confirmed that Kia and Hyundai sent steering wheel locks to Districts 12, 18, 19, and 35 as part of a joint customer satisfaction campaign that includes a free anti-theft software update and the optional installation of a $170 safety kit, with the bill footed by the owner. Both car companies say it’s on local police departments to reach out and plan distribution efforts.

After the districts distributed 284 wheel locks in February, the Philadelphia Police Department abruptly halted the giveaways, leaving 256 more locks to sit in storage as higher-ups decided between returning the remaining supplies to Kia and Hyundai or giving them to a third party to distribute.

» READ MORE: A national TikTok trend is sparking thefts of Kias and Hyundais in Philadelphia — and residents are feeling the impact

“The Philadelphia Police Department does not currently have a policy in place in order to obtain and distribute these devices,” police department spokesperson Miguel Torres said. “As such, the distribution was suspended until the department and City of Philadelphia can determine whether the infrastructure is available to participate in the program.”

Torres told The Inquirer the remaining locks from Districts 12, 18, and 19 were passed along to their respective Police District Advisory Councils — neighborhood groups that work closely with law enforcement on community engagement — to distribute starting April 21. (District 35 handed out all of its locks.)

Despite filing police reports and attempting to remain in contact with authorities, three community members interviewed by The Inquirer whose turnkey Kias and Hyundais were stolen didn’t receive notification about the wheel lock distribution when it was occurring.

“I’ve heard nothing from them, but that isn’t surprising,” said Amy Nieves-Renz, a West Philadelphia resident whose 2018 Kia Soul was stolen around Thanksgiving.

Nieves-Renz eventually recovered the car herself with a damaged steering wheel column and smashed passenger-side window. She contacted police twice to add and remove her Kia from a list of stolen vehicles, but Nieves-Renz ended up paying $50 to purchase a steering wheel lock for her rental car, coincidentally a Hyundai.

Car safety experts believe the wheel lock program doesn’t address the problem at hand: a significant portion of Kias and Hyundais on the road are easy to steal.

“It’s not even a Band-Aid,” said Michael Brooks, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer protection nonprofit that has voiced concerns about the car manufacturers’ response to a national increase in thefts.

Kia and Hyundai vehicles manufactured between at least the years 2011 and 2021 lack engine immobilizers, an increasingly standard theft protection that prevents vehicles from being started without a key in the ignition.

Earlier this year, Nieves-Renz joined a pending class-action lawsuit against the carmakers that alleges Kia and Hyundai deliberately chose not to include engine immobilizers to cut costs, creating “an entire criminal ecosystem.” More recently, at least eight cities — including Seattle, San Diego, and Cleveland — sued Kia and Hyundai, claiming that the lack of engine immobilizers made the cars easier to steal, thus wasting police resources on what could have been preventable thefts.

Philadelphia isn’t one of those cities. City spokesperson Sarah Peterson said officials couldn’t comment on litigation.

Spokespeople from Kia and Hyundai say the lawsuits are baseless.

“There is no quality issue or defect with these vehicles, and they all meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards,” said Hyundai spokesperson Ira Gabriel.

Brooks called that a technicality: Both Kia and Hyundai comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards by tracking parts within each vehicle once they go missing, but that doesn’t prevent a car from being stolen in the moment the way an engine immobilizer would.

“If every other car manufacturer on Earth is using an immobilizer and you’re not, and your cars are getting stolen and straining city resources across America, I think you leave yourself open to a lawsuit,” said Brooks.

As two major insurance companies moved to blacklist older Kia and Hyundai models, both car manufacturers released plans to retroactively equip cars with theft protection. Beyond working with law enforcement agencies to distribute wheel locks, Kia and Hyundai offered free software updates to about eight million cars impacted by the security issue.

The updates lengthen the sound of car alarms and require a key in the ignition to start, but consumers aren’t required to request the changes, which concerns car safety advocates.

» READ MORE: What to know about the Kia Boyz Challenge in Philly and how to protect your vehicle from theft

Owners whose vehicle haven’t been stolen “may be less likely to respond because they don’t realize there’s a threat to safety present in their vehicle,” said Brooks.

Hyundai said the software update is available to all affected car makes and has notified customers through “multiple points of contact” including mail, email, and phone calls. Kia expects to have contacted all customers by mid to late May, spokesperson James Bell said.

» READ MORE: Kia and Hyundai thefts in Philly outpace other car manufacturers, thanks to a TikTok challenge

West Philly resident Cha-Raine Gibbs says she wasn’t informed of any such protections. After her 2018 Hyundai Sonata was stolen and found totaled on 55th and Jefferson Streets in December, she bought a push-to-start car for a “little more peace of mind.”

Gibbs said the PPD never contacted her about wheel lock giveaways. “They should at least reach out directly to people who have had incidents or team with car dealerships to reach out to people ... if they are afraid of the general public abusing something free,” she said.

Brooks, meanwhile, is confused about why Philadelphia police would stop a program that community members see as helpful, even if it can’t undo long-term safety concerns.

“I don’t understand Philadelphia’s hesitance to give out steering wheel locks,” said Brooks. “If there was a problem with the locks not working, we would’ve seen that by now.”