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

Here’s a dystopian sentence: A TikTok trend created by a group of Milwaukee teens has led to a national spike in car thefts, inadvertently causing at least 14 crashes and eight deaths nationwide.

Called the Kia Boyz Challenge, the social media trend has over 79 million views on TikTok, spawning hundreds of since-removed videos that demonstrate how to steal older Kia and Hyundai models with just two household items.

When the challenge hit Philadelphia in summer 2022, it helped generate respective 400% and 700% increases in Kia and Hyundai thefts. Those rates have persisted in 2023 as both car manufacturers and Philadelphia police struggle to coordinate responses.

Here’s what to know about the Kia Boyz Challenge, and how you can protect your vehicle from theft.

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

The Kia Boyz Challenge teaches viewers how to steal a Kia or Hyundai with a USB cord and screwdriver.

Some caveats: The car theft hacks work on turnkey Kia models from 2011 to 2021 and turnkey Hyundai models from 2011 to 2022. Those models lack engine immobilizers, an increasingly standard theft protection that prevents vehicles from starting without a key in the ignition.

Kia and Hyundai say impacted models comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, but that hasn’t prevented legal challenges: A pending class-action lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai alleges the car manufacturers deliberately chose not to include engine mobilizers as a cost-cutting measure, creating “an entire criminal ecosystem.”

Several major cities are also suing Kia and Hyundai, claiming the lack of theft protections wasted police resources on what could’ve been preventable thefts. Philadelphia isn’t one of them.

A few things.

Both Kia and Hyundai have offered to send free steering wheel locks to local law enforcement agencies to distribute, but it’s on officers to reach out.

The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed Kia and Hyundai sent steering wheel locks to Districts 12, 18, 19, and 35 after officers reached out in February. Those districts gave away 284 wheel locks before higher-ups halted the program over perceived legal liability issues, leaving over 250 more to sit in storage as officers decided between returning the locks or off-loading them to a third party.

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

Kia and Hyundai are also offering a free-to-install anti-theft software update to some 8 million drivers that lengthens the duration of security alarms and renders it impossible to start turn-to-start vehicles without a key in the ignition. Kia and Hyundai drivers have to go to a dealership to redeem the update, and it only takes an hour to install.

Yes. Casualty or property insurance companies are not allowed to discriminate against clients with stolen Kias or Hyundais based on where it was located at the time of theft, per a recent bulletin from Pennsylvania Acting Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys.

“Pennsylvania has two laws that ... prohibit insurers from canceling, refusing to review, or refusing to write a motor vehicle insurance policy based on location of a vehicle,” Humphreys said in the announcement.

However, both State Farm and Progressive have stopped issuing new insurances polices on turn-to-start Kia and Hyundai models from 2015 to 2021 in Pennsylvania, citing concerns over how the uptick in thefts has made the cars riskier to insure.

Yes. Both Kia and Hyundai have offered to reimburse drivers who bought a steering wheel lock to protect turn-key Kia and Hyundai models.

Here’s how reimbursement works for both car brands: