Hyundai to Host Mobile Anti-Theft Clinics in 5 Cities

Hyundai is getting aggressive in its efforts to combat a wave of vehicle thefts driven by social media. Thieves have been targeting base-model Hyundais and Kias without push-button starting and exploiting these vehicles’ lack of an engine immobilizer. The two automakers have developed a software fix to address their cars’ vulnerability and are installing it on customer cars for free. To encourage owners to have their vehicles updated, Hyundai is sponsoring mobile clinics to install the software in five metropolitan areas across the U.S. through the end of 2023.

Related: Hyundai Enhances Vehicle Security With Free Anti-Theft Software Upgrade

After clinics in Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Phoenix and Baltimore, the mobile clinics now will move on to the following cities:

• New York City: Oct. 28-29
• Chicago: Nov. 3-5
• Minneapolis, Minn.: Nov. 10-11
• Saint Paul, Minn.: Nov. 12-13
• Rochester, N.Y.: Nov. 17-18

Hyundai says the update takes less than 30 minutes to install and includes a de facto immobilizer that arms when the owner uses the key fob to lock the doors. This prevents the car from starting until the doors are unlocked again by the fob.

The vulnerability applies to Hyundais and Kias from model-years 2011-22. While the software update addresses the issue with most models from that period, it’s not compatible with all of them. The automakers will reimburse owners of those vehicles for the purchase of a steering-wheel lock. All Hyundai and Kia vehicles built since November 2021 (2022 model year) are equipped with an engine immobilizer and are not vulnerable to this particular theft.

Owners of affected vehicles can visit Hyundaiantitheft.com to schedule their software upgrade.

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