Did Kia fix the stolen car problem?

By Paul Cumbers · Updated 12 June 2026

The "Kia stolen car problem" is real, but it is a North American story, not a South African one - and the difference matters if you own a Kia here. In the United States, a large number of Kia and Hyundai models built between roughly 2011 and 2022 were sold without an engine immobiliser, the standard chip-in-the-key feature that stops a car being started without its own key. That omission let thieves start affected cars with little more than a USB cable, a method that spread on social media as the "Kia Challenge" and sent thefts of those models climbing.

This page explains what the problem actually was, what Kia has done about it, whether the widely-discussed settlement is real, and - most importantly for a local reader - whether any of it affects a Kia bought and driven in South Africa. The short version: the defect and the settlement are American, South African Kias are built with immobilisers, and protecting a Kia here is about the theft methods that actually happen locally.

Compare South Africa’s leading trackers & dashcams in one short form.

Get my quotes

What the Kia stolen-car problem actually was

The problem came down to one missing part. Across the industry almost all new cars carry an engine immobiliser, but for years a large share of Kia and Hyundai vehicles sold in the United States did not. Reporting from the case found that in 2015 only about a quarter of the Kia and Hyundai cars sold there had immobilisers, against roughly nineteen in twenty for other brands. On a car with a traditional turn-key ignition and no immobiliser, someone who can reach the ignition cylinder can start the engine without the key.

From 2021 that weakness was turned into a viral theft method, with clips showing how the affected turn-key models could be started in well under two minutes, and thefts of those cars rose steeply across many American cities. The vehicles at the centre of it were specific United States-market Kia models from about 2011 to 2022, and Hyundai models of a similar era - not the brand as a whole, and not every car they build.

Did Kia fix it?

Kia's response came in stages. From 2023 the company offered a free software update for many affected cars, meant to stop the engine starting using the viral method. The update helped, but authorities and owners reported it could be bypassed in some cases, and pressure continued for a more physical remedy.

Later action went further. Under a settlement with a large group of United States state attorneys general, Kia and Hyundai agreed to provide free zinc-reinforced ignition-cylinder protectors - a hardware part that resists the physical manipulation the thefts relied on - including for cars previously offered only the software update, and committed to fitting engine immobilisers as standard on all future vehicles sold in the United States. So Kia has taken real steps, combining software, hardware and a design change going forward.

Is the Kia theft settlement real?

Yes, and there is more than one. A private class-action settlement resolved claims from affected United States owners, and separately a multi-state settlement was reached with dozens of state attorneys general that secured the free ignition protectors, restitution for certain theft-related losses, and the commitment to standard immobilisers in future.

The detail matters if you are reading about it: the class-action claims window has its own deadlines, the multi-state restitution covers thefts within defined dates, and some payments have been tied up in appeals. All of it operates under United States law and applies to vehicles sold there - which is the decisive point for a South African owner.

Does any of this affect South Africa?

For South African Kia owners, the direct answer is no. The defect was specific to United States-market cars that left the factory without immobilisers. Kias sold new in South Africa are built with immobilisers as standard, so the USB-cable method behind the American thefts does not apply to them, and the United States software update, free ignition protectors and settlement are not offered here because the underlying fault is not present.

That does not mean a Kia cannot be stolen in South Africa - any car can - but it is taken by different methods than the American ones. So the useful local question is not whether Kia fixed a United States defect, but how Kias are actually targeted here and what stops it.

How Kias are actually stolen in South Africa

Locally, theft of a modern Kia looks like theft of any popular car. Models with keyless entry and push-button start can be exposed to relay attacks, where thieves capture and extend the key fob's signal to unlock and start the car while the real key sits indoors. Cars are also taken through key cloning, through forced hijacking, and through ordinary break-ins on older models.

The defences that matter are therefore local ones: keeping a keyless fob in a signal-blocking pouch, using a visible deterrent such as a wheel or gear lock, parking securely, and - for getting the car back if it is taken - a fitted, monitored recovery tracker. None of this depends on a United States software update.

Tracking and recovering a Kia in South Africa

A Kia's connected features and the Kia Connect app can show the car's location and allow remote actions like locking where the service is active, which is useful for seeing where the car is. What those features are not is a recovery service: they report a position to you and leave the response in your hands, and the signal rides on the mobile network, so it can drop or be jammed during a theft.

Getting a stolen Kia back is the job of a separate, monitored recovery tracker with a control room and response teams behind it - the kind of unit South African insurers commonly ask for on higher-risk cars. MiTrekker exists to compare those trackers, alongside dashcams, so you can match a Kia to a recovery-grade unit rather than relying on an app alone.

The practical takeaway for South African Kia owners

For a Kia owner in South Africa, the headline is reassuring but easy to misread: the vulnerability behind the American thefts does not define the risk here, where Kias are taken by the same methods as any popular car - relay attacks on keyless models, OBD-port key programming, and straightforward hijacking. The viral 'Kia challenge' is largely a United States story; the real local exposure is the ordinary one any in-demand car faces.

So the sensible response is not to worry about a specific software flaw but to fit the protection any desirable car needs in South African conditions: an approved, monitored recovery tracker, a key kept in a signal-blocking pouch on keyless models, and an OBD-port lock. Those close the methods actually used against Kias here, whatever happened in another market.