TUCSON, Ariz. — Starting a Kia or a Hyundai car with just a USB cable—that’s what thieves have discovered, and they've spread the message quickly on TikTok.
“That created a vulnerability where you didn't need a key and then the USB cable, which was made, you know famous by the TikTok videos that allowed for that ignition to be turned,” said McGuffin.“We saw the highest numbers, actually, in March of this year. But fortunately, April has shown a decrease across the state,” said McGuffin.
“The statewide average tells us about 175 Kias and Hyundais are stolen a month and of that in Pima County, about 35 of those vehicles are stolen each month,” said McGuffin.“Worst case scenario, they can destroy the entire steering column and then you got to replace lots and lots of components and sometimes even computers that get quite costly,” said Richard Becker, the owner of Monsoon Automotive.
“If it’s just an ignition lock cylinder where we just have to re-code it to the car and put a new one in, it’s $250, something like that. We had a case recently on a Hyundai that they destroyed the entire steering and the insurance company ended up paying out $3,200 to fix it right,” said Becker.
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