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The "Kia Boys" in Milwaukee stole almost 10,000 cars last year, mostly Kia and Hyundai models lacking immobilizers. That's 1 car theft per 58 city residents, in
by deepdriver 4y ago
The "Kia Boys" in Milwaukee stole almost 10,000 cars last year, mostly Kia and Hyundai models lacking immobilizers. That's 1 car theft per 58 city residents, in a single year. This gonzo documentary on the phenomenon's worth watching:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbTrLyqL_nw57 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbTrLyqL_nw57
- staindk 4y agoThanks for the link - that's crazy. And awful. Wonder how true it is that you only get a couple of weeks in jail for stealing a car (in Milwaukee at least)...
- tyingq 4y agoInsane. And the cars in question have no immobilizer, so the process is just finding a 2021 or older Kia/Hyundai of a certain model, one with a physical key instead of a pushbutton. Then you just rip apart the steering column and turn the ignition cylinder. I was confused because a USB cable was involved, but it's apparently only because it slides nicely over the mechanism to help you turn it, as opposed to having to use needlenose pliers or similar. So there's no "hack" really, just destroying the lock cylinder. https://www.thedrive.com/news/how-thieves-are-stealing-hyundais-and-kias-with-just-a-usb-cable https://www.thedrive.com/news/how-thieves-are-stealing-hyund...
- sidewndr46 4y agoInsane? This is just what stealing a car was like in 1970. If you get the ignition to turn, you've stolen the car. If you're dependent on technology to stop vehicle theft, you've basically already lost. At the end of the criminals will just use a flatbed tow truck to steal the vehicle if it is worth enough. The "immobilizers" you're referring to are the bane of my existence from my perspective. Instead of getting cheap $5 copies of my keys made, I have to pay something like $120 to Ford to get copies made.
- deepdriver 4y ago>At the end of the criminals will just use a flatbed tow truck to steal the vehicle if it is worth enough. Working-class teenagers in Milwaukee do not use flatbed tow trucks to steal cars. >The "immobilizers" you're referring to are the bane of my existence from my perspective. Instead of getting cheap $5 copies of my keys made, I have to pay something like $120 to Ford to get copies made. Ask anyone in Milwaukee whose car hasn't been stolen whether they regret having an immobilizer.
- sidewndr46 4y agoSure, I concur that teens don't use flatbed tow trucks. But if as a society, the default has become that your car will be stolen then the society has collapsed. It's more like a bunch of competing warlords, with the most prominent one being the local government.
- Breza 4y agoI live in Washington DC. There's so much car-related crime that that's exactly what we expect. Cars are getting harder to hotwire, so now people just carjack to get a car.
- deepdriver 4y agoYes, that's an accurate description of much of Milwaukee.
- Breza 4y agoAlso Washington DC. I love my city, but it's not a great place to be a car.