{"id":155182,"date":"2026-04-02T07:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/155182\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T07:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:47:18","slug":"erie-das-office-warns-kias-hyundais-still-being-targeted-by-thieves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/155182\/","title":{"rendered":"Erie DA\u2019s office warns Kia\u2019s Hyundai\u2019s still being targeted by thieves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">(WJET\/WFXP)\u2013 While social media trends tend to go as quickly as they arrive, the Erie County District Attorney\u2019s Office is warning Kia and Hyundai drivers that one trend targeting their cars is still ongoing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The DA\u2019s office said those vehicles are still being targeted by thieves in parts of Pennsylvania, even when they\u2019re locked, stemming from the 2020 TikTok \u201cchallenge\u201d where thieves break in and steal cars that don\u2019t have an engine immobilizer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.yourerie.com\/news\/national-news\/new-data-shows-which-vehicles-are-stolen-the-most-in-every-state\/?ipid=promo-link-block1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:New data shows which vehicles are stolen the most in every state;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;New data shows which vehicles are stolen the most in every state&quot;}\"> New data shows which vehicles are stolen the most in every state <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kia and Hyundai models built before 2023 never came with an immobilizer, which electronically shuts down the car when the key fob isn\u2019t inside, allowing thieves to break in and get away with certain models.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Since the debut of viral videos showing how to steal them, Kia and Hyundai have been among the most commonly stolen cars in the nation since 2023, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, which reported Hyundai Elentras as the most commonly stolen car over the last three years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/www.yourerie.com\/news\/local-news\/winter-damage-to-presque-isle-assessed-during-annual-spring-beach-walk\/?ipid=promo-link-block2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Winter damage to Presque Isle assessed during annual spring beach walk;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Winter damage to Presque Isle assessed during annual spring beach walk&quot;}\"> Winter damage to Presque Isle assessed during annual spring beach walk <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">To combat this, both car manufacturers have rolled out free software patches to fix the bug that allowed the cars to be stolen and offer free checks for engine immobilizers and their installation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In order to further prevent thefts, the DA\u2019s office also suggests parking in well-lit and busy parking lots, using a steering wheel lock and always locking your car and taking your keys every time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourerie.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET\/WFXP\/YourErie.com.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET\/WFXP\/YourErie.com.&quot;}\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJET\/WFXP\/YourErie.com. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(WJET\/WFXP)\u2013 While social media trends tend to go as quickly as they arrive, the Erie County District Attorney\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[70342,12947,70340,136,4641,138,137,70341],"class_list":["post-155182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-car-manufacturers","tag-das-office","tag-engine-immobilizer","tag-erie","tag-erie-county-district-attorneys-office","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-social-media-trends"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}