Kia and Hyundai thefts are down in Arizona, but is the trend over?

Starting in 2021, viral TikTok videos showcased how to use a USB cable to easily steal certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles. Those susceptible models still make up almost one in five stolen Arizona vehicles.

The videos, particularly from a group called the "Kia Boys," popularized the trend – especially among young people, according to James McGuffin, who heads the Automobile Theft Authority for the state Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions.

“Those numbers reflect a much greater recovery rate with Kias and Hyundais, which is good but it also kind of shows you what the problem is, that if these vehicles are not being stolen for financial gain, they're being stolen as what some might consider a prank or a joyride, which is obviously very dangerous as well for for everybody involved," McGuffin said.

He said law enforcement recovers around three-quarters of all stolen vehicles in the state. But that number is even higher – at 94% – with Kias and Hyundais.

“There's been a lot of claims that have been paid out for stolen Kias and Hyundais, and not just the theft,” said McGuffin. “It could even be, like, the damage that the vehicle incurs when people are breaking into it. Even if they steal it or don't steal it, it all adds up to insurance claims. Insurers have had a lot of losses as a result of that. And so some insurers make a decision not to cover those vehicles anymore.”

McGuffin said since the viral videos gained imitators among mostly young people here, Kia and Hyundai thefts shot up in September 2022. And while thefts have gone down overall, numbers are still higher than before the social media trend.

“One of the things that we did in 2022 was we brought to Arizona the Auto Crimes Tracking Database,” he said. “It allows us to have near-real-time information on every stolen vehicle theft in the state and every recovery. We used to have to wait for sometimes up to 22 months to get current, or to get information from the federal government on where the thefts were occurring and where the recoveries were, things like that.”

McGuffin credits the database with helping law enforcement, his agency and insurers work better together.

“When you see this elevated number of dollars paid out in claims and number of thefts all of that it really only speaks to increased risk for the insurer, and what increased risk always means is higher premiums,” said McGuffin. “What that increased risk always means is higher premiums. So for those vehicles specifically, that's what we're seeing.”

Sometimes when vehicles are recovered, he said, parts for these models are often more expensive.

“Everybody probably figures, ‘Well it won't happen to me,’” McGuffin said. “But then having your vehicle stolen is not only very personal, you feel very violated as a result of that. … Even if you have full coverage insurance, it's probably not going to cover the cost of the new vehicle, so there's a lot of financial hardship involved.”

Still, McGuffin added that the hope is for the trend to fade with precautions like updated security software and habits like locking up coming more into focus.