NBC CT Responds team checks in on what the targeted car companies are saying about the trend and what you can do to protect your vehicle.
Ashleigh Schlemmer is due with her first child on Nov. 15.
She has a lot to do prepare, but didn’t expect dealing with a car theft as something that would be on her to-do list.
“They just found the car like on, open, running, lights on, radio on, everything,” she explained.
The Seymour woman says overnight Monday, Sept. 19, her car was stolen from her apartment complex parking lot, and the crooks didn’t even use her keys.
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“I specifically remember locking the door,” she said.
She discovered this Monday morning when she was headed to her parking lot to go to work.
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“I’m like, ‘You know, I don’t see my car. It’s gone.’ And he’s like, ‘What do you mean it’s gone? Like where did you park last night?’” said Schlemmer, referring to the conversation with her boyfriend, Stefan Brodzik.
Later that day, after filing a police report with her town’s department, she said another police department called her saying officers found it ditched miles away in Stratford.
NBC CT Responds obtained surveillance video from Schlemmer’s apartment complex.
Around 1:30 a.m., a car canvasses the lot, the occupants looking for perhaps their most preferable target when they focus in on her 2011 Hyundai Elantra.
In just a matter of minutes, they break the window and start her car.
Older Hyundais and Kias have become an “easy target” during what’s been a boom in car thefts, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), which studies insurance claims.
According to HLDI’s recent report, theft claims were nearly twice as common for Hyundai and Kia vehicles combined than for all other manufacturers. This was for 2015-19 model-year vehicles.
“Vehicles that are targeted for theft tend to be either pricey, powerful or pickup trucks,” HLDI Senior Vice President Matt Moore said. “These targeted vehicles from Hyundai and Kia are not any of those and so, it was a real surprise.”
Moore said older versions of these cars don’t have standard immobilizers - the security device that prevents a car from starting without the proper key present.
“It turns out, someone somewhere figured out how to steal these vehicles and disseminated the information about how to do this on social media,” Moore said.
HLDI said most often these are taken for a joyride, just to be abandoned later.
The trend spread seemingly as fast as Schlemmer’s car was stolen.
“I never thought people would just wake up and be like, ‘Hey, let’s go on Tik Tok, find a video, steal a car,'” Schlemmer said.
“Very quiet neighborhood, never expect it,” said Brodzik, who says when they picked their car up at the tow lot, the employee said their theft damage mimics the motive of this social media challenge.
Seymour Police wouldn’t say much about this couple’s case, just that it is under investigation.
But other Connecticut police departments have warned of similar car thefts, like one in Shelton that had a 16-year-old arrested this summer.
“He told us that this idea came from what he saw on TikTok,” said Lt. Robert Kozlowsky, after the arrest.
During NBC coverage of that story, a TikTok spokesperson sent us this statement: “TikTok does not condone this behavior which categorically violates our policies and will be removed if found on our platform.”
In statements to NBC Connecticut Responds, Hyundai and Kia both write that they remain concerned about these specific thefts, but these cars meet or exceed Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.
Here are their latest statements in full.
As for Schlemmer’s Hyundai, the company said it’s working on a software update which they don’t expect to become available until next year.
In the meantime, it’s providing steering wheel locks to police agencies in impacted areas and owners can purchase a $170 glass break sensor security kit in the meantime, and would have to pay for installation, too.
“If I knew the car wasn’t safe to get, we wouldn’t have got a brand like that, we would have got a different car,” Schlemmer said.
We asked Hyundai about Schlemmer’s frustration that she, the consumer, would have to be on the hook for a security fix.
A spokesperson for Hyundai replied to her concern writing, “These vehicles meet or exceed all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. These thefts are not related to a vehicle part defect and the kit (part cost and installation labor) is an option for a customer to consider.”
Adding insult to injury, HLDI said Hyudai and Kia have lagged behind other automakers when it comes to installing immobilizers in their cars.
In an article on HLDI’s website about their research, it explains, “Immobilizers were already standard on 62% of models from other manufacturers in model year 2000. But even in model year 2015, when immobilizers were standard on 96% of other manufacturers’ vehicles, they were standard on only 26% of Hyundai and Kia vehicle models.”
For now, Schlemmer’s boyfriend is skipping work to drive her to doctor’s appointments, until they sort out what to do next before their baby arrives.
“Not what you want to deal with during the nine months,” she said.
The couple tells NBC Connecticut they wanted to share their story to warn others about the risk.
Have an older Hyundai or Kia that doesn’t have a standard immobilizer?
HLDI experts suggest thinking about your budget and your perception of risk, suggesting, “Along with steering-wheel, brake-pedal, brake and wheel locks, it’s possible to install fuse cutoffs and kill switches as well as aftermarket immobilizer systems.”
The National Insurance Crime Bureau said you should use a layered approach to prevent the theft of any vehicle, which includes using common sense, a visible or audible device and installing a vehicle immobilizer.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also suggests parking in a well-lit area and not leaving valuables in your vehicle.
Moore said owners of these older cars tend to be facing a “double whammy” since many have dropped comprehensive car insurance, which covers theft, damage or loss.
That’s the case for this Seymour couple.
“Four dollars to $5,000 out of our pockets if we want to fix the car, but it’s a 2011, whether it’s work fixing, we’re not sure,” Schlemmer said.
So, it’s a reminder to all drivers to check your car insurance coverage.
