Source: Justin Sullivan / Getty
Indianapolis — It’s not just Kia vehicles — Hyundai thefts are up 500% over the past year.
Hyundai is providing a new update that is supposed to prevent the thefts from happening, but one recent theft victim says she was never notified.
“I was just in the Hyundai dealership earlier this year,” Jordan Thomas said.
Thomas’ vehicle was stolen on Sunday, Oct. 22.
“I was having some routine maintenance done, and they had given me a software update for just something with my engine,” Thomas said. “They never once mentioned this was a problem.”
Thomas caught the thieves in action on her security camera. In the video, one thief can be seen taking the broken window from the vehicle and placing it in the next-door neighbor’s yard.
According to data from IMPD, as of September 28, they have recorded 751 Hyundai thefts. There were 125 recorded for 2022 entirely.
“That’s like my livelihood,” Thomas said. “I have three kids who go to school. We go to the gym and have extracurricular activities. It’s really hard to be a one car family in this city when there isn’t great public transportation. ”
While Thomas claims she didn’t know about the software update, Hyundai says they notified all customers via mailing address listed in the Hyundai system.
According to information sent to WRTV by Hyundai, the software upgrade modifies certain modules on Hyundai vehicles equipped with “turn-key-to-start” ignition systems.
As a result, locking the doors with the key fob will set off the factory alarm and activate an “ignition kill” feature so the vehicle cannot be started. Customers must use the key fob to unlock their vehicles to deactivate the feature.
Read more from WRTV here
