ST. LOUIS — The exact language varies, but the Facebook posts all tell a similar story: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ans are crowdsourcing information to find their stolen cars.
“2020 Silver Kia Soul S stolen from Yale Ave in Maplewood at 4:14 a.m. Police report has been made and insurance notified,†read one post.
“Black 2015 Kia Soul stolen from my house in Bevo Mill, south city two nights ago....pride sticker on the back. IL plates. Let me know if you see it,†read another.
Most of the posts can be found in a Facebook group called a page to which Dutchtown resident Benjamin Thomas recently posted in an effort to find the owner of an abandoned Kia in his neighborhood.
He told the Post-Dispatch he frequently sees Kias and Hyundais dumped behind a house he’s rehabbing in the 4000 block of California Avenue in south ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. Sometimes, he said, teenagers come back to take the cars on “joy rides,†and he sees them speeding through stop signs and running into fixtures.
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Rates of stolen Kias and Hyundais have exploded in recent months in the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ area — a trend that’s also been seen nationally because of a viral TikTok video that shows how to break into and drive off in the South Korean-made vehicles using just a screwdriver and a USB charging cable. The method can be used on some of those cars because certain models are not equipped with engine immobilizers, an anti-theft security device.
And despite police efforts to prevent thefts, rates of stolen Kia and Hyundai vehicles continue to increase in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County, setting a new single-month high in September. And in the city, where rates are even higher, monthly numbers have remained relatively stagnant.
Car manufacturer Kia recently gave ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County police 506 steering wheel locks, said Adrian Washington, a county police officer. Police began distributing the locks this week for free to residents with proof of Kia or Hyundai ownership. County police have also put officers on extra patrols in an effort to deter thefts.
Still, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ County reported 145 stolen Kias and 142 stolen Hyundais in September — both single-month highs. Year over year, the county has seen about a 1,090% increase in thefts of those two models. Last year, 93 were stolen through the end of September; this year, that number is 1,014.
The story is similar in the city, which has already surpassed its 2021 total number of vehicle thefts by 1,200 and continues to see high monthly rates of Kia and Hyundai thefts. In September, the department reported 325 Hyundai thefts and 334 Kia thefts.
Rachel Mosqueda spoke with the Post-Dispatch in August about how thieves broke into her white 2014 Kia Sportage on July 27 and damaged the wiring under the steering wheel, jammed the ignition and left the undrivable vehicle where it was parked.
Recently, she said her car has been broken into two more times — once on the evening of Sept. 15 and then again just six hours after she got her car back from the shop following the second theft attempt.
“It won’t be fixed this time for several months because all the parts are on backorder,†she wrote in a message. “(I) can’t sell it because it’s not worth anything. And we’re several insurance claims in now.â€
In a letter sent to Kia and Hyundai on Aug. 19, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ city counselor Sheena Hamilton argued that the companies should take responsibility for the thefts because the cars don’t have engine immobilizers.
The letter threatened a lawsuit if within 30 days they did not make “satisfactory progress†toward addressing the defect that makes some of their cars easier to steal.
While the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said engine immobilizers are considered standard equipment on nearly all similar vehicles by other manufacturers, Kia and Hyundai attorneys noted in their response to the city that the technology is not federally required.
The manufacturers argued their vehicles are not responsible for skyrocketing rates of theft in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ and nationwide and insisted they’ve taken steps to assist car owners and municipalities by providing free steering wheel locks to local police departments.
In September, when 30 days had passed since the city sent its initial letter, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said in a statement that city attorneys would meet with the manufacturers to discuss their ideas and determine next steps. Spokesperson Nick Dunne said in an email Friday that city officials are “continuing to review the manufacturers’ responses.â€
Hyundai is the parent company of Kia Motors, but the two operate independently.
Meanwhile, Thomas, of south ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, said he’s worked to get the cars back to their owners through social media posts and has managed to reunite multiple people with their stolen cars.
“I feel for the police. They’ve got their hands tied because they’re minors. What are they supposed to do?†Thomas said. “It’s just a no-win situation at this point. It seems like the city is falling apart.â€
