In Texas, Hyundai ramps up safety clinics to combat auto theft

Hyundai is organizing additional software clinics to help car owners still at risk of theft after a TikTok trend that proliferated over the internet three years ago revealed how easy it was to hot wire certain cars. 

The company's 29th event, in which the company updates the software in an owner's car, kicked off in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Friday and will last through the weekend.

Hyundai Vice President Dave VandeLinde told FOX Business that they have already equipped 1.6 million customers with the software upgrades needed to prevent them from easily being stolen. While they are 60% through, VaneLinde says there's still a lot more work that needs to be done.  

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VandeLinde traced the issue back to the summer of 2021 when a video published by the Kia Boys surfaced on TikTok that "exposed a very specific way to steal" certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles. 

However, VandeLinde said there isn't any value to these cars. 

They are not "being exported to a Third World country because they are high value or, or being stripped of all of their parts," he said. "It's a social media challenge where these thieves want to just kind of show off for their friends." 

In some cases, VandeLinde said, professional criminals are using these cars kind of like burner phones for committing other crimes. 

After the videos surfaced, the company recognized that it would need software development in order to address the problem, but VanceLinde said that isn't an easy lift. 

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"I try to tell people that when you add a software package to a vehicle, it's not like you just click one Lego on to an existing set of Legos, right? You have to redo all the Legos, because everything integrates within the vehicle," VandeLinde explained. 

While Hyundai worked on the software, the company built up a strong relationship with over a thousand police departments across the country, all of which distributed steering wheel locks for customers at safety events, so they could help fight this criminal activity at the street level. 

Over 300,000 steering wheel locks were distributed, according to VandeLinde. In February 2023, they launched software packages that are specific to every model and trim level. Ever since, the company has hosted clinics in over two dozen cities, and in some of the most crime-ridden spots. 

Here's how Hyundai's clinics work: 

At the clinics, Hyundai's team comprising roughly 30 people are able to upgrade upward of 800 cars a day, and they're all free of charge.

On its busiest day, the team handled 841 cars in Las Vegas. 

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Owners are instructed to line up in their vehicle while they get checked in. Once they get to the valet station, the owner will get out and wait in the air-conditioned customer lounge while Hyundai employees cover the wheel and seat with plastic covers and put down floor mats before they start the upgrade. 

VandeLinde said that owners don't need an appointment and don't even need to show ID. 

"Just get in line, and we'll get you out of here quickly," he said. 

Aside from their clinics, VandeLinde said the company's 840 dealers around the country are offering the same assistance. 

Getting customers into the clinic is vital, given that the very people at risk "are the ones that can least afford to lose these vehicles," VandeLinde said.

"In most cases . . . it's their only vehicle. You know, they're typically around 200,000-plus miles, and they're getting back and forth to work or taking their kids to school to sporting events and things like that," he added.