SUVS

The Kia Sportage Is Now 1 of the Most Stolen Vehicles

The Kia Sportage Is Now 1 of the Most Stolen Vehicles Kia Sportage is a popular small car. It is compact enough to be easy to maneuver. It’s also stylish and versatile enough to be a good choice for a wide range of drivers. Now, it’s also one of the most stolen cars in the United States. There are several reasons for making the list, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Here’s why, and what you might want to do to prevent your SUV from being stolen.

Kia Sportage | Kia

Kia Sportage is one of the most stolen cars at the moment

The Kia Sportage Is Now 1 of the Most Stolen Vehicles

(HLDI) compiles a list of the most stolen vehicles. The Kia Sportage ranks 20th in the list of the 20 best cars. In fact, the 2019-2021 Kia Sportage models have been stolen frequently enough to earn them 13th place on the list. Additionally, the 2019-2021 Kia Sportage 4WD models have been stolen often enough to earn 16th place. Together, the Kia Sportage is a frequently stolen SUV.

There were 163 insurance claims in 2021 from stolen SUVs. 159 Kia Sportage SUVs were also stolen. The relative claim frequency, the number used for the classification, was 269 for the Kia Sportage and 239 for the Kia Sportage 4WD.

Electronic immobilizers – or the lack thereof – contribute to the rate of theft in the Sportage

According to Kia Sportage, it is not alone in being one of the most frequently stolen cars. Other models from Kia and Hyundai are also on the list, thanks to the fact that they often do not have electronic stabilizers. In fact, “among cars of the 2015-2019 model year, allegations of theft were more common for Hyundai and Kia vehicles than for the range of all other manufacturers.”

It is model year 2015-2019 model year for Kias and also Hyundais that do not have electronic immobilizers. This is a feature that prevents potential thieves from being able to break the ignition and steal the vehicle. While most other automakers set these standards in 2015-2019 cars, Kia and Hyundai haven’t, hence the high theft numbers. IIHS notes that “in the 2015 model year, when immobilizers were standard on 96 percent of other manufacturers’ vehicles, they were standard on only 26 percent of Hyundai and Kia models.”

The epidemic has led to a rise in car thefts

The epidemic has created a lot of problems, among them an increase in car theft rates. HLDI Senior Vice President Matt Moore said, “Car theft has gone up during the pandemic… These numbers tell us that some vehicles may be targeted because they are fast or worth a lot of money and others because they are easy to steal.”

The Kia Sportage Is Now 1 of the Most Stolen Vehicles

To make matters worse, it has become widely known across social media how easy it is to steal Kia and Hyundai cars. In Wisconsin, this fact has made Hyundais and Kias’ theft rate more than 30 times higher than the 2019 rate. However, immobilizers are now present on Hyundais built after November 1, 2021. Kia has installed immobilizers on all 2022 models, on Although you will have to check back to make sure your new Kia has one, as it is sometimes positioned as a “continuous change”.

If you own a 2019-2021 — or any Kia or Hyundai built before 2021 — you might want to be careful. While Hyundai has created a kit that will help reduce the risk of their cars being stolen (it will be on sale in October 2022), car manufacturers are working with the police to prevent their cars from being stolen. We hope these changes will reduce the number of vehicles stolen.

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