Hyundai and AAA Working Together to Insure Frequently Stolen Models

Hyundai and Kia owners have been having a rough time with car ownership recently. After a TikTok video came out that described the exact methods needed to steal a Hyundai or Kia, owners have found themselves looking at ridiculously high insurance premiums or not being able to be insured at all. Now, Hyundai is taking a more hands-on approach by helping affected owners get insurance for their vehicles with a new partnership with the Automobile Association of America (AAA).

Hyundai partnering with AAA to ensure that owners with an affected vehicle have insurance is strange, but it does fix an issue that some owners were having with finding insurance for their vehicles. The insurance program will be available in 47 states – it’s not offered in Alaska, Massachusetts, and Washington – and will only cover vehicles that require a physical key to start and don’t have an immobilizer. AAA will offer new and renewable policies for affected owners.

“We are pleased to collaborate with AAA insurers in the best interest of our shared customers and provide support for those who are having difficulty securing and sustaining auto insurance as a result of the increased criminal activity targeting Hyundai vehicles,” said Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

At the same time Hyundai announced the new partnership with AAA, the South Korean automaker also stated that its available anti-theft software upgrade is available two months ahead of its original arrival date. Most of the affected vehicles, which spans roughly four million vehicles in total, will be eligible for the free upgrade. The anti-theft software upgrade will require a trip to the dealership and an hour’s wait.

Once the upgrade has been done on a vehicle, all owners have to do is lock and unlock their vehicles with their key fob. The new software upgrade activates a factory alarm and ignition kill command when the vehicle has been locked with the key fob. Once the software upgrade has been completed, Hyundai dealers will fit vehicles with a sticker that conveys that the car has an anti-theft system.

Unfortunately, not all of the affected vehicles will be eligible for the anti-theft software upgrade. Hyundai claims that a “smaller group of 2011-2022 model year vehicles” won’t be able to accommodate the software upgrade, but doesn’t provide specifics on what those vehicles are or how many vehicles fall into that category. For these vehicles, Hyundai claims that it will reimburse owners for the cost of a steering wheel lock and is also prepared to provide reimbursement for a different anti-theft device such as an alarm kit.

Affected owners should visit HyundaiTheft.com to get more information on the automaker’s partnership with AAA for insurance and to get details on the available software upgrades. At the moment, Kia doesn’t have anything on its website for an insurance partnership with AAA or a new software update that’s available for its vehicles.

Pictured: 2021 Hyundai Palisade (Top), 2022 Hyundai Accent (Middle)

Source: Autoblog

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