[kevinmrose]

"Two State Farm employees told WWL-TV that the restrictions apply in Georgia, Louisiana, Oregon, Washington, and Pennsylvania. The restrictions do not apply to current policyholders, only to drivers who are looking for new policies."

Looks like it's not just Louisiana. I wonder if they'll be extending this to other states, or if other insurers will be following suit? I haven't been following this issue, but I feel like Kia and Hyundai should be doing some sort of recall to fix the problem instead of allowing their customers to suffer, it can't be good for PR.

[krolden]

They won't do a recall unless forced by regulators. The sheer number of cars without immobilizers and the amount of money/work that would go in to installing them in cars that didn't originally have them would be quite crazy.

I hate Korean cars but this really isn't on kia or Hyundai since the existing motor vehicle import laws in the usa do not require cars to have immobilizers installed. pretty much every other import and domestic car has been installing them by default for over 20 years.

[jerf]

"They won't do a recall unless forced by regulators."

Forced to by insurance companies, or forced to by bad press like this, can do the trick too.

I don't know about these states but I live in a state where insurance is mandatory. I don't know if there are flip sides of the laws mandating insurers to insure, but if not, if the entire industry in my state followed suit for these cars, it would effectively take the cars off the roads. I can promise you the manufacturers would take note of such an outcome.

[brookst]

Theft insurance is mandatory in your state?

[jerf]

I interpreted the article as saying that all insurance for these cars is terminated:

"Starting Jan. 25, State Farm Insurance agents in Louisiana are no longer doing business with owners of 105 Kia and Hyundai models that have been blacklisted because they are vulnerable to theft, employees told WWL-TV."

Scanning over it again, it still seems the correct interpretation of the text as written. But it is an easy mistake for a journalist to make, if you know that it's theft-only from some other article then I'd be wrong about my state comment.

The idea that insurance can drive this would still stand though. An entire customer base being told they can't insure will get attention. It would need to be an industry-wide thing, though, or the customer base may just change companies.

[83]

Jerf is in Michigan (Ann Arbor). Michigan does not require comprehensive afaict, only liability.

[lizzardbraind]

They are preparing a recall to install immobilizers on the affected models, but it sounds like they're moving too slowly.

The insurance companies might also feel like they have media cover to do this, because how-to videos have become a social media trend. You can hotwire them more easily than a '90s car with ignition wires hanging under the dash, if you know what you're looking for.

Kia in particular might suffer some serious brand damage from this, combined with their multiple recent engine fire recalls.