KIA USB Start – Is This True? And How Can You Protect Car from Theft?

Using a classic USB cable to start a KIA? Surely, this is a joke, right? Unfortunately, this is actually possible. Lately, you might have noticed on social media videos of people attempting the "KIA Challenge". This particular challenge implies that someone tries to start a KIA or Hyundai vehicle without the use of a key. As stupid as it might sound, some people actually attempt to do this, unfortunately.

This problem seems to affect KIA and Hyundai vehicles made between 2011 and 2021, but only the models that do not feature an engine immobilizer. The exact reason for the lack of such essential safety devices in this day and era is unknown to us, but we guess it was their solution for cost-cutting.

In this article, we're going to talk about what exactly is an engine immobilizer, why it is so important, and how to protect the car from theft.

How is the USB start possible on certain KIA and Hyundai vehicles?

We believe that for you to find the best solution for an issue that you have, you must first understand it completely, which is why we're going to explain to you just how is it possible for a thief to start certain KIA and Hyundai models using just a basic USB cable.

As we've mentioned earlier, this is a problem that affects only the vehicles which do not have an electronic immobilizer or systems such as keyless entry and keyless go.

The entire process is so simple that it becomes scary. The thieves simply take off the steering column cover and start dismantling the ignition key slot. This reveals an ignition barrel that can be twisted using a simple USB cable instead of a car key. And just like this, in less than a minute, pretty much anyone can turn the engine on and simply set off with the car.

What is an engine immobilizer and how does it work?

Now that you understand just how simple it can be to steal certain cars, we believe that it's important to know just how much a vehicle immobilizer can do in such situations, which is why we're going to give you a brief explanation of the way it works and why it's such a good theft protection method.

As you may already know, most vehicles made in the last three decades have been using key fobs instead of classic car keys. The only obvious difference would be the fact that they also feature buttons that are used to lock or unlock the car, but things are much more clever than that.

The keys also feature an electronic chip inside them that is used to communicate with the immobilizer of the vehicle, which means that you cannot simply use any key that is similar to one of the cars you're trying to unlock.

The clever technology doesn't stop there. If somehow, someone has managed to unlock the vehicle, there is still one problem. How do they start it? This is where the immobilizer enters the action. Unless you use the exact key that is programmed to work with that vehicle, you will simply not be able to start the engine. The immobilizer knows exactly which keys are programmed to work, so any unauthorized copy will do exactly nothing.

Knowing this, you probably understand now why the lack of such an important theft protection device makes the mentioned vehicles so easy to steal and puts owners in very unpleasant situations.

How can you protect these vehicles from theft?

Knowing that KIA and Hyundai vehicles are so popular, we believe that this unpleasant situation shouldn't mean that the world has come to an end, which is why we thought it would be best to offer you some theft protection solutions that we believe have the highest chance of preventing theft or at least making the thieves' lives more difficult.

Here's what we think would work best:

1) GPS tracking system

Even though this isn't something that will prevent the car's theft, it is definitely a tool that is extremely helpful when it comes to finding a stolen vehicle. These systems are very clever nowadays and by using them you can monitor at all times where your vehicle is located and even how it's driven. Sharing the GPS information with the police will almost certainly make recovering your car a lot faster.

2) Dash cam

Just like in the case of a GPS tracking system, dash cams are also useful when it comes to recovering a stolen vehicle. The cleverer ones can also record while the car is stationary and will sense if there is any movement. Some of them could even send a notification to your mobile phone if anything unusual were to happen.

3) Steering wheel lock

Steering wheel locks are some of the most popular anti-theft methods out there and it is easy to understand way. They are not only very easy to mount, but they also seem to be very effective. Usually, they are very visible and so, they notice any potential thief of the fact that the steering wheel simply cannot be moved unless they have the special key that is required to disengage the steering wheel lock.

4) Tire clamp

Tire clamps are a very old-fashioned way of preventing car theft, but they are also quite effective. They work by wrapping all the way around a car's tire, which means that the wheel on which it is mounted simply cannot spin unless the tire clamp is removed, by unlocking it with the provided key. If this sounds familiar to you, it is because the police have been also using them for quite a while to immobilize illegally parked vehicles, for example.

5) Car alarm

Car alarms are also very popular theft protection devices and we're not surprised by them. They are very sensitive to any sort of vibration, shaking, or, sometimes, loud noises. Whenever they are triggered, they produce a very loud noise, much like a police siren, and they also start flashing the car's hazard lights.

Such a thing would make pretty much any thief simply give up the idea and run away. Just imagine a situation in which someone tried to steal a car at midnight and all of a sudden, the loudest possible car alarm would go off, waking up the entire neighborhood. Who would want to continue messing with a car in that situation?

6) Brake lock

These devices are quite similar to the steering wheel locks, in the sense that they prevent either the brake or clutch pedals from being depressed, thus making the car unable to move unless provided with the special key that unlocks them.

They are not as obvious as steering wheel locks, but they are also very effective, because, as you might know, speed is everything to a thief and any sort of device that prevents them from simply setting off as soon as possible with a car will almost certainly make their life a lot harder.

7) Battery kill switch

As the name suggests, a battery kill switch will turn off all the electricity going from the car's battery to any electronic equipment. This is quite a cheap solution and it's also very effective. If you think about it, a thief wouldn't be able to turn the vehicle on, no matter what they did to it, unless they found the kill switch and turned it off.

And since they want everything to go fast and as smoothly as possible, they would definitely not attempt to just have your car towed, since that would attract a lot more attention than they want to.

Any other theft prevention advice?

The solutions we've provided above all cost money, some more, some less, and while they can be very effective, they are still not free. In this day and age, thieves have become a lot more prepared for any sort of vehicle, which is why no matter what you did to your car, it will almost never be 100% theft-proof.

However, among the free solutions, would be to remove certain fuses and/or relays of your vehicle, such as the fuel pump ones, which would make the car impossible to start. This is a little bit less comfortable for you to do if you use the vehicle on a daily basis, but if you use it rarely enough, it might be a great solution. If you think about it, what kind of thief would even think about starting to troubleshoot a car in the middle of the night, just to get it started?

Apart from that, we always recommend you park your vehicle in a garage if you have the possibility, and if not, in a well-illuminated area, or an area that is under CCTV surveillance.

Final thoughts

Even if it might sound like we want back to the 1970s, unfortunately, certain car models can still be stolen quite easily, but as soon as you understand what the actual problem is, finding a solution really isn't that difficult and so, you don't necessarily have to sell what is otherwise a very good vehicle.