Earlier this month, Michael Pucci was walking toward his car, like he does every morning on his way to work, when he realized his parking spot looked different.
“I looked up and my car, it’s not there,” he said.
In its place, all that was left was shattered glass.
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“I was just standing here dumbfounded, trying to take it all in,” he said.
His neighbor’s surveillance cameras captured what happened just hours earlier. The video shows it was just after three in the morning on October 17. The video shows Michael’s car lights turn on moments before someone drove off with it.
It’s just a sense of just feeling violated.
Michael Pucci
Responds
Responding to every consumer complaint
“I’ve never had a car stolen in my life," he said.
Michael called Hollywood Police, telling the officer who responded his 2017 Hyundai Elantra had been stolen. He said the officer told him about a disturbing trend.
“And then he sent me a text message with a link,” Michael said. “It’s like a smash and grab and it happens very quickly.”
Michael said that was the first time he heard about the viral social media challenge, showing how to steal certain models of Hyundai and Kia vehicles that are not equipped with an engine immobilizer.
It’s a trend NBC Responds units across the country have been following in recent years after a rise in thefts involving these vehicles.
Hollywood Police are investigating Michael’s case.
“We don’t know if this specific car was related to that challenge,” said Deanna Bettineschi, spokesperson for Hollywood Police.
The department is asking car owners to be proactive.
“They can reach out to their dealership and the dealership can offer them a software upgrade,” Bettineschi said.
Earlier this year, Hyundai and Kia launched a service campaign targeting millions of vehicles lacking the security device. Using the VIN for Michael’s car, NBC6 Responds checked online and found it was among those eligible for the upgrade.
“Unfortunately, my car got stolen first,” Michael said.
His car was found a couple of days after it was stolen. He shared pictures he snapped in an impound lot, showing the car heavily damaged.
“It was not drivable,” Michael said. “It just looked really bad.”
In an email, Hyundai told NBC6 its service campaign “has been well publicized” and that the company is notifying customers by mail. It goes on to say Hyundai is committed to helping “…customers and communities affected.” Kia says more than 830,000 vehicles nationwide have received the software upgrade and it has distributed more than 280,000 steering wheel locks.
As for Michael, he is still trying to understand how his car ended up heavily damaged.
“I depended on my car to be secure as I thought it was,” he said.
Hyundai said engine immobilizers are now standard on all the company’s vehicles produced as of November 2021.
There is a proposed $200 million class action settlement that is pending approval and could provide some compensation for people whose cars have been stolen. You can read more on that lawsuit here: https://www.hbsslaw.com/hyundai-kia-usb-car-theft-defect/faq
To check if your vehicle qualifies for the security upgrade, click here for Hyundai https://autoservice.hyundaiusa.com/campaignhome or here for Kia https://ksupport.kiausa.com/ConsumerAffairs/SWLD
