This year, teenagers across the country have been involved in high-speed police chases with stolen cars - some of which were deadly.
And there is a common theme among most of them - the stolen vehicles are made by Kia or Hyundai. Despite the problem, federal leaders announced on Tuesday they will not step in and recall the vehicles that are so easy to steal.
In a letter addressed to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the car-theft trend did not meet its criteria for a national recall.
“At this time, NHTSA has not determined that this issue constitutes either a safety defect or noncompliance requiring a recall,” wrote Cem Hatipoglu, NHTSA's acting associate director for enforcement, in reference to the Hyundai and Kia vehicles susceptible to theft because they lack engine immobilizers.
In particular, Hatipoglu said that the current federal standard for automotive safety does not require cars to come with immobilizers, the hardware that has put affected vehicle owners on edge, like Melissa Winship.
"I don’t feel any more confident that this is going to end any time soon," said Winship. Thieves stole her Hyundai SUV right from her driveway last September. "Absolutely it’s frustrating."
It first happened at the height of social media-linked thefts. There's an issue with a traditional key, making certain models easy to start with just a USB port.
Frustrated owners filed a class action lawsuit, the manufacturers issued anti-theft software and steering wheel locks - all of which Winship now has and still thieves tried to steal her SUV again a couple of months ago outside a school.
"Luckily, the staff interrupted it and the kids moved on," said Winship. "Slowly, maybe some little things are happening, but not enough and not fast enough."
In St. Paul, police report 398 Kia and Hyundai thefts through June 11. That's up from 285 reported this same time last year.
Minneapolis Police reported 45 car thefts in the week of June 23, 2023, 17 of which were Kia and Hyundai. Last year, Attorney General Keith Ellison reported thefts of Kias and Hyundais were up 836% in 2022 in Minneapolis.
"A recall, they have to tell everybody," said Winship. "It doesn't make sense to me."
The decision to decline a recall is in despite of 18 attorneys general, including Ellison, requesting that some models be recalled back in April. And it's another reason Winship will never buy a Hyundai again.
"They have not taken responsibility," said Winship. "They've not made me feel like, oh, I'm sorry that this happened."
In a statement, Hyundai says it's committed to taking action to help customers affected by the thefts. It went on to write, "Our dealers across the country are maximizing the number of anti-theft software installations that can be performed on a daily basis, contributing to steadily increasing completion rates, which we report to NHTSA weekly. Hyundai Motor America is committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products. Hyundai will soon be piloting mobile service centers to further scale and speed installation of the software upgrade. We remain committed to ensuring the quality and integrity of our products, all of which are fully compliant with federal anti-theft requirements. Engine immobilizers are now standard on all Hyundai vehicles produced as of November 2021."
When asked to comment, Kia did not respond.