WASHINGTON — Own a Hyundai or Kia? Well, you should know they’ve proven to be popular brands for car thieves in D.C. this year.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), those two brands accounted for 31% of all stolen cars in D.C. through the first three weeks of the year.
D.C. Police Department data also showed, through the last three months of 2022, an uptick in the number of those cars stolen from District streets.
Two Northeast D.C. residents, living in the same apartment building, off the 1600 block of Maryland Avenue, Northeast, said their Kia Souls were targeted by thieves this week too.
On Saturday, Northeast D.C. resident and 'Congress Heights on the Rise' blogger Nikki Peele, said someone took her Kia Soul out of her garage at the Union Heights apartment building.
Fortunately, for Peele, MPD found her vehicle the next day.
However, its body and steering column had been heavily damaged.
Peele said a police officer at the scene of its recovery also told her it had been used in a crime.
“It was involved in a criminal act involving guns,” she said.
MPD could not speak to the specificity of what Peele’s car had allegedly been used for when contacted about the case Monday.
Peele’s neighbor, Brittney Baxter, said her Kia Soul was also targeted in the same garage.
It also had steering column damage and a busted window. However, unlike Peele’s car, Baxter said thieves left it in the garage since it did not have a lot of gas.
“I couldn’t imagine what could happen if I were there when they were trying to break into my car or [if] I had sent my son to the car to get something,” she said.
The car thefts have created issues for both women.
Peele said an auto mechanic told her parts of her vehicle likely wouldn’t be fixed for two months due to a backlog demand for Kia parts.
While Baxter said she could not get her child to school Monday due to her not having a car.
The frequent theft of Hyundais and Kias has led major insurers like State Farm and Progressive to not insure certain vehicles in some states.
Meanwhile, other communities have considered suing the two car companies over the issue.
The City of St. Louis floated the idea in September after it claimed the companies were not doing enough to secure its vehicles, according to KSDK-TV.
“We’ll have a conversation with our city attorneys and see what our next steps are,” said St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones.
John Yoon, the executive vice-president of Kia America, Inc.’s legal division also told KSDK-TV it disagreed with St. Louis City’s assessment.
It also said its steering wheel locks are an effective way to prevent thefts.
"We strongly disagree with your statement that the subset of our vehicles that do not contain immobilizers are 'defective' or that these vehicles are the cause of the thefts, property damage and acts of violence occurring in St. Louis," wrote John Yoon, executive vice-president of the legal division at Kia America, Inc.
WUSA9 reached out to D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office about the issue.
“The Office of the Attorney General takes any violation of District consumer’s rights or threat to their safety seriously and encourages DC residents who believes they were misled about the security of a product to file a complaint with our office,” an OAG spokesperson stated.
Peele said she believed some sort of litigation should be pursued against the companies.
“Kia and Hyundai, if they are not being sued by the District of Columbia and other states, they should be,” Peele said.
For now, Peele and Baxter say they’re concerned about crime.
Moreso, they said they would like to know how thieves got into their building’s garage in the first place.
“I went to the front desk where I got no response from the security guard that was sitting there,” Baxter said. “No one acknowledged that this was going on.”
Baxter and Peele added they still have not been contacted by management at Union Heights about the incidents involving their cars either.
“I did not know I would have to club my car in a ‘safe garage,’” Peele said.
Kettler, the firm that manages the Union Heights apartment building, gave a statement on Tuesday.
“KETTLER’s Operations Team is aware of the situation and is fully cooperating and supporting the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) during this investigation," the statement says. "In addition, we are partnering with our valued residents to ensure we take every precaution to limit additional disturbances, which have recently impacted our community and the surrounding area."