Police: 200 cars stolen in Rochester already this year

[Throck]

https://13wham.com/amp/news/local/police-200-cars-stolen-in-rochester-already-this-year

I use to live in upstate NY. Things have really changed. The worst that ever happened to me was I was going to work and a homeless person was sleeping in the back of my college era car. (I bought him breakfast on the way to the shelter.)

[PCIntern]

1. Did you go to college in Rochester?

[Throck]

3. MCC

1984-1985

[PCIntern]

5. U of R here!

Not the world’s best town for college students… I envied my friends in Boston.

[Throck]

7. Elmwood Inn?

Distillery? (Mt Hope?)

Favorite beer joints.

Chicken wings were affordable for college students!

[NBachers]

2. Born in Rochester -Apparently there's an epidemic of Hyundai and Kia thefts going around. The Kia

Challenge is a TikTok fad of car thefts that's become popular. My progressive - liberal perspective does not extend to car thieves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Challenge

[PCIntern]

6. I see they closed the Inner Loop

It has just opened when I was a student there.

[csziggy]

4. The car shown being stolen in their video is a Hyundai - a very easy car to steal

Kia, Hyundai are easy targets for thieves, insurance data confirms

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN Business
Published 12:10 AM EDT, Thu September 22, 2022

New York CNN Business —

Stealing older model Hyundai and Kia cars and SUVs became a scary social media trend. Now, data from the Highway Loss Data Institute, which collects information on insurance claims, confirm these South Korean models are far more likely to get stolen than others.

In fact, 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia models are roughly twice as likely to be stolen as other vehicles of similar age. The reason is many of these vehicles lack some basic auto theft prevention technology included in most other vehicles, even in those years, according to the HLDI.

These models don’t have electronic immobilizers which rely on a computer chip in the car and another in the key that communicate to confirm that the key is authentic and really belongs to that vehicle. Without the right key, an immobilizer should do just that – stop the car from moving.

Immobilizers were standard equipment on 96% of vehicles sold for the 2015-2019 model years, according the HLDI, but were standard on only 26% of Hyundais and Kias. Vehicles that have push-button start systems, rather than relying on metal keys that must be inserted and turned, have immobilizers, but not all models with turn-key ignitions do.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/22/business/hldi-hyundai-kia-theft/index.html

The companies just don't care if the cars they produce are stolen - it would only cost them a few dollars more to prevent it

[Chakaconcarne]

8. Hyundai and Kia can be started with a USB drive....