What Is Hyundai TikTok Challenge?

TikTok has an entire genre of viral videos dedicated to car hacks that have millions of views. Sometimes though, a trend gets out of hand and may cause a major crime wave of car thefts all over the US.

As is the case of the Kia Hyundai Challenge; the challenge in this case has gone on to be how to be a criminal and easily steal a car in 30 seconds using just a screwdriver and a USB cable! Insane stuff, we know.

But the reality of this social media challenge gets more insane. Thousands of Kia and Hyundai cars have been stolen by these “Kia Boyz” – a name the followers of this menacing trend have called themselves.

Social media trends have now crossed the line with this one. People’s property and lives were put at stake. And more disturbingly, this whole hullabaloo marks a new milestone in how alarming things are getting in our country’s descent into disorder.

TikTok’s car hacks and challenges have gone too far with this one. Never has there been a more destructive trend than this so-called Hyundai TikTok Challenge.

Table of Contents

What Is a TikTok “Car Theft” Challenge?

Participants in this dangerous challenge just have to yank down the plastic covering of the steering column in a Kia or Hyundai vehicle. They then pop off and detach the ignition cylinder and line up the wide end of the USB cable that perfectly matches the bare back end of the removed ignition cylinder.

From here on out, Kia Boyz just have to twist their makeshift key and they can be off to do whatever Kia Boyz do.

So, what does Kia Boyz do? Most go joyriding around town dangerously swerving left and right the whole time like total maniacs. They have no regard for property and do not care if they crash or scrape into anything along the way. They ditch their stolen rides afterward in shambles and proudly post their Kia Challenge videos back to TikTok.

As you could imagine, some challenges end up in people getting hurt or sadly, killed. 8 people have died as a result of these vehicle thefts.

The Reason Behind It

Participants of this challenge have exploited the fact that Kia and Hyundai cars manufactured from 2011 to 2019 have a design flaw that enables these cars to be easily stolen.

We here on Growtok do not condone actions done by Kia Boyz and will confer the facts around the situation only for discussion purposes. We strongly feel that the exploited security flaw in these vehicles should not have been there in the first place.

But we also feel that a security flaw should not be exploited just because it exists. America’s youth should know so much better. But that is another topic for another day.

Kia and Hyundai Motors America have cut corners, undoubtedly. But have they done so a little too much? Is this whole Kia Hyundai TikTok Challenge issue more of a security kit failure or more of a failure of our youth and the crumbling of our great nation?

On the one hand, we have two multi-billion dollar companies shamelessly skimping on their product features to save money and maximize profit. And on the other is a youth that is too much out of touch with reality, which might just be a symptom of how badly we have failed as a people.

Both are equally responsible for the consequences of this situation. If Kia and Hyundai continue to build cars with security vulnerabilities, then other parts of society will be there to exploit them.

It just so happened that it was teenage boys and TikTok were first on the scene. But criminals and other opportunists would not think twice about taking advantage of these car companies’ lapses.

We have all heard the opinion that TikTok rots our youth, but this has taken TikTok’s already bad reputation to a whole new criminal activity level. God save our teenage boys from turning into criminals just because they saw a viral trend online.

Consequences of This Challenge

The direct effects of this challenge have been immediately felt by the theft victims of this challenge. Thousands of Kia/Hyundai vehicles have been stolen and thrashed, yes. But the worst of these consequences are yet to be felt.

If we have an already corrupted youth, what kind of grownups will run the country in 20 years or so?

Gone Too Far, Too Far Gone

Anyone would agree that this challenge has gone too far. But what is more concerning is that this just might be a sign that we are now too far gone. The youth need the nation’s help. It is never truly too late, they say. As long as we take this as a sign to change, then we might just be in time to save ourselves.