Kia Somewhat Responsible for The Kia Boys

One headline reads, “The Kia Boys will steal your cars for clout.” 

The Kia Boys, also known as the Kia Boyz in Milwaukee or the Real Kia Boys in Columbus, are a loose collective of teenage car thieves who have gained notoriety for posting footage of their joy rides in stolen vehicles to social media platforms like TikTok.

Unlike traditional car theft rings, The Kia Boys don’t steal cars for economic reasons. Instead, they steal solely for the joy ride and social media clout. Almost always, the stolen vehicle finds its way back to its owner.

As their name suggests, The Kia Boys’ main target is Kia vehicles. While The Kia Boys are an issue, they represent a small part of a more significant problem for the car manufacturer. Earlier this year, Kia was found responsible for making many of the company’s cars too easy to steal and agreed to a $200 million class action settlement with its customers. Many Kia vehicles lack basic security features like electronic immobilizers and push-to-start ignition.

According to a National Insurance Crime Bureau report, Kia Optima sedans were stolen more than 30,000 times last year, and this only counts police-reported thefts.

Kia’s cars are in high demand—for all the wrong reasons.

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