A Challenge You Don’t Want to Take, by Joe Enright

On April 2^nd Barbara, a retired New York City school teacher, parked her silver 2021 Hyundai Tucson SE in a spot that had miraculously opened up, right across from her Park Slope home. Sadly, that night her car joined the ranks of the Hyundai TikTok Challenge.

For numbskull young-ins, that Challenge is pretty easy to conquer. You see, Hyundai models from 2015 to 2021 were manufactured with traditional ignition keys lacking the built-in immobilizing technology that makes losing such a key so expensive to replace. And Hyundai is all about reducing costs. So to start a 2021 Hyundai, just use a screwdriver to remove the wheel covering (elapsed time 20 seconds), thereby exposing the ignition cylinder. In another 10 seconds yank the cylinder out, exposing a metal receptacle that’s exactly the size of the USB-end of an iPhone charger cord. Insert. Rotate. Drive. Go crazy. Wreck it.

This non-challenging challenge started to sweep across the land last Summer, affecting thousands of Hyundai and KIA models built on the cheap. Barbara felt immune to all that, having an off-street parking spot…Until that one fateful night when TikTok came calling…

For the Hyundai owner, the challenge is to retain your sanity. First comes the wave of panic upon walking to your car and noticing it isn’t there. Next comes the web searches/phone calls to see if it’s been mistakenly towed for ransom at the pound. Nope. Then the realization the thieves have your ID in the glove apartment. Gulp. Now comes the stroll to the 78 Precinct to report the car stolen. Painless if you can find somebody to take your report. Then enter GEICO. In this case Barbara declined their offer to provide a replacement rental (she’d have to pay 20% of the cost), electing to share her son’s car. Now came Hyundai Plaza on Nostrand Avenue. “Cancel your lease! Why I never…out of the question with a stolen car, why GEICO has to work out the payment to us and all that, so just be patient, ma’am!”

A day later, on April 5^th, the 72^nd Precinct called. Eureka! Rushing to Sunset Park, Barbara found a forlorn fire-red Sonata sitting outside the Precinct on the 4^th Avenue sidewalk.

“That’s not my car, officer. Different model and color. But it does bear one of my plates.”

“Thank you, ma’am. So many stolen Hyundais, it’s hard to tell them apart.” Which is why they invented VINs one would suppose.

The plate was not returned to her but vouchered as evidence instead – just in case her silver Tucson was found in another Precinct so as to, you know, make her challenge a bit more difficult. “Oh, and by the way, there’s a ton of recent tickets on your car you should take care of.”

Good to know. Barbara then frequented more web sites/made more calls to prevent liability for the tickets and cancel her EZ-Pass.

“That’ll cost you $16 to cancel, ma’am.”

Miraculously, on April 14^th the 72^nd Precinct called again. At 6:00am. Her Hyundai Tucson had been found! But she needed to rush to 4^th Avenue & 29^th Street to claim the car right away because the assigned police officer’s tour was ending soon and Barbara didn’t want to sit around waiting for some random NYPD employee to notice her, did she?

Barbara foreswore a shower, threw on some threads and made it on time. Office Anthony and his colleagues proved to be polite, and very helpful, gathering the vouchered stolen plate so it could be joyously reunited with its twin on her no-longer stolen car sitting nearby with a dented front end. A tow truck was called and Barbara caught up on her sleep.

All’s well that ends well? Not so fast! We got more words to spill here, bud.

Alas and alack, the front end was easily repaired but ignition parts were in short supply thanks to…yes, the popularity of the TikTok Hyundai Challenge among numbskulls. As the weeks dragged by, Barbara returned to Plaza Hyundai. “Why, we would be delighted to speak in depth about your concerns madam, but your car is still listed as stolen. I’m afraid these matters take some time, the paperwork and all, don’t you see? Now excuse me, I have to attend to a Kia TikTok Challenge customer.”

Flash forward to May 19^th. The Tucson is ready! Oh, happy day, just in time to scoot up to Cambridge for a graduation ceremony, then out to the Island for a family gathering and then…

Eastern Parkway, May 27^th: “Barbara, what are those swirling lights behind us?” and “Barbara, why is that other car swerving in front of us?”

“Ma’am, you are operating a stolen car. I’m afraid you’ll have to accompany us to the 71^st Precinct on Empire Boulevard.”

Oops. Somebody forgot to cancel the alarm on the car. Was it sweet Officer Anthony? Was it the Police Administrative Aide operating the computer on April 14^th or was it one of those worm holes that swallows up paperwork? I called the 72^nd Precinct, emailed and otherwise importuned the NYPD for an answer and we held the mighty Red Hook Star-Review presses, waiting for an answer…Too late. The story must be told now to warn others:

Don’t wait to pay over $500 for the fix offered by Hyundai to cure this…er…vulnerability they created. No! Spend $35 like Barbara did, for the Club, a 1970s artifact, to lock your steering

wheel. And pray that the Club TikTok Challenge does not gather steam until your damn lease expires.