Millions of Hyundai and Kia owners can get free repairs under a settlement announced Tuesday by Minnesota's attorney general, who led an effort by dozens of states that argued the vehicles weren't equipped with proper anti-theft technology, leaving them vulnerable to thefts.

The settlement comes after a rash of Hyundai and Kia thefts prompted nearly two dozen state attorneys general in 2023 to demand the automakers take action.

In 2023, the Highway Loss Data Institute, a unit of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that Hyundai and Kia vehicles without "engine immobilizers," an anti-theft device that were standard on other new cars at the time, had a vehicle theft claim rate of 2.18 per 1,000 insured vehicle years. The rest of the industry combined had a rate of 1.21. 

Under the nationwide settlement, the companies will offer a free repair to all eligible vehicles at a cost that could top $500 million, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Hyundai and Kia must also outfit all future vehicles sold in the U.S. with engine immobilizers, as well as pay up to $4.5 million of restitution to people whose vehicles were damaged by thieves.

The settlement was reached by 35 states, including California, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The vehicles eligible for fixes date as far back as 2011 and as recently as 2022. About 9 million eligible vehicles were sold nationwide.

TikTok videos of thefts

Beginning in 2021, thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles soared in part because videos posted to TikTok and other social media demonstrated how someone could steal a car with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. 

Minneapolis reported an 836% increase in Hyundai and Kia thefts from 2021 to 2022, and Ellison announced an investigation into the automakers in early 2023.

Ellison said the two companies installed engine immobilizers on cars sold in Mexico and Canada, but not widely in the U.S., leading to car thefts, crimes and crashes that injured and even killed people, including teenagers.

"This crisis that we're talking about today started in a boardroom, traveled through the Internet and ended up in tragic results when somebody stole those cars," Ellison said at a news conference.

He was joined by Twin Cities officials, a woman whose mother was killed when a stolen Kia crashed into her parents' vehicle and a man whose car was stolen nine times — as recently as Monday night, and including seven times after a previous software fix.

Under the settlement, Hyundai and Kia will install a zinc sleeve to stop would-be thieves from cracking open a vehicle's ignition cylinder and starting the car.

Eligible customers will have one year from the date of the companies' notice to get the repair at an authorized dealership. The repairs are expected to be available from early 2026 through early 2027.

In a statement sent to CBS News, Kia said the agreement is the latest step it has taken to help its customers and prevent theft.

"These include the development and introduction of a free software security upgrade that has been found to significantly reduce theft rates, the distribution of hundreds of thousands of steering wheel locks to our customers at no cost, and the rollout of a zinc-sleeve hardware modification that combats this social media-inspired theft method by reinforcing the ignition cylinder body and preventing its removal through the technique that was made popular online," the automaker said.

Hyundai didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.