'The manufacturer ought to be paying for this.'

'We're receiving dozens of calls a day,' McClain said. He's also preparing to file in as many as seven other states. McClain calls the issue a 'defect.' His firm has filed class action lawsuits in 12 states so far: California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas. Ken McClain, an attorney in Missouri, says some of the blame for the stealing spree falls on the automakers - Kia and Hyundai - claiming the companies built cars that are too easy to steal. 'They don't really have much of a sympathy for the people that they're doing this to.' 'This is what they do for after-school entertainment,' Gerszewski told CNBC. Tom Gerszewski, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based filmmaker, tracks the viral crime spree on his YouTube channel in ' Kia Boys Documentary,' which has already topped 3.7 million views. 'They even wrote on the top of my ceiling … it says 'hot car.'' 'They crashed the front of my car … they damaged the bumper,' Perkins said. Hours later, she found it deserted on the side of the road and called police. She said the abandoned Kia was left heavily damaged. Perkins tells CNBC she went on a hunt to track down her Kia. 'I drove around the block … five kids actually jumped into my car - that's when I started to panic - like I'm going to lose my car forever.' 'I saw a teenage boy sitting in the front,' Perkins said. 'I looked out the window and realized my car was gone,' Perkins said.ĭays later, she was in a rental car at a red light when she said her missing Kia drove right past her. Illinois resident Karen Perkins said her 2019 Kia Sorrento was stolen from in front of her apartment on Aug. The thieves post videos online of stealing and driving the cars, using the hashtag 'Kia Boys' - which has more than 33 million views on TikTok. The social media company said in a statement it 'does not condone this behavior which violates our policies and will be removed if found on our platform.' 'We had an 11-year-old who was one of our most prolific stealers … the notion that they can drive is a fantasy,' Dart said. The stolen cars are often used for joyrides, or used to commit other crimes and then abandoned on the side of the road, he said. Dart told CNBC the thieves are mainly young teens - some, not even old enough to legally drive.

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