BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's been a difficult several weeks for Jillian Duarte and her family.
Back on June 1st her 2018 Hyundai Sonata was stolen out of her driveway in South Buffalo. The car was later found abandoned and wrecked about 5 miles away. The estimate to repair the damage sits at $5500.
To make matters worse, Duarte has been told she that she is still weeks away from getting back behind the wheel because of a national backlog in Hyundai parts.
"It is extremely frustrating," Duarte told 7 News Anchor Jeff Russo, "anywhere between three weeks and on from there."
The thieves wrenched the door and destroyed the entire ignition column. The wheels and suspension were also heavily damaged, even after Duarte says she brought her Hyundai in for a suggested update to try and prevent this from happening.
"We had a recall performed on the vehicle to immobilize the engine due to the nationwide thefts going on with Hyundai and Kia and they had still gotten into the vehicle and taken it," said Duarte.
The City of Buffalo is well on it's way to a record-year in car thefts. Buffalo police say more than 1100 cars have been stolen already this year. This would put the city on pace for 3000 thefts by the end of 2023. That number would almost triple the normal average.
Duarte is one of those victims. She also had her wallet, an Apple Watch, and a child's car seat stolen from the vehicle.
Duarte is now on the hook for the $500 deductible for repairs and $50 a day for a rental car. Those costs are adding up with repairs currently on hold as she waits for critical parts to come in.
"Huge inconvenience," says Gabor Karpati who is an estimator with Gerbor Collision and Glass. His shop on Hertle Avenue is not directly working with Duarte on her vehicle but he's helped hundreds of customers in similar situations.
"Getting the dealer parts, there is a backlog on them," says Karpati adding it now takes around "two to six weeks" for parts to come in.
Karpati believes that the backlog is slowly getting bettere, but many of the Hyundais and Kias that Gerbor Collision and Glass have worked on have had thousands of dollars in damage. The extended wait on parts is understandably testing customers patience.
"We really have to keep them informed," says Karpati, "That's a difficult thing to do. If you are told a part is going to be here on a specific day then it keeps getting extended, and extended and extended." "I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but we are going to keep plugging away."
As for Duarte, she and her husband work at West Herr in Williamsville. The dealership has helped her out with a rental car and has "fast tracked" her repairs but she believes her car is still weeks away from being back on the road.
"We trusted Hyundai to keep our family safe, and they failed us. It's just very aggravating to deal with," said Duarte.
