Hyundai Class Action Says DCT Transmissions Are Defective

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A Nevada couple is suing Hyundai over an alleged transmission defect that causes the accelerator to become unresponsive in certain vehicles leading to spontaneously stalling.

Plaintiffs Nicholas and Shawna Wylie filed the complaint Tuesday seeking to represent a group of consumers who purchased or leased any Hyundai Veloster, Sonata or Elantra vehicle equipped with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT).

In October 2014, Hyundai premiered its 7-speed DCT, designed to “provide an improvement in fuel consumption and CO2 emission compared to a conventional six-gear automated transmission, while acceleration performance increases” and featuring two dry clutches that transfer engine power “independently into the odd and even gear train to always be ready to shift into the next gear.”

However, the Wylies, who own a Veloster Turbo, allege that Hyundai’s 7-speed DCT contains a design defect in the Transmission Control Module (TCM) that causes, among other problems, failure to shift, stalling, delayed acceleration, or loss of power.

The TCM is a small electronic component within the powertrain that processes data from various sensors throughout the engine in order to determine the optimal gear for shifting and fuel-economy.

“These conditions are hazardous because they severely affect the driver’s ability to control the vehicle during normal driving conditions and prevent drivers from accelerating to maintain safe speeds in traffic,” the Wylies contend.

“Class members (as well as members of the general public) remain subject to dangerous transmission malfunctions that can occur without warning,” they stated.

For example, the TCM defect may make it difficult for drivers to accelerate safely from traffic stops because Class Members’ vehicles hesitate, fail to shift gears, and stall when drivers try to accelerate from stops.

Since at least 2015, through consumer complaints and dealership repair orders, among other internal sources, Hyundai reportedly knew or should have known that the 7-speed DCT in these vehicles contains a design defect that impairs drivability and causes safety hazards, in part because the same concerns were expressed regarding the 2016-2017 Hyundai Tucson that is equipped with the same 7-speed DCT and TCM.

“Corporate officers, directors, or managers knew about the TCM defect but failed to disclose it. … Hyundai either refused to acknowledge [the problems’] existence or performed repairs that simply masked them,” the lawsuits says.

In fact, in August 2016, Hyundai issued a Technical Service Bulletin for Hyundai Tucson vehicles equipped with the 7- speed DCT and a limited recall in September 2016 for certain models of the same vehicles informing its dealers that a faulty “transmission clutch application logic can result in a delayed engagement when accelerating from a stop” or fail to accelerate at all “if the accelerator pedal is repeatedly cycled.”

According to the lawsuit, Hyundai dealers were instructed to reprogram the TCM in the affected vehicles. However, both the TSB and the recall were limited to the 2016 Tucson, despite owners complaining of similar issues in other Hyundai vehicles equipped with the same 7-speed DCT.

The Wylies claim that if they had known about these TCM defects when they purchased their Hyundai vehicle, they and other potential Class Members would not have purchased or leased the vehicles.

The Wylies are represented by Jordan Lurie, Tarek Zohdy, Cody Padgett and Karen Wallace of Capstone Law APC and Troy Isaacson, Norberto Cisneros and Barbara McDonald of Maddox Isaacson Cisneros LLP.

The Hyundai Defective Transmission Class Action Lawsuit is Wylie v. Hyundai, Case No. 8:16-cv-02102, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.