Hyundai, Kia Class Action Says Engines May Burst Into Flames

A class action lawsuit alleges that an engine defect can cause Hyundai Tucson and Kia Soul vehicles to stall and even burst into flames.

Plaintiffs Elizabeth Snider and James Twigger claim that Hyundai and Kia have concealed the defect from consumers for years.

The Hyundai, Kia engine defect has allegedly affected thousands of car owners and others on the road when vehicle engines fail unexpectedly, stall, and even catch fire.

According to the Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit, the affected vehicles include the 2011-2013 Hyundai Tucson and the 2012-2016 Kia Soul. The alleged defect affects engines with a gasoline direct-injection.

The Hyundai Tucson class action lawsuit contends that the defect causes these direct injection engines to suffer from improper sealing during engine production, leading to oil leaks.

These leaks then cause serious problems, including the stalling, failure, and flames, the Kia Soul class action lawsuit states.

“Only recently—after years of concealing serious safety defects—have Hyundai and Kia begun to recall certain [models] of these vehicles, but…such a recall will be inadequate to remedy the problem or to compensate the customers who bore the risk that their cars might suddenly stall while driving or, worse, burst into flames,” alleges the Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit.

The class action states that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the car makers are recalling certain vehicles equipped with the 1.6 liter “Gamma” engine. The recall includes 120,000 Tucsons and 378,000 Souls.

The plaintiffs allege that the most recent recalls issued in response to numerous complaints do not go far enough, however.

“The proposed recall of the Kia Soul covers 375,000 vehicles equipped with one engine—the 1.6-liter ‘Gamma’ engine— but does not address Kia Soul Plus vehicles equipped with what is, on information and belief, a second defective engine, the 2.0-liter ‘Nu’ engine,” contends the Kia class action lawsuit.

One of the plaintiffs alleges that his vehicle is equipped with the Nu engine and suffered from the engine defect.

Further, alleges the Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit, car owners must now deal with the loss in value of their recalled vehicles.

“These consumers did not get the vehicles they bargained for at the time of purchase, have gone years without an adequate repair, may have suffered diminished resale value, and cannot now be made whole merely by recalling and repairing the vehicles,” argue the plaintiffs.

According to the Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit, in addition to economic damages, the plaintiffs and those in the proposed Class have risked injury and even death because of the alleged engine defect.

“Hyundai and Kia alike have concealed these defects for years, despite hundreds of consumer complaints of spontaneous catastrophic engine failures, stalls, and fires,” the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Soul class action lawsuit states.

The Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of those who owned or leased a Class vehicle, including the 2011-2013 Hyundai Tucson and the 2012-2016 Kia Soul, along with subclasses of Washington and West Virginia residents.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages and a court order stopping Hyundai and Kia from concealing the alleged defect and requiring them to repair or buyback affected vehicles.

Snider and Twigger are represented by Lynn Lincoln Sarko, Gretchen Freeman Cappio, and Ryan McDevitt of Keller Rohrback LLP and Benjamin L. Bailey and Jonathan D. Boggs of Bailey Glasser LLP.

The Hyundai, Kia Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Snider, et al. v. Hyundai Motor America Inc., et al., Case No. 3:19-cv-05193-TLF, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.