Update:
- A judge dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by a group of vehicle owners against Hyundai Motor Co. in a California federal court.
- The class action lawsuit claimed a number of Hyundai and Kia model vehicles contained an engine defect that caused them to use an excessive amount of oil.
- The vehicle owners argued the alleged defect, in addition to costing them money for the excess oil, caused the vehicles to stall and eventually fail.
- Court approval of the dismissal was not required as the class had not been certified nor proposed to be certified for purposes of a settlement, according to court documents.
Hyundai excessive oil consumption class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: A group of Hyundai and Kia vehicle owners are suing Hyundai Motor Co.
- Why: The drivers allege numerous models of Hyundai and Kia vehicles are equipped with defective engines that use excessive amounts of oil, stall and eventually fail.
- Where: The lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.
(April 20, 2022)
Hyundai makes numerous models of Hyundai and Kia brand vehicles with defective engines that use excessive amounts of oil, costing their owners huge sums of money, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
On Apr. 12, eight owners of Hyundai and Kia brand vehicles filed a class action lawsuit against Hyundai Motor Co. in a California federal court, alleging violations of federal warranty laws.
The Hyundai excessive oil consumption lawsuit alleges that numerous models of the automaker’s vehicles are equipped with defective Nu, Gamma, Theta, Lambda and Kappa engines.
The defective engines allegedly use excessive amounts of oil, stall and eventually fail. The drivers say Hyundai should have issued a recall for the vehicles a long time ago but hasn’t.
As a result, thousands of Hyundai and Kia owners and lessees have allegedly been forced to constantly check the oil levels, and oil must be added to the engines more frequently than even the owner’s manuals recommend, Car Complaints reports.
The engine issue has flow-on effects like reduction in engine lubrication due to crankshaft submersion and gaskets and seals damage, which leads to oil leaks.
The plaintiffs also claim that oil in their vehicles migrates to places where it shouldn’t be, damaging the combustion and exhaust systems.
This allegedly causes “abnormal wear of engine parts, oversaturation of carbon and deposits of oil sludge, ultimately requiring a costly engine rebuild or replacement.”
Automaker should honor warranty claims outside terms, Hyundai class action says
The plaintiffs allege that Hyundai should honor customers’ warranty claims even when the warranties have expired.
According to the lawsuit, Hyundai can’t adequately repair the oil consumption problems and doesn’t offer any reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs caused by the issue.
The class action states customers must suffer through long wait times for replacement parts, “and in most cases do not receive required engine replacements.”
The cars with the allegedly faulty engines include the 2012-2020 Hyundai Elantra, 2009-2018 Hyundai Genesis Coupe, 2019-2021 Hyundai Kona, 2020-2021 Hyundai Palisade, 2010-2012 and 2015-2021 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2009-2010 and 2015-2021 Hyundai Sonata, 2011–2021 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid, 2010-2013 and 2015-2021 Hyundai Tucson, 2011-2021 Hyundai Veloster, 2020-2021 Hyundai Venue, 2010-2021 Kia Forte, 2017-2020 Kia Niro, 2011-2020 Kia Optima and Optima Hybrid, 2012-2021 Kia Rio, 2011-2020 Kia Sorento, 2012-2021 Kia Soul, 2011-2020 Kia Sportage, 2018-2021 Kia Stinger and 2022 Kia K5.
Meanwhile, Hyundai has expanded its recall of vehicles with an exploding seat belt part issue that has caused multiple injuries to include 6,240 of its 2021-2022 Elantra and 2020 Accent vehicles.
The plaintiffs are represented by Nye, Stirling, Hale & Miller LLP, Sauder Schelkopf LLC and Walsh, PLLC.
The Hyundai Oil Consumption Lawsuit is Cho, et al., v. Hyundai Motor Company, LTD., et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Are you one of the drivers affected by an allegedly faulty Hyundai engine? Let us know in the comments!
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3,385 thoughts onHyundai class action over excessive oil consumption dismissed
I have a 2020 Hyundai Palisade with almost 94,000 miles on it. I have had it for two years and it had some stalling issues, but nothing I was super concerned about. However, I went to pull out of my drive one day and my car started smoking. It never turned over and I disconnected the battery because I was scared of a fire. It had a oil change maybe a month prior to this happening and turns out there was no oil in the vehicle or coolant. I had the car towed to the original dealership that I purchased the vehicle from. It has been there for over a month now. Extended warranty is saying “limited liability” covers only 2,500 of repairs, but the repairs cost about 15,000 dollars. Looking over all contracts that I received, I did not have that part in my paperwork, but it is in the paperwork that extended warranty sent me, but does not have my signatures on it but my typed in name… My paper has my signature on it. It also has my signature after all what was covered with the warranty. The contract the warranty sent has the limited liability well after where I signed at. 2,500 is the coverage for the limited liability but my service contract was 4,500? It’s not adding up.
I have a 2018 Hyundai sonata I bought as the 2nd owner two years ago. Within a few months of driving it the check engine light will come on and say it’s low on oil. I fill it with motor oil about 2 quarts every 1K miles. I do not like this and wish Hyundai can recall or repair their faulty engines. Hyundai told me that is normal for engines to consumer 1 quarts every 1K miles. I am unhappy with Hyundai and would like to get it repaired if it has a warranty.
I bought a 2018 hyundai santa fe sport from a dealer had it for one and half years second owner. While driving down a highway rpms went high the when I got it of the highway engine shut down, had it towed to a garage was told cylinder was cracked. Waiting on answer from warranty company to see if it’s covered. Had to purchase another vehicle for transportation, can’t afford a new engine replacement. What do I do?
My 2016 Hyundai Sonata Sport is going through same thing. No help from Hyundai. It burned over 2 quarts in 1k miles. They know about this problem. I’m 2nd owner and bought with on only 11k miles on it. Beginning to hate Hyundai.
I just had the same exact issue happen to my 2018 Hyundai Kona with the 2.0 liter engine. No warning light just noise, pull off the expressway, check dipstick and no oil and no leaks. 2019-2021 models have a recall with the exact same engine.
I had a 2016 Sonata and I was taking my car to the shop on a weekly bases for oil consumption. It affected my spark plugs and I spent so much money on fixing my car. I would break down because of the issue. Hyundai wouldn’t help me with the issue. I will get oil changes and I would put oil in my car every other day.
I have the 2016 Kia optima and this exact issue happened to me yesterday 8/4/25. I purchased it in 2022 and noone ever told me about this lawsuit or that there were recalls with excessive oil issues leading to a possibility of fire. Now I’m stuck with a paper weight.
Engine failure just happened to my 2016 hyuandai santa fe sport August Aug 5th 2025. However the wonderful dealership hyuandai in bakersfield is replacing my engine plus gave me to drive a really nice Tucson I may be looking to buy if has the newer engine and carries same warranty. My car has the warranity. The way I see it all cars have some sort of problem. So it’s important to have warranties although my car may still have oil consumption. Sorry for what happened. My hyuandai dealership has taken fully taken good care of me which I don’t regret buying another hyuandai.