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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3,221 thoughts onHyundai class action over excessive oil consumption dismissed
I recently purchased a 2012 Veloster with 170,000 miles. I must add a quart of oil every 1200 miles or so and I drive a LOT! I got a good enough deal on the car that I can live with the oil consumption but I know it will eventually burn out my catalytic converter due to the excess carbon in the exhaust. I wish the plaintiffs good luck in their lawsuit. This sounds like something Hyundai should have addressed long ago.
This car isn’t listed in your suit but it is a Hyundai so thought I’d mention it.
Just bought a used 2017 Hyundai Accent about a month ago that is also using oil. Have added a quart every 2 weeks. 85 to 90K mileage on it when bought and it is driven 80 to 100 stop-and-go miles per day by us at least 6 days a week (newspaper delivery). Have no idea of the previous maintainance schedule. Did not have time to research the vehicle for these types of issues prior to purchase because our 2017 Ford Escape died (which is another class action lawsuit in the making as the engine seized in mid drive and no one, not even Ford knows why) and we needed another car for work ASAP. No visible oil leaks to explain why this is happening.
Because we drive so many stop and go miles each week, we check the oil regularly and change it about every 4K miles no matter what brand of car we are driving. We always use the Castrol brand synthetic oil recommended for Kia/Hyundai engines (more expensive but worth it to keep the cars running right) but this Accent had Pennzoil in it at purchase by the sticker on the window.
We had a 2014 Kia Sportage with well over 100K on it that never used oil and it was driven similar miles per day to this Accent. Our son still owns a 2016 Kia Sportage that does not use any oil either though it is driven way less than ours was.
There is also a warranty on this Accent but oil is not covered under that warranty and no reason for the loss is visible to prove it.
i would like to join the class action lawsuit i have a Hyundai i have a Tucson 2016 which burn oil for a year know i can even drive my car anymore
My 2016 Tyson oil is due at 91 thousand before Oil change , I am only at 90 thousand the Oil light came on , I had it checked no oil on the stick . My email address is [email protected] I need help.
2016 sonata
even with the extended warranty my case has been declined as of yesterday. they didn’t even to the consumption test. they topped of the oil and sent me on my way late wednesday (7-20) then called next day to tell me my case is declined due to expired warranty.
2017 Hyundai Tucson with 67K miles the engine bearing failed the dealership is asking for the service records on the car and trying to deny the engine recall repair
I have a 2017 Hyundai Sonata and my oil is constantly gone. It seems like every couple weeks my car has burned all the oil in it. There are no leaks. I would love to be part of the lawsuit.
I have a 2015 sonata that can’t go 2 weeks without having to be topped off with oil. I can go for an oil change and within 2 weeks of full service, I have to get 3-4 more quarts of oil. You can smell it burning while driving and lately it stutters and shimmies upon starting and/or breaking. We had it at the dealership and were told that all we can do is “drive it until it blows” and then Hyundai will have to do something about it then. The problem is, I have 4 active children and I work full time like many other parents and not only is this a huge inconvenience, but we’re actively trying to get it fixed with no result. My car has 80K and otherwise smooth sailing. I’d like to keep it for a while longer considering it’s paid for, but I also don’t want to trade it in and make it someone else’s problem. Would love to be a part of this lawsuit.
I have a 2018 Hyundai Sonata with a 2.4L engine that is burning a quart of oil per week.
I have been going through this for the last three years. I have been through three oil consumption tests on the third test I was told my cost would come out of my pocket and was sent on my way only for my engine to go completely out. Now no no one from Hyundai will respond to my complaint. Everything they asked me to do I did. Now I’m just out of a car? Unfair and I am completely lost being that my car is gone.
I have a 2017 Hyundai Tucson that I have only had for less than 3 years. In that amount of time I have had to have a complete transmission replacement because my transmission decided to just died out of no where one day. In addition to that, over the past year or so my car has been burning oil at a rate that is defiantly not normal. I am constantly checking oil levels and having to add oil in between regularly scheduled oil changes. Unfortunately I did not realize the issue in time and my car is out of warranty now so taking it to Hyundai to address at no cost to me is out of the question. It is not right that they should be able to sell cars that have known issues to unsuspecting customers. I will not ever buy another Hyundai after this one finally dies, which from the sounds of it will be sooner rather than later.
I have a 2017 Santa Fe Sport. I was on vacation in TX, q9 hours from my home in VA. We had it serviced before our trip and always check the oil before any trip. I had 104,900 miles on it and it just started shuttering and check engine light came on, while leaving TX to go back home. We were able to drive to parts store and we were 2 quarts low on oil and we had just checked oil 2 hours before leaving and it was fine. Sparkplug #2 was pretty much melted and #4 was bad also. We broke down on the 4th of July in 104⁰ weather. We couldn’t get a tow anywhere because of holiday. All the stores were closing early so we had to change Sparkplugs and add 2 quarts of oil to limp back to our friends 2 hours back. Every time we stopped the engine would shut off. Thankfully we got to a friend and Bluelink got us an appointment the next day. But when we got it to dealer they said it would be about 2 to 3 weeks before they could even do diagnostics on it. They asked to see burned up spark plug and asked what exactly happened. We were then told it isn’t likely the engine and it would probably need replaced and that could take 3 to 6 months because they had about 16 or more vehicles with same problem as mine. We had to rent a SUV to get back home which was $650+ and now I’m expected to continue making payments on my vehicle that I don’t even know when I will get back and rent a car everyday? Whichbis just not possible. The cheapest rental is $85+ tax a day. No way can anyone afford to make payments and pay for a rental. We have called Hyundai numerous times, they gave us a case manager and it’s been 17 days since we had to leave my car in Texas and NO ONE has called us back or even talked to us. We just keep getting tossed around with no answers. I’m beyond livid. My car has been towed in twice for knock sensor and once I drove it there on limp mode for same thing. Another time my car stalled but they couldn’t find the issue so I was sent home.