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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3,223 thoughts onHyundai class action over excessive oil consumption dismissed
I as well have a problem with my 2016 HYUNDAI SANTA FE. Thought I would check my oil level after a long trip. I was down four quarts. I couldn’t believe any service lights came on the dash. I would have thought an oil light, would alert me of this potential problem. How much longer would have I drove before a major problem arouse. Now I top off two quarts between oil changes. Not happy as I’m going for routine oil changes more often.
I have a 2018 Hyundai sonata sport and every 2 weeks we have to put a quart of oil in it. And now the air compressor for the air conditioner is tore up. These vehicles are junk. Will never own another one.
2018 hyundai santa fe. 66,000 miles, blown engine. 12,000 for a new engine.
Just been told by The Hyundai Dealership in La Quinta California that they will not honour my warranty for our 2020 Kona . We only use synthetic oil and engine consumed tons of oil and eventually failed. Oil warning never came on. We change oil regularly too.
I am having the exact same problem. I have a 2016 Hyundai Sonota that is in the shop as I speak. The valve cover gasket blew out, which damaged the spark plugs and engine coolers. This is costing me $653. I do not have that kind of money for this kind of problem all the time. I have to keep 2-3 quarts in the trunk at ALL times because the car goes through it like crazy. I would very much like to be part of this lawsuit.
2017 HYUNDAI SANTA FE burning 2 quarts of oil every 800-1000 miles. Hyundai outright refused to even look into the issue. They said due to the miles 99000 that was normal wear. They would not even cover the cost of an oil consumption test. I am now getting a check engine code that tells me I need to have the catalytic converter replaced due to it being plugged up by all this excessive oil burning. This should be considered an environmental issue as well.
2017 hyundai santa fe
Started consuming massive amounts of oil around 60k miles. Contacted Hyundai they told me to ” Just keep oil in it”. Now at 100k miles I’ve paid nearly 4k in repairs known to be caused by oil consumption. I had to have all the valves replaced. Convenient enough they said I have a cracked pan that wad also replaced. Tipped it off less than a week ago, you guessed it, It needs oil again. I will never buy another Hyundai. Most recently every light came on and it completely stalled out ON THE FOURLANE! THEY ARE LITERAL DEATH TRAPS . Now I’m also getting that it’s a bad catalytic converter code.. Ha.
I had a 2017 Tucson that’s engine blew at 3,000 miles. Hyundai replaced engine and eventually lemon pawed the car. I replaced with 2018 Tucson, now at 50,000 miles. Burning lots of oil! Doing a test next week and they said if it’s determined that’s the case, they will replace engine at no cost.
2016 Hyundai sonata same problem . Been looking for leak and can’t find one . Burning crazy amount of oil . 150k miles so I guess I’m just screwed . Car runs fine just Constantly adding oil .
We have a 2017 Tucson. It had a recall for the bearing issue and we took the car into the shop for that service. Less than a year later the engine powered down while driving home, the check engine light and oil pressure light came on. Luckily we were very close to our driveway. The car has 62,000 miles on it and was not due for an oil change for another 500 miles. My husband checked the oil and it was almost empty. The car would not start again. He put 3 quarts in the car and it started, but we decided we should turn it off and contact the nearest dealer. Now we wait 6 weeks just to have it looked at and need to have it towed to the dealership.
2017 Sonata with high oil consumption
2016 Hyundai Tucson…Worst vehicle! Uses WAY too Much oil and I have my oil changed frequently with high quality oil and within 2-3 weeks I have to add oil. 3 out of 4 of the doors locking systems are messed up. I checked into this and have found that this is a known problem with this vehicle. Hyundai in Korea did a recall to replace the faulty locks but not in the USA. This needs to be a Class Action Lawsuit As Well! It is VERY Dangerous!
My 2018 Kia Soul with 86,000 miles just blew its engine with zero lights, sounds, or indications anything was wrong until it happened. Last oil change was 6 weeks prior. Now, it looks like I will have to spend $8,000 to fix it because I am the 2nd owner and out of warranty. This sucks. AND I did not know about the “campaigns” that were open for my model.