Logotype of Hyundai corporation.
(Photo Credit: Arsenie Krasnevsky/Shutterstock)

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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3,224 thoughts onHyundai class action over excessive oil consumption dismissed

  1. Wendy Selman says:

    I own a Hyundai Sonata 2015. I have had my car hesitated when pressing on the gas fully stopped for weeks and the engine light came on and my car seized up while driving. Took it to the dealership and the oil was bone dry. Just had an oil change 2 months prior. They decided to do an oil consumption test which failed miserably. After 1000 miles I had 1/2 quart of oil in my car. After talking to Hyundai they will not replace my engine and want me to now pay $650 for a combustion cleaning and that still does not guarantee that I will get a new engine. It’s such a run around and I feel so unsafe in my car. I tried to go through the BBB auto hotline but my car had 94,000 miles on it and I was ineligible for their arbitration.

  2. Krista says:

    I have a 2017 Santa fe sport ultimate. I ahd the pil changed I. May and then in September. I had to take it in early as the oil light came on. I am 3,000 in to my latest oil change and I was just about out of pil again. I’d like to be apart of this law suit as apparently this is a wide knowin issue.

  3. Danielle Alford says:

    Back on September 04, 2023 my 2011 Hyundai Sonata caught on fire. A couple of weeks later I see on the news about engine fires. Even the fire captain said it started in the engine. I definitely need a attorney to reach out to me ASAP!

  4. Barbara Harris says:

    I have a 2015 Hyundai accent that goes through oil like crazy. The engine starts misfiring and attempts to cut off while driving. We have had to replace spark plugs and ignition coils more than once due to whatever is causing us to go through so much oil. The engine light comes on each time it starts misfiring and when I need more oil. This is definitely affecting my engine in a bad way.

  5. Amy says:

    Have a 2016 Hyundai Sonata with the same issue. Would like to be apart of this lawsuit and get this fixed. Please advise how I can do that.

  6. Erin says:

    As others have mentioned, we’ve had the exact same oil consumption issues with a 2017 Sonata (Limited). We’ve been putting in several quarts of oil each month – even after changes. It is dry as a bone when we check it. We barely made it to the dealership yesterday (11/28/23) as it was making horrible vibrations and wanting to stall out. We couldn’t get it over 15 mph. In any event, looks like we have a lemon – I don’t know why we went for all the upgrades – RRRRrrr! We will see what the dealership says and post an update. Good luck to everyone!

  7. Sofia Echevarria says:

    Saludos, estoy buscando información de que debo hacer con mi Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2017 (46 mil millas) Está consumiendo aceite. Lo dejé en uno de los concesionarios de servicios de la Hyundai aquí en Miami, cerca de donde vivo. Hace más de 15 días y no me dan respuesta a el proceso que deben hacerle. Estoy sin carro y tampoco me ofrecen uno. Llamas y no atienden . Buzón de voz casi siempre lleno. Tampoco responden si dejas mensajes. Ahora estoy esperando respuesta de servicio al cliente que está en California.

  8. Michael Williams says:

    Started noticing my Sonata was losing oil through my exhaust when my son was following me and said when I left a stop light my car blew a puff of black smoke out. This started at around 100,000 miles. Started checking my oil once a week in between oil changes and had to add 1 quart before every change. Since then I had to take my car in for a couple of recalls and mentioned it to one of the Technicians and he told me that it was normal. I said that’s funny I’ve never had a car that burned multiple quarts of oil in between oil changes in my life. Don’t know what to do, still have a year to pay the car off and was not counting on starting over when the car only has 110,000 miles on it.

  9. Kaylymm says:

    Was Driving on the freeway my Hyundai accent 2018 start shaking, stalling out, losing power, as if it was about to turn off. Scared me to death. Towed car to shop. Car is miss firing with blue smoke out of tail pipe, possible internal oil leak in engine & burning oil. spark plug 1 & 2 wet with oil eplaced spark plugs, & fault. I have done all recommended repairs & I don’t understand how oil is leaking in the engine. Unable to determine what engine is in it due to this year make and model used 2 different style engines. All signs lean towards fire in the engine. Oil in wrong place inside car engine + extreme heat = FIRE Is there anyone out there that can help me with these kind of manufacturing life threatening dangers?

    1. Barbara Harris says:

      I don’t have any answers but I also have a Hyundai Accent 2015 that does same thing. Twice we have had to replace spark plugs and a ignition coil due to car trying to cut off while driving. The amount of oil I have to go through is ridiculous and my engine light comes on every time it starts misfiring.

  10. charles orzechowski says:

    Bought 2017 Hyundai Santa fe last year with 90,000 miles. After owning it a week the check engine light came on. I spent the next 3 months bringing the car to the used car dealer on a routine basis where he was trying to fix the check engine light. After 3 months (the length of time of my warranty was for) the check engine light was supposedly fixed. About a month later I went to change the oil and it was over 2 quarts low. It now consumes at least 2 -3 quarts every 1,000 miles. It is my assumption that the used car dealer was topping it off every time I brought it in for service because I was checking it on a regular basis after the purchase. I have since brought it to the local Hyundai dealer and they brought it in to do the oil consumption test however they called me the next day and told me Hyundai is refusing to do the test because the car has 99000 miles. Now my check engine light is on and I need a new catalytic converter. If there is anything you can do the help would be greatly appreciated

    1. Stacey Pilkington says:

      2017 Elantra 111,111 miles, engine is failing, two codes relating to crankshaft position sensors, checked the oil when my car started dying and the oil was not registering on the dipstick. The car was not leaking or burning oil. The oil was not due for change for 3,000 more miles. $7,000 engine replacement required: please help.

      1. Allie N Cox says:

        I have a 2017 Hyundai Tuscon Limited. I have 100,000 miles on my car I bought it used from a dealer. My check engine light came on and I advised them it was coming on. They after paying hundreds of dollars to have a diagnostic ran in it they said it was a wheel sensor and it was nothing that needed to fixed immediately. I have done regular oil changes I was making a 3 hour trip and my husband told me I was a quart low, so he topped me off with oil. 2 weeks later my car started making a heavy knocking sound otw home. After getting it home my husband checked my oil and my dipstick couldn’t even read oil. It’s going to cost me 5 to 7000 dollars to get a used motor in my car since the car is so new. I am lost for words because I still owe 14,000 on my car and its a daily driver and my main source to work. I’m making payments and paying gor insurance on a car that is not safe to drive because it’s going to leave me on the side of the road. Every mechanic I have talked to said there is no point in fixing the issue because the initial problem I have creates a domino effect to other major issues and it’s not worth fixing. I don’t want to take my car to the dealership due to what I have read. They will give the run around make me to 1000 mile oil tests all to tell me since my car is over 100,000 miles they won’t help me and I don’t want to waste my money on the BS.

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