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
Hi yes I would like to be a part of this class action lawsuit. I have a 2015 Sonata and have had excessive oil consumption as to where they wanted to charge me to have an oil consumption test but my engine stalled on me the same week after they filled my car with oil. They also replaced my oil valve gasket twice in 13 months and charged me to clean the oil off my engine and replace the spark plugs.
I have a 2015 Hyundai sonata and a 2013 Elantra they both use oil terribly and drive rough no matter how well I stay up on maintenance. How can I join this action?
My child has a this car and is a student, He kept putting oil in it in massive amounts and we took it in twice to look at. Two weeks ago the engine seized and the dealer refused to do anything but junk it because a STUDENT did not have proof of every single oil change in the last two years and it voided the warranty. Biggeest SCAM company and crappy car ever!!! Who as to put oil in a a newer car weekly!!!!
I have a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. I just had an oil change 3/4 mos ago. The car has no oil!!! This car is leisurely driven. There’s no oil leaks in the driveway. The auto shop says it’s consuming an enormous amount of oil. I’m now having to have the engine repaired. How do i join this suit?
I have a Hyundai Palisade 2022, purchased it about 7months ago.. after 4months of purchased, ive noticed its consuming oil.. until now im still on the consumption test at the Hyundai dealership..
How can i join to this class action lawsuit?
I have a 2016 Hyundai Sonata with roughly 112K miles. The engine has been well maintained with routine service & oil changes typically performed as suggested by Hyundai. Although more recently the car has been consuming one to two quarts of oil approx every thousand miles, it was still running reasonably well. I wasn’t aware of the breadth of issues people were having with these engines and had even heard the oil consumption was just inherent in the engine’s design.
However, last weekend I was driving on a freeway entrance when the car started to stumble and hesitate until eventually the dash went dark and the vehicle lost total power. I rolled unpowered down the nearest freeway exit stopping at a light. After several attempts I was able to get the car running again but the engine is not the same & continues to shudder and stall. At present I am trying to schedule a service appointment/inspection with a local Hyundai dealer. I am really quite surprised by all this as the car was not neglected & had just been topped off with oil and fitted with new spark plugs and several new coil packs. I hope someone can help with this issue!
Please add me to class action suit.
Appending earlier comments on 2016 Hyundai Sonata engine problems.
Hyundai dealer ran diagnostics & said Cyl 3 had no compression. With no further explanations as to what is causing compression loss (piston/rings, valves, head gasket, etc), only option given was to replace engine for $6.5k +
I have a 2017 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0. We are going through 1 quart every 1,000 miles. We discovered this one day (the car had 46,950 miles) because the oil light came on and when we checked the dip stick it was dry. It took 2.5 quarts to bring it back to the full level. Now we’ve got 49,736 miles and we check the oil level every week. We bought 6 quarts of oil and keep two in the car. Sad thing is we love this car. It’s a real comfortable ride and other than regular maintenance hasn’t had any problems. We learned about the oil consumption test that Hyundai will perform but that seems like a waste of time. We are considering trading in the car and that may be an option down the line. we wouldn’t sell it to an individual without disclosing the problem and we are very concerned that the problem will get even worse over time. We would love to join this suit. We live in Georgia.
I have a 2014 Elantra that is consuming oil the dealerships want 69.95 to change oil for an oil consumption test and I have to bring it back every 1000 miles until Hyundai says we have had enough oil changes. Please add me to law suit
We have a 2017 and a 2015 Hyundai Sonata that is using oil. The 2015 has been using it for a while the 2017 just started. We did take the 2015 to the dealership and they cannot figure out why or where the oil is going. Said maybe if we spend the $500.+ to clean the engine it MIGHT fix it but can’t guarantee it will. They contacted the Hyundai Corporation and they said cleaning the engine would not be covered by a warranty. How can I add my two vehicles to the class action lawsuit?
trying to figure out why the 2014 Tuscon is not included in the suit. Currently in the midst of an oil consumption test, it only has about 57k miles on it. I’m the 2nd owner so the factory warranty doesn’t apply however they apparently are offering an extended warranty on the engine itself so clearly there is a known issue here. I still owe on the car and I’m worried the results of the oil consumption won’t be “enough” to warrant the engine replacement… does anyone know why the 2014 was excluded?