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 would like to be added to this and add 2014 Santa Fe into the law suit. I am burning 3 quarts of oil every 1,000 miles! It’s crazy!!!
I have a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe. I have absolutely loved this car up until having this oil consumption issue. I start the process of paperwork where I have to submit all my oil change receipts on the 5th. In the mean time just have to eat the cost of adding oil. And who knows if the claim will be covered. I tried to sell it and buy a new car but couldn’t find anything I like. Has anyone has any luck with them fixing or replacing the car?
My Hyundai Sonata 2015 has 95289 miles on it and I had an oil change about 3000 miles ago and I have add 3 + quarts of oil. This has been going on for months. I drive about 12000 miles a year and every time I take my car in for an oil change, the oil is very low to almost none
In 2018, I bought my 2017 Hyundai Sonata which has been my first and only car. Since then I have used it constantly, back around 100,000 miles I did my Consumption test. During which period they told me they could fix the issue by doing a Carbon Cleaning, they said the process would fix my car and if it didn’t the next process would be getting a new engine.
Fast forward a few months later at a different Hyundai dealer, I did the test again this time the employee was nice enough to let me know that if they were to do the carbon cleaning that it would not fix the issue. They said I was burning around 1qt of oil every 400-500 miles. And with the Carbon cleaning it would only improve it to 1qt every 700-800 miles. He told me my best chance was my car was in good shape. No dashboard lights and that Carmax was my best friend at the moment and I should get rid of the car. The fact that the mechanics even know that we are being screwed over by something that should of been fixed and not making us the problem.
Two years ago, my Hyundai Tucson 2016 which had approximately $78,000 miles started the oil consumption test which consisted of the mechanic topping off the engine oil, and I was told after one thousand miles to come back, the mechanic will document the outcome and it is repeated another two more times with a Jones Junction Hyundai service previous employee who was no longer with the Company when I came after the 3rd oil consumption test. During that test, In between every thousand miles, my husband had to add several gallons of oil. When I went To the Hyundai service, they told me they could not find any documentation on my consumption test since the previous employee is no longer with the company so I have to start the process all over again when I have time.
My Tucson has now had another set of three tests completed a while back and the service gentleman has submitted all the documentation to Hyundai straight away approximately about 2 months ago but Hyundai has not done anything about it yet and my husband has to refill at least two quarts of the oil every week for the past year. My oil is not leaking, it is being burnt by the engine for the past two years.
My 2017 Hyundai Sonata has this same issue and burns oil like crazy as well. We have to carry extra oil around with us at all times to refill it. There is never any oil spillage on the driveway. I thought I was crazy until I came across this explanation.
My 2016 Sonata SE has the same excessive oil consumption issue.
Please add me
2014 santa fe 2.0T 6 liters of oil in 5000kms, no power, fouling spark plugs, 120.00 dollars worth of oil every 5000k hyundia dealer here said that is normal for an old engine which is just an excuse to not fix the shit they put out, warranty in canada only extended to 200k if youre the original owner. If not your looking 10k for an engine.
My 2016 Sante Fe (6 cyclinder) w/88k has a blown engine due to faulty bearing and metal shaving in my engine. Hyundai refuses to pay since I am second owner and out of warranty. This is the same problem they issued a recall for on the 2016 Sante fee sport model.