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
We’re in! Last year, my husband’s 2016 Veloster burst into flames and he narrowly escaped. Now our 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe has a locked up engine, one month after payoff.
My 2017 sonata is burning oil and still under warranty
My 2015 Hyundai Elantra, is burning oil. I did an oil compensation test and burned two quarts of oil after a thousand miles and Hyundai denied my claim. Dealership told me that was normal that I have to put oil in my car every so many miles. Please add me to the lawsuit.
My 2016 Sonata began to have the same issue last year, I had to add the motor oil consistently and later changed to using synthetic oil, but the problem is getting worse, I have to add oil every 1 or 2 months cause the warning light is on, and now the dealership takes forever to book a service appointment… my car is at 98k mile, maybe by the time I can have the appointment, I already excess my 100k warranty, don’t know that to do…
i have a 2014 hyundai veloster and it recently just had the engine go bad due to a rod and bearing, because the oil wasnt leaking out anywhere i seen it was using it and now im stuck with a blown up car and hyundai offers nothing.
50,000 miles on 2012 Tucson engine seized, car towed. It has been at the dealer for 2 weeks. They say someone is looking into warranty coverage of 200 claims so don’t expect to. Hear anything for a while.
All maintenance was done. Some oil changes were done at Jiffy Lube and I have verification.
My 2013 Sonata died on me on the interstate. Had to be towed to shop. Mechanic said engine is locked up and there is about a quart or more of oil in my radiator. Hyundai is taking 2 weeks to even look at it, saying it will take 2 days to break it down to see if it’s covered by the open ECM recall (which apparently is a long shot), and IF hyundai does cover it it will be 3-4 months before they can even get to it!
We have a 2014 Tuscon that seems to be passed over in the lawsuit. We purchased the vehicle used and immediately noticed we were adding at least 2 quarts of oil between changes. After being told this was normal and to just monitor closely we like many others just sucked it up. If the motor fails and is deemed out of warranty this may well be our last Hyundai. My question would be why is the 2014 not included?
Similar tales as all that I have read here. I took the car to Hyundai Dealership. They did consumption test and I was using over 2 quart for every 1000 miles. They want me to pay $600 for Combustion Cleaning. Please add me to the class action suit.
I just found out this was happening to my car! Literally just leaving the place that i get my oil changed from and they told me this was happening!!! I just got a oil change last month!! I have a 2018 Sonata! How can i get in with this lawsuit??
I have a 2017 Kia Soul 1.6L engine Base model always serviced by dealership. At about 80,000 miles I noticed oil consumption. Contacted the dealership and had to bring the car in at 1000 mile intervals for them to verify this. Finally they took the car overnight and put some kind of cleaning fluid in the engine. They said that should fix the problem and also that 1 qt of oil per 1000 miles is expected. It’s still using oil at 96,000 miles. I have a lifetime bumper to bumper warranty. We love the car but am worried about this continuing problem.