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 owned a 2013 Genesis Coupe 2.0t with about 92k miles on it. I owned the car for three months as I had bought it used. The car ran amazingly and I had my oil change done the day after purchasing. About 4 thousand miles later, I’m driving into work when I start hearing my engine knocking. My was never diagnosed, but was advised engine replacement. I waited three months in a national case with Hyundai just to be told over the phone that I need to pay out of pocket to have my car examined at another dealership. Hyundai wanted me to drive my car that their dealership recommended me not to drive just to get a second diagnosis, and then also expected me to pay for the diagnosis. Mind you it took them three months of investigation just to tell me that I needed a second opinion. My family then decided to transport the car to an aftermarket place for rebuild where the place officially diagnosed my engine with rod knock and deemed the engine totaled. I informed Hyundai about this incident and they basically said oh well. I tried to inform them of known issues of the theta 2 line, and even tried to contact the on going class action lawsuit for repair to no avail. I ended up having to sell the car. I called a few months back just to question about this lawsuit to see if I can get some form of re imbursment for the troubles, but they told me off again.
2017 sonota constantly burning through about 2qts of oil every couple hundred miles took in to fix problem they claim they replaced camshaft seal cover and position sensor. when problem continued took it back in they said they seal was bad so they would replace the whole thing (apparently they charged me for it put didnt do the full correct job the first time) problem has still continued no they tell me i need a new engine after already paying for the other repairs that did nothing
2016 Santa Fe sport 150,000 now . It’s been burning 1qt every 600 miles since it hit 110k miles. Want to dump this car and buy new Toyota but not now when they want 5k over msrp. Hyundai has so many engine issues that they need to just start buying Toyota engines if they want to stay in business.
2017 Hyundai sonata I still owe 8k on the damn car and I’m now checking once a week adding at least 3 qts in every other
I’m constantly putting 2 and 3 quarts in my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport every couple weeks. This SUV also looses power when I go to make turns sometimes. It’s disgraceful that Hyundai doesn’t stand by their cars and does the right thing.
I am going through this now😔 same story engine burning hella oil.
My Hyundai sonata 2016 year model It’s burning 3 qt per 500 miles I took it to Hyundai To replace the engine as the postcard from Hyundai ,Hyundai of America denied my The car is basically useless at this point and is a safety hazard because Oil is being pumped into the catalyst converter Which eventually will cause a fire
I purchased my 2016 Hyundai Sonata new with only 14 miles on it. 6 years later and currently at 104,800 miles I am having to check oil levels more frequently then ever, constantly having to make sure I have a extra quart in the car just in case. It varies on how many miles I can make it before I need to add. I’m afraid of the costs associated with this and if I am going to have to pay this on my own. I am hoping for a positive resolution from this case and unfortunately glad to hear it’s not a isolated issue.
This happened to me 7 months ago! I have a2017 Santa fe sport, I took the vehicle in because it was making a knocking noise, realizing that the oil change i had just did was pretty much empty. They replenished it and told me to drive it for 1000 miles and bring it back if I had issues. Well I drove it for 100 miles and the engine gave out! It sat in the dealer for over a month trying to get a new engine!
My husband almost got killed this morning on a major highway because the motor in our 2018 tuscon just went on his way to work. He had to abandon the car to get to safety. Now Hyundai is telling us it will be a month before they can even look at it and can’t even give us a loaner. My husband is our only income now he can potentially lose his job and we will be homeless with our two kids.