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A Nevada couple is suing Hyundai over an alleged transmission defect that causes the accelerator to become unresponsive in certain vehicles leading to spontaneously stalling.
Plaintiffs Nicholas and Shawna Wylie filed the complaint Tuesday seeking to represent a group of consumers who purchased or leased any Hyundai Veloster, Sonata or Elantra vehicle equipped with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT).
In October 2014, Hyundai premiered its 7-speed DCT, designed to “provide an improvement in fuel consumption and CO2 emission compared to a conventional six-gear automated transmission, while acceleration performance increases” and featuring two dry clutches that transfer engine power “independently into the odd and even gear train to always be ready to shift into the next gear.”
However, the Wylies, who own a Veloster Turbo, allege that Hyundai’s 7-speed DCT contains a design defect in the Transmission Control Module (TCM) that causes, among other problems, failure to shift, stalling, delayed acceleration, or loss of power.
The TCM is a small electronic component within the powertrain that processes data from various sensors throughout the engine in order to determine the optimal gear for shifting and fuel-economy.
“These conditions are hazardous because they severely affect the driver’s ability to control the vehicle during normal driving conditions and prevent drivers from accelerating to maintain safe speeds in traffic,” the Wylies contend.
“Class members (as well as members of the general public) remain subject to dangerous transmission malfunctions that can occur without warning,” they stated.
For example, the TCM defect may make it difficult for drivers to accelerate safely from traffic stops because Class Members’ vehicles hesitate, fail to shift gears, and stall when drivers try to accelerate from stops.
Since at least 2015, through consumer complaints and dealership repair orders, among other internal sources, Hyundai reportedly knew or should have known that the 7-speed DCT in these vehicles contains a design defect that impairs drivability and causes safety hazards, in part because the same concerns were expressed regarding the 2016-2017 Hyundai Tucson that is equipped with the same 7-speed DCT and TCM.
“Corporate officers, directors, or managers knew about the TCM defect but failed to disclose it. … Hyundai either refused to acknowledge [the problems’] existence or performed repairs that simply masked them,” the lawsuits says.
In fact, in August 2016, Hyundai issued a Technical Service Bulletin for Hyundai Tucson vehicles equipped with the 7- speed DCT and a limited recall in September 2016 for certain models of the same vehicles informing its dealers that a faulty “transmission clutch application logic can result in a delayed engagement when accelerating from a stop” or fail to accelerate at all “if the accelerator pedal is repeatedly cycled.”
According to the lawsuit, Hyundai dealers were instructed to reprogram the TCM in the affected vehicles. However, both the TSB and the recall were limited to the 2016 Tucson, despite owners complaining of similar issues in other Hyundai vehicles equipped with the same 7-speed DCT.
The Wylies claim that if they had known about these TCM defects when they purchased their Hyundai vehicle, they and other potential Class Members would not have purchased or leased the vehicles.
The Wylies are represented by Jordan Lurie, Tarek Zohdy, Cody Padgett and Karen Wallace of Capstone Law APC and Troy Isaacson, Norberto Cisneros and Barbara McDonald of Maddox Isaacson Cisneros LLP.
The Hyundai Defective Transmission Class Action Lawsuit is Wylie v. Hyundai, Case No. 8:16-cv-02102, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
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156 thoughts onHyundai Class Action Says DCT Transmissions Are Defective
I have the same issue with my 2015 Sonata. I’d like to participate.
I want to be a part of this
I got rid of my 2010 Sonata, because of the shifting issues, I had the brakes check 4 times and there was nothing wrong, but they still made lots of noise. I knew nothing of the law suit.
The description in the lawsuit sounds like every problem I have ever had with my 2008 Santa Fe.
I thought I was crazy.. Already waiting for settlement from them for my Veloster
My 2009 Sonata had shifting issues, the shifter got stuck in park. I traded it in on a 2013 Sonata and no issues for the first 2 years, now going into year 3 I’ve had numerous issues with brakes,and tail lights, the tail lights go out every couple of weeks and they melt and get stuck in the harness, several places have looked at them and told me it should be under recall. I’m praying no one hits me because I don’t have any tail lights!
One mechanic told me he checked and its not under recall, I called the dealership and they said the same.so Im just screwed until I get rid of it. The brakes squeek loudly constantly even after getting them repaired twice.
Im about to sell it!
This is a real problem and goes back to the 2000 Electra models. I still own my 2000 and have had this problem forever. When I have had a diagnostic scanner hooked up to the diagnostic plug in, and when we go to transmission section on the diagnosis optics, it turned the scanner to Japanese writing. And turned the scanner off.
I knew it wasn’t my imagination! I have a 2016 Tucson that stalled on me three times. Every single time I was stopped at a red light. The last two times I was almost rear ended. Each time I took my vehicle to the dealership they claimed they could not reproduce the stall. Finally, the tech decided to call Hyundai to find out if anyone every reported that issue. I have not had anymore problems since they did the recall.
One problem with my Elantra was the steering column locking. After terrestrial to dealers and complaint to corporate office they said process not a problem e m but a safety feature. Problem stopped after last visit to dealer
I have been extremely unhappy with my Elantra since I bought it. Had a blow out at 25000 miles and had to replace tires at 35000 miles
Omg, my car does that.