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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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158 thoughts onHyundai Class Action Says DCT Transmissions Are Defective
I have the same issues with my 2013 Elantra. It stalls and refuses to shift. I have paid for it to be fixed but it keeps coming back.
I have a Hyundai Tucson Limited 2017. My car keeps hesitating. I was the Tobin Bridge in Boston and I stepped on the gas (slight in cline on the bridge) and the car would not move! It took about 5 seconds and then jerked forward. It was extremely frightening. This also happened to me on 128 when I stopped in traffic and then tried to move. I thought I ran out of gas! I had 3/4 tank! I took the car to Hyundai Village were I bought the car (it has 9000 miles) and there is nothing they said they can do. Recommended trading the vehicle!!! I have to do something I am afraid of this vehicle.
I am going through the same thing with My hyundai my car is stalling in the middle of traffic the dealer still have my car. To top it off they been resetting my engine light. I almost had an accident in the middle of rush hour traffic in the highway because my car deceletayed as I was pressing on the gas. I want in.
I have the same problem with my 2017 1.6T Tucson with the DCT. I am now scared to drive it because of
the instances where the engine has not engaged the drive train. The dealer says it is behaving “properly”.
Maybe it is behaving properly for a Tucson but it is not “proper” when it creates fear in the driver.
I understand what you are going through. I bought a brand new 2017 Hyundai Tucson 1.6T limited. Now I’m afraid of the vehicle. I’m afraid to stop in traffic. It will hesitate then jerk forward. All of the salespeople at Hyundai know of this problem. I bought a brand new car and now the advise from Hyundai is to trade the car. I got a price of $22000 from them for trade. A loss of $6000 and I had the car for 9 months. Then pay top dollar to them for another vehicle. Hyundai has admitted the car has a problem! I was told it can’t be fixed! They should take it back and give me back my money.
I purchased a 2017 Tucson 1.6T only 2 months ago here in Southern Ontario Canada. I don’t even have 5500kms on it and it has left me in some scary traffic situations 5 times! The sudden loss of power, no acceleration and excessive RPM’s over 6000 with little to no forward motion. The 5 time the dealer finally took it in and drove the Tucson for 2 days hooked up to their black box. Fortunately, It did it the second morning with the tech driving. It threw up a couple engine codes and the engine light came on for the first time. Service advisor called me immediately and I spoke directly to the tech that was driving it. The codes indicated sudden loss of power from the turbo booster at 3000rpm and they told me they were replacing the turbo booster sensor switch as well as the pipe that connects the booster to the intercooler. I’m not confident this is all that is required however they have proceeded with replacing these with the 2018 parts. Then I have instructed them to drive my Tucson for another day or two after the work has been completed to run further diagnostics. I will post an update to follow this one once I know more however, I am fully prepared to accelerate this to corporate here in Canada to get a case started.
Want to join suit. This has cost me about $8000.
I’m having the same issue with my 17 Tucson. It’s freaking scary and I’m afraid to drive this car as I’ve almost been hit multiple times because the car doesn’t accelerate. I’m livid. The dealer said if you feel unsafe, trade it in, but the car rides as it should. Oh really? It’s primary function is to move…..and guess what? It doesn’t!!
Same problem with 2013 AND new 2017. Horrid dealer says “it doesn’t do that for me”. Don’t even think he’s driven them, just parked in the back of lot. Hyundai corporate does nothing.
I’ve been having the same problem. What can I do to join?
My 2016 Hyundai Tucson does exactly the same! As so to speak it is in the dealership as I write this they have told me “ have never seen this in a Tucson before”
How do I join this !?
I have the same problem with my 2017 1.6T tucson with the DCT. The dealership where I bought and they say there’s nothing wrong with the car, really? So I just spent $36,000 on a car and I’m making it up? This car is a problem, it hesitates, it bucks when trying to move from a dead stop and it is dangerous to drive!