A New Jersey woman recently filed a class action lawsuit alleging that certain Hyundai Elantra models have a piston defect which can cause dangerous engine failures.
Plaintiff Elizabeth Brown filed the class action lawsuit against Hyundai Motor America and Hyundai Motor Company LTD, alleging that the car maker’s Elantra models posses a dangerous piston defect.
The Hyundai Elantra class action claims that Elantra models from 2011 through 2016, with “Nu” 1.8 liter engines, are affected by a piston defect.
Brown says the piston defect stems from 2011 changes to the piston manufacturing process.
The Hyundai class action lawsuit alleges that Brown purchased a 2013 Hyundai Elantra, containing a “Nu” 1.8 liter engine, from an authorized dealer near her home.
In late 2017, Brown reportedly began to notice a knocking, ticking noise from her vehicle. A week later, while her son was driving the car, a loud pop was heard from the engine before it failed.
The plaintiff says she attempted to file a warranty claim but was denied when the dealer allegedly found oil sludge, citing inadequate maintenance.
The Hyundai Elantra piston defect can allegedly cause engine failures. The symptoms of the related engine failure reportedly include a knocking noise upon start up, loss of engine power, loss of power steering, loss of break assistance, and sudden stalling.
The Hyundai Elantra class action lawsuit claims that once the engine fails, there is no way to fix it apart from completely replacing the engine, a $10,000 repair.
Brown argues that Hyundai Elantra engine failure can place consumers at serious risk for accident, injury, and death. If a Hyundai Elantra engine were to fail while a consumer was driving, they would reportedly be at serious risk for collision.
The Hyundai Elantra class action claims that the automaker knew about the defect but did not initiate a recall or repair action in the United States.
Brown says Canadian dealers were instructed to replace engines affected by engine knocking, a symptom of the problem, but no such order was initiated in the United States.
Instead of offering a fix for the dangerous problem, Hyundai Elantra dealers blame consumers for “inadequate maintenance” and deny warranty claims for a replacement engine, according to the Hyundai Elantra class action lawsuit.
“Defendants have not recalled and/or offered an adequate engine repair to the Class Vehicles, offered their customers suitable repairs or replacements free of charge, or offered to reimburse their customers who have incurred out-of-pocket expenses to repair the defect,” the Hyundai Elantra class action states.
Brown seeks to represent a Class of current and former owners and lessees of Hyundai Elantra vehicles affected by the alleged piston defect. She also seeks to represent a New Jersey subclass of the same consumers.
The Hyundai Elantra class action seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, injunctive relief, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.
Brown is represented by Matthew D. Schelkopf and Joseph B. Kenney of Sauder Schelkopf LLC; Nicholas Migliaccio, Jason Rathod, and Esfand Y. Nafisi of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP; Daniel C. Levin of Levin Sedran & Berman.
The Hyundai Elantra Piston Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Brown v. Hyundai Motor America, et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-11249-JLL-JAD, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
UPDATE: On Jan. 22, 2019, Hyundai asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit which alleges that the company concealed Elantra engine defects.
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163 thoughts onHyundai Elantra Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Piston Defect
Son has a 2011 Hyundai Elantra which he bought with his own hard earned savings while attending college. Has same issues. When we brought it to Danbury Hyundai, they said metal shavings were found in the engine which needs to be replaced which would cost around $5,000.00 and stated this was not their problem even though we had all paperwork proving regular maintenance. Cannot understand why Hyundai is not acknowledging the concerns of their own customers! The lawsuits that Hyundai already has or will inevitably encounter when someone is seriously injured or involved in a fatal accident because of their lack of any accountability is incomprehensible. Glad their lack of accountability is finally being challenged. The simple truth is that when all different people from all different walks of life have the same or similar problems within the same class of vehicles, then the problem does not stem from a massive lack of customer maintenance but with the source itself – Hyundai.
Same frustrations as everyone else. I bought my 2013 Elantra new off the lot with a 100,000 bumper to bumper warrantee. The engine began failing around 90,000 miles, My local Hyundai dealer refused to honor the warranty claiming sludge was present and I would need a new engine. He also kindly offered that they had some other new great cars on the lot available for purchase if I wanted to “look around.” NEVER. Had i towed off the lot to my trusted mechanic, where it remains, a year later…!
We have a 2014 Elantra with 107,599 miles on it. Oil light came on and engine is knocking suddenly. Has there been a recall on this motor yet? Or have there not been enough people affected by the poorly designed engine these cars were built with?
there is a class action suit in process hyundai elantra class actionsuit.com
Same ticking problem with engine fail. I replaced the engine because warranty basically said I was at fault. Really????? Now, the engine repaired 6 months ago has failed. How do I join the lawsuit? This is sooooo wrong!!!!
I’m having the exact same issue. It’s very frustrating.
Strange that there is no instructions on who or how to get involved in the class action lawsuit. My daughter’s 2013 hammers like a jackhammer
Bought a elantra GT with 22000 miles on it. The car has been maintained and at 90000 I notices the ticking noise. This is not my primary vehicle it is my sons. so it could have been making the sound for a while and he did not notice. So….I now own a very well maintained piece of junk….I want to be part of this suit.. I am not happy and have owned 7 other Hyundais with no major issues.
Same problem with 2012 that I bout from a private owner wasn’t doing this at first now it’s just ticking
How do I join this law suit if possible
I’m the original owner of my 2016 Hyundai Elantra and have been having issues with my car clicking/knocking/rattling and stalling when accelerating for the past 2 years. When it first started happening, I was told there was nothing wrong — replaced the spark plugs due to my misfire code (just before my 80k bumper to bumper warranty ran out). This past week it’s happening nonstop and now has prevented me from driving all together (and I drive ride share for a living). I took my car in this morning at 94k miles (just under my 100k power train warranty). I’m waiting to see what happens and I’m very nervous they won’t fix it. I would like to be apart of this class action especially since I’m still paying on my loan and now I’m currently out of work. It was hard enough working through this pandemic and now this?
I’m so frustrated!!!
What was the outcome of your situation?
I’m in the same boat have the ticking sound after my coil packs were changed then at a light The engine starts to shake and jump and squeal and dies . Check engine pops on it says my 4 cylinder is now misfired. Took it back to the shop and now I have this damn ticking sound . I been to a few other shops and they say it’s fine but it keeps getting louder and so I take it to the Hyundai dealership and since My mom was the original owner they won’t replace the damn engine and I was under the 100,000 miles . This is bull shit it shouldn’t matter if I was the second owner
I have same problem I’m the 2nd owner like you
Yeah me too it broke down one 2 days ago :(
I have a 2012 Elantra and experienced the same ticking noise before my engine completely shut off while I was at a red light (thankfully). Since my car was under the 100,000 mile warranty I didn’t have a problem replacing the engine at no cost. However, the total duration my car was in the shop was 63 days and now I am not being compensated for rental charges ($1500) as I was promised from the beginning. I am only being offered $20/day for my rental although I was told $35/day from the beginning. This leaves me paying out of pocket around $760.