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Car manufacturers Kia and Hyundai have been hit with a class action alleging they knew of an engine defect, but concealed it from car owners.
Lead plaintiff Maryanne Brogan claims certain 2011 to 2016 Kia and Hyundai vehicles contain a defective engine.
Brogan alleges that the car manufacturers knew of the defect, but failed to disclose it to consumers.
The plaintiff says that as her son was driving her 2016 Kia Optima EX, he began to hear an engine noise. The car stopped, says the plaintiff, and began to catch on fire.
The defect, alleges the Kia class action lawsuit, is in the design of 2.0-liter GDI turbo-charged engines and 2.4-liter GDI engines, also known as the Theta II engines. The plaintiff says that the defect causes affected vehicles to lose power, make noise, develop engine knocks, misfire, and/or stall.
“Despite their longstanding knowledge, Defendants failed to disclose to Plaintiff and similarly situated consumers that the Engine Defect can result in restricted engine lubrication, including oil flow to connecting rod bearings, as well as to other vital areas of the engine,” states the Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit.
The restricted oil flow caused by the alleged defect presents safety concerns, according to the Kia class action lawsuit. The defect can cause catastrophic engine failure at any time, alleges the plaintiff. Engine failure could lead to accidents, injury or even death.
According to the class action lawsuit, both Hyundai and Kia have been aware of the alleged engine defect, but have refused to do anything about it. Further, the car manufacturers refused to acknowledge that the alleged defect reduces the resale value of the affected vehicles.
“Many other owners and lessees of the Class Vehicles have communicated with Defendants and/or their agents to request that Defendants remedy and/or address the Engine Defect and/or resultant damage at Defendants’ expense,” alleges the Kia class action lawsuit. “However, Defendants have routinely failed to do so even within the warranty period, often blaming the owners for failing to properly maintain the vehicle rather than admit that the engine’s failure is the result of Defendants’ own misconduct.”
The plaintiff points out that the theta II engine has been previously recalled. In 2015, 470,000 model year 2011-2012 Sonata vehicles were recalled because of metal debris found in the engine crankshaft.
Class vehicles include the 2011-2016 Hyundai Sonata, 2013-2016 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2011-2016 Kia Optima, 2012-2016 Kia Sportage; and 2014-2016 Kia Sorrento.
The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased a Hyundai or Kia vehicle as well as a New York subclass. According to the Kia class action, the car manufacturers violated California and New York state laws, breached express and implied warranties, and violated federal consumer protection laws.
The plaintiff is seeking damages, including punitive damages, as well as an injunction against Kia and Hyundai compelling them to repair, recall and/or replace the allegedly defective engine.
Brogan is represented by Jeffery T. Koening of Hecht Kleeger & Damashek PC, and Austin B. Cohen, Daniel C. Levin, Charles E. Schaffer, and Keith Verrier of Levin Sedran & Berman.
The Kia, Hyundai Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Brogan v. Hyundai Motor America, et al., Case No. 7:18-cv-00525, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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241 thoughts onHyundai, Kia Class Action Filed over Concealed Engine Defect
Just happened to me on February 12, 2018. I too have been told that my engine isn’t covered because of it being a different model. However, all symptoms are the the same as the engine model that is currently under recall. Fighting with Kia now to fix this as soon as possible. How can I be added to this recall suit?
The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!
I own a 2013 KIA Forte with faulty engine that had similiar issue, knocking, shaking, then the car froze on the road. It has 120,000 miles. The dealership and the Corporate office denied there was a defect on my car. I am still making payments on my financing of this faulty engine vehicle that has been in my garage non-operable since June 2016 without resolution. I see there is a new class action lawsuit in Canada for the same reason noted in Jan 2018 by the APA against KIA for knocking in engines in cars assembled between 2010 and 2015. I would love to persue this. I had to buy a cheap used old car to get to work everyday because I could not afford a new engine, which, by the way, the dealership said there was a waiting list and you could not be added to the wait list for a new engine unless you paid for the engine upfront and the ETA was unkown of when or how long until a new engine would be available. Crazy they are getting away with this while the consumer suffers.
I dont care what I have to do…how long it takes….they are not getting away with what they have caused in my life, stress on my marriage, ruined credit, and forced to file bankruptcy soon because I cant get $28,000 off my credit report. My choice is file bankruptcy for $1800.00 and have it wiped out or pay the finance co. to have it cleared from my report. I dont have $28k owed to the finance co. in order for them to clear it off my report. This company screwed my life in every way by not owning up to their mistake. They could have saved a lot of big problems it led to for us if they would have fixed the issues ASAP not years later.
my email is: hmarcionere@gmail.com. If anyone knows of any class action lawsuits. I wrote to Kia and I am hoping for resolve. If not, I found a local lawyer in Boston who is willing to take my case.
My 2011 Elantra ( Alabama made) with 110 000 klms was just scoped, at a Kia dealer in Alberta, Canada, due to a slight taping noise. Told I needed a new engine – phoned Northstar Hyundai in Edmonton and they phoned me back in a few hrs saying they’ll order a new engine and pay the ‘vast’ amount…Good service. (Just wondering how much is ‘vast’
I own a 2011Hyundai Sonata, Please add me
The author of the article acts like Hyundai and Kia haven’t done anything for the customers yet. We’ve been replacing engines and bending over backwards for more than 3 years for these customers. Even before the 132 campaign came out. Try that with any domestic brand.
My 2015 Hyundai Sonata engine failed with only 33,000 miles and the warranty company claimed that it was an “owners maintenance issue.” They also refused to even look at my maintenance records. How does that make sense?
There was no warning, and no high-temperature alerts.
What are they going to do for customers like myself whom purchased a new 2013 Kia Optima LX and two years later the same exact thing….engine stalled and never was able to run it again. Towed it to Kia dealer whom told us it was because of a faulty oil filter gasket and wanted to charge me for a used engine in the amount of $5000-$7000.00. I did not have the money for that seeing as I just under went Kidney cancer surgery and had time taken out of work for that. I bought this car thinking Kia had a good reputation and wanted to know my wife would have a good car in the event I wasn’t lucky enough to survive kidney cancer. At that point I had to pay $450.00 to use another vehicle to get back & forth to work and was forced to stop paying for the Kia because I couldn’t fInancialy afford two car payments. That led to ruining my credit when the Kia was Re-poed. I have a $28,000 charge off on my reports. That led to putting more stress in our marriage not to mention how I now couldn’t get financed for another car and leaving my wife to walk everywhere. KIA RECALLING ENGINES NOW IN 2017-2018 ISNT GOING TO HELP US OR REMEDY THE HELL IT HAS CAUSED MY WIFE AND I AND THE SNOWBALL EFFECT IT HAS HAD ON EVERYTHING. Ironically, the $450.00 a month I was paying for the vehicle to get back forth to work was the car payment my daughter had on her 2012 Kia Optima that ran fine. I payed her car payments in return for me using the car. WHEN I RECEIVED THE RECALL POST CARD IN MAIL 2018 is when I wrote to Kia Customer service just this week explaining how they are going to remedy the problems it has caused my wife and I now that we don’t have the Kia to get a engine replaced. SO, MY DEAR FRIEND, IT HAS CAUSED MANY MANY PROBLEMS THAT MOST PEOPLE AREN’T PRIVY TOO.
This sucks, I purchase a new 2015 kia optima sxl without knowing about the issue. I bought it with the intention of keeping the car for a long time as I usually do but I was so paranoid about it after I learned about the engine defects that I ended up selling the car loosing almost $11k in 2 years and less than 15k miles in it. If I new this before hand I wouldn’t bought the car. Won’t be buying another kia in my life.
Sounds like you should have kept the car got a free new motor if needed and enjoyed it, my 2012 SX has 200K miles and passed the test so not in need of a motor but got a 15 year unlimited mile warrenty out of it.
I seen online that you had a case against Kia Motors America for product Liability. I need to find out if there is anything I can do. My husband bought a new 2013 Kia Optima, I was driving it to work and the engine list complete power. Everything failed, all the lights on the dash lit up and every function in the car was locked up even the steering wheel. Do I had to roll to s stop. Before I knew it, a car slowed down behind me and almost came to a stop but a Escalade hit her at 45 mph and pushed her into the rear end of my car. My car had over 7000.00 dollars in damages the double exhaust system got pushed up and under thru the trunk and broke them in half. The car behind me was totaled out, and the Escalade was also towed away with all of the cars. I called Lua Dealership we bought it from, because we had free triple A thru them from the purchase of the car. They sent their own towing company and had it towed to their own body shop. It was there 3 months, when I got it back. My husband and I drove it straight to the Kia Dealership Service Center because I didn’t want to drive it until they figured out why the engine list complete power. I was scared to drive with my kids in it and scared for myself. They kept it 3 weeks and said they could not duplicate the problem and the home office in Irvine California deemed it safe. I was injured, I had no degenerate disc disease activated until that day I was rear ended. It activated it from zero to phase 3 in my , C1 thru my C8. There are only 5 phases before surgery is needed. I’m a hairstylist, I go home in pain everyday because this vehicles engine failed and caused this 3 car crash. I also had migraines and lower and middle back strains that I had treatment on for about 4 months. Then they said I needed to continue the treatment once a month for the rest of my life. But my health insurance won’t pay for it because it was caused by a car crash. I have tried reasoning with kia and they would take absolutely no responsibility. But then the whistle blower came out in 2017,telling that Kia Motors America knowingly sold these cars with this defect and was hiding it. I have pretty much PTSD anxiety from this because the only way I could get out of that car since I was scared to drive it was to trade it in. Since it was brand new with only about 18,000 miles no other car dealership would touch it. So I had no choice but to trade it back to Kia for another Kia. I’m scared driving it still because I have no trust in Kia what so ever. I received a letter telling me my Optima with the VIN number was recalled due to this defect. The VIN is 5XXGN4A70DG144283. Is there any legal action that could be taken against Kia Motors America Inc. ? Please let me know.
Thank you so much, Arlana Mobley
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yes we had the exact same situation, except when our 2012 kia optima had the defective engine seize while we were driving our car was totalled. We are in small claims court fighting Kia rite now, we didnt know they had started a third class action suit against Kia. we have a second hearing on may 9th in hemet ca. we have little hope of winning but we could use all the witnesses available, we would also be interested in starting another class action suit here in california if that is where you are, I have been in touch with the original class action attorneys the are in ontario, kia paid those plaintiffs off to keep the defect quiet, you can call me 9524728627 heidi
Im super mad.. I know my 2012 kia optima sx is one of the vin #’s under this recall. I wont ever be able to get proper value for this vehicle when i need to sell it due to this problem.. how do i join or further pursue this lawsuit?
I own a 2016 Kia Optima. Please add me
I owned a 2012 Hyundai Genesis I would like to be added to this class. If my above vehicle qualifies for the class action. Add me.