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Kia Motors of America is facing a proposed consumer class action lawsuit over allegations that certain Sportage, Optima, and Sorento vehicle models are prone to catastrophic engine failure due to an engine oil defect.
The class action lawsuit arises from Kia Motor America’s alleged failure to disclose that the engines in affected vehicles contain a latent defect that results in the restriction of oil flow through the connecting rod bearing, as well as to other vital areas of the engine.
Plaintiff Greg Wallis of California purchased a pre-owned 2013 Kia Optima LX in November 2013. In March 2016, while driving on the highway, Wallis claims he heard an unusual engine noise upon acceleration and brought his car into a Kia service department.
A Kia service technician reportedly evaluated Wallis’ vehicle and advised him that he needed to replace the motor due to metal shavings found inside the vehicles engine for a cost of $7,000. After charging $200 just to diagnose the issue, Wallis declined additional work on his vehicle and left the dealership.
However, after leaving the dealership to drive a short 15 miles home, Wallis’ Kia Optima seized while driving and he was forced to have the car towed to his home, where is vehicle remains inoperable due to the failed engine, the lawsuit states.
Wallis claims that he contacted Kia’s customer service center numerous times, but Kia was unwilling to assist him with the costs of repairing the failed engine in his vehicle.
Co-plaintiff Jodie Peltier of Illinois alleges similar circumstances with her 2013 Kia Sorento, which caused her vehicle to dangerously stall during high speed.
It is believed the connecting rod bearings in certain engines fail as metal debris circulate throughout the engine via the engine oil. Over time, the contaminants in the oiling system cause the connecting rod bearings to fracture and spew large amounts of metal debris into the engine oil, which it cannot filter out to maintain necessary oil pressure.
“This contaminated engine oil is recirculated throughout the engine by the oil pump, causing damage to the various engine components and eventually results in sudden and unexpected catastrophic engine failure. If the vehicle is being operated on the highway at the time of the engine failure, it will ultimately result in a high speed stalling event, as it did for Plaintiff Peltier,” the class action lawsuit reports.
Both plaintiffs assert that Kia had a longstanding knowledge that this sufficient engine oil defect existed and could cause catastrophic engine failure and stalling while in operation, posing a significant safety risk to the vehicle occupants.
According to the Kia engine oil defect lawsuit, many owners and lessees of the affected vehicles communicated with Kia to remedy the concealed engine oil defect and damage caused to their cars, but claim that Kia refused to take any action to correct, even within the warranty period.
“Not only did Kia actively conceal the material fact that this particular component is defectively designed (and requires costly repairs to fix), but it also did not reveal that the existence of this defect would diminish the intrinsic resale value of the vehicle,” the lawsuit states.
Even numerous complaints filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), have not prompted Kia to repair the engine oil defect or or to reimburse customers who incurred out-of-pocket expenses to repair the defect.
The lawsuit cites at least 19 customer complaints filed with the NHTSA. One of these NHTSA complaints posted by a 2011 Kia Optima owner states that “while driving approximately 60 mph an abnormal sound emitted from under the hood of the vehicle as the check engine oil warning light flickered. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the connecting rod failed and the engine needed to be replaced…”
This is not the first time Kia has been under fire for vehicle issues. In 2013, the automaker was accused of manufacturing vehicles with defective fuel tanks. The class action lawsuit included owners of the 2010-2013 models of the Kia Soul, Soul Plus, Soul Exclaim, and Soul Sport cars.
More recently in 2015, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into Kia (along with Hyundai) for purportedly misstating the fuel economy ratings on certain 2011 -2013 vehicles. Kia and Hyundai agreed to settle allegations for a reported $100 million – the largest civil penalty under the Clean Air Act.
The plaintiffs bring this class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and a proposed Class of current and former owners and lessees with Theta 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter gasoline direct injection engines (GDI engines) installed in certain 2011- 2014 Kia Optima, Sportage, and Sorento vehicles.
They are seeking class certification as well as redress Kia’s violations of California and Illinois consumer fraud statutes, along with recovery for breach of express and implied warranties, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and common law fraud in excess of $5 million.
Wallis and Peltier are represented by Richard D. McCune, David C. Wright, Joseph G. Sauder, Matthew D. Schelkopf, and Joseph B. Kenney of McCune Wright LLP.
The Kia Engine Oil Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Greg Wallis and Jodie Peltier v. Kia Motors America Inc., Case No. 8:16-cv-01033, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
UPDATE: On November 7, 2016, the Kia Engine Oil Defect class action lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed.
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648 thoughts onKia Class Action Lawsuit Targets Engine Oil Defect
Car was running fine and @ 1 week after getting my oil changed there was excessive exhaust/smoke and my son and I thought it might be bad gas or clogged injectors. We drove it to AZ and back to NV. Car seemed to run ok. Then my daughter took it to CA and the oil light started flickering on and off and finally the engine light came on. She took it to a Jiffylube where they said it had no oil. What?!?!?! The oil was just changed at 47,000 miles. Put 4 qts in and took it AAA to run an engine diagnostic. Said everything was fine according to the code they got and reset the engine light. Nope again.. daughter drove away and same problem. took it back to AAA where they determined it was an internal engine problem and to take it to the dealership. Sludge everywhere in the engine. My car ONLY has 48,000 miles on it and I have the oil changed as scheduled. Waiting to hear what KIA is going to do, but from the sounds of the prior complaints, they are not going to honor their warranty. I can’t afford $5,000+ to replace the engine in my car. This is so ridiculous. They need to honor their warranty for their shitty engines.
I want to know how to join the lawsuit!!
same here. 2015 Kia Optima, 47k miles….engine failure…they say it’s sludge… and I have to provide all my maintenance records. It started with white smoke out of tailpipe and loud rattling noise when I accelerated, then this past Saturday, it started to shake violently and the check engine light went on . I had to get it towed. This is Kia’s fault!!! not mine. I’ve done the same maintenance on my Toyota and Honda which had over 100k miles with no problems! There is a class action lawsuit started by McClune Wright law office in Redlands, CA go to their website and contact them asap. I just did
This exact thing just happened to me on the morning of June 30th 2016 Canada day long weekend in my 2012 Kia Sportage. I have always had my Kia maintained and had just gotten an oil change and had all fluids checked a day and half prior to attempting to take my kia on a road trip. That (June 30th) morning I left my home filled up and drove about 150kms and was speeding up on a small incline to pass and I heard a loud clunk and all the lights on my dash lit up and smoke began to billow into my vehicle. I lost all acceleration and thankfully I had been speeding up because this is what let me coast to a safe place off the road, where I waited 3 hours for a tow truck. My vehicle was towed to the nearest dealership in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and I had to rent a vehicle to complete my journey that day because no one would be in the service office until the following Monday. Fast forward to today July 18th……My vehicle has been at the dealership since it happened I have had to push to find out what happened. I finally last week, Wednesday June13th, went in to see if I could find any other oil change records that may be in my vehicle could not find any but asked the service manager what our next step would be and he said I had to authorize a engine tear down which after a week and a half of being there I was just being told. Today I picked up a loaner that they finally provided me only because I said I would pay for the tear down and the service manager showed me my engine which has been removed. The description of the engine failure in this story is almost exactly what he told me had happened. I was shocked a scared that this happened without any notice at all. They told me they would have to look further but not enough oil was in circulation and caused the failure. They will tell me when they find out whether or not Kia Canada will cover this in my warranty as I am only at 79085kms which is under my 5 year/100000km standard Canadian warranty. I wish I could post pictures as I have tons. I will update when I find out if they will cover this. But I will definitely be showing them all the articles I have found today.
I have a 2009 Kia Borrego with 78000 miles and my engine seized up too. On June 8th I took it to the dealer. I had regular maintenance on the vehicle however was denied the warranty because there was sludge build up in the engine in addition to a valve and timing chain error on the diagnostic. They said the pictures they took did not match my maintenance records. I said of course not because there is a problem but they denied me. I was also told it could have been because I did not use the right oil and filter in my vehicle which is a bunch of BS. Does anyone know If the KIA Borrego 2009 V6 has the same engine as the other vehicles mentioned above. I have been documenting all my contacts and keeping all records and a timeline of the events. Please help!
There is currently a lawsuit for the 2002-2009 Kia Sorento engine (maybe the same engine as your car?) that had front pulley balancer failures. Just Google Kia Sorento crankshaft failure. There was a recall on it. While different than the connecting rod failures, as you can tell their response is the same. Blame the customer for lack of maintenance like oil changes and/or using the wrong oil and filter. They do everything they can not to honor the warranty when they know its their fault. Its disgraceful. I would get a lawyer and/or contact your State Attorney General.
Same thing happened to me. Car seized in Feb. Dealer acted like they had no clue about any issues and blamed me for sludge with 69000 miles on my 12 optima built in Alabama plant. Dealer charged me 290 for breakdown and said 5k for engine replacement so my car sits in my driveway un drivable. Would love to hear more as i need to be able to drive.
2014 Kia with only $41,000 miles and the engine failed in the middle of the road! No warning lights on dash! Of course dealership said our fault because of sludge! Looks like it’s THEIR FAULT there’s sludge! $4500 later we are on the road again with a used motor with no warranty! Kia is at fault for doing a recall!
same here. 2015 Kia Optima, 47k miles….engine failure…they say it’s sludge… and I have to provide all my maintenance records. It started with white smoke out of tailpipe and loud rattling noise when I accelerated, then this past Saturday, it started to shake violently and the check engine light went on . I had to get it towed. This is Kia’s fault!!! not mine. I’ve done the same maintenance on my Toyota and Honda which had over 100k miles with no problems! There is a class action lawsuit started by McClune Wright law office in Redlands, CA go to their website and contact them asap. I just did
Same thing happen to me also my 2015 Kia Optima, has 45,000 miles.. the dealer said sludge.. and said it was my fault!!! I would like to join the class action lawsuit. I brought my car at Perris Valley Auto Center in Perris Ca. My car was not linking any oil. the oil was going into the engine. had my oil change 9/26/16 10/31/16 my husband check my oil because the oil light keep blinking and there was no oil in it. So we took the car in and inform them that we just had the oil change last month. So they came back and said the engine is gone due to sludge in the engine. Kia did my oil change and they should had know.
I believe I’m having the same problem with my 2013 kia optima. Was driving about 35 MPh when my car suddenly made a short rumble leading to the engine shutting off. All the threads I’ve read are points ting toward this being the issue. KIA service department is not open here on Sunday so this is going good to have to wait till tomorrow. Any recommendations on what actions I should take? Would really apprecite any help.
I have a 2011 Kia Optima, I’m the original owner. I have always maintained all my oil changed. I even take it to the dealership for the oil changes. I had my oil changed 3 weeks ago at he dealership, then 2 weeks later my husband was driving home from the gym and the oil light started flashing and the car started shaking really bad. He pulled over and called a tow truck. Kia did a diagnostic on the engine and said my rod bearings are bad and they are knocking. We said how could this be we were just in there 2 weeks ago for an oil change. They said they can replace the engine for $6,000 used! car is 5 years old and has 139,000 miles on it. Oh I also had the dealership replace both tire rods and ball joints a week before the oil change which cost me 700.00! Well I’m not paying 6,000 to repair this car. I will have to take it to another shop for the repairs. My husband has been in contact with their corporate office and they said they can’t help either. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER KIA EVER AGAIN!!! total disappointment. I still have another year left to pay on it, but once it’s paid off, I’m SELLING it IMMEDIATELY!!!!
I purchase two 2012 Kia Sorento and both of them was having some engine noise everytime I had an oil change. The vehicles got to the point were they started cutting off tapping and rattling. I decided to trade both of them over for another vehicle. I was very disappointed with my vehicle because I realized that the engines was defective. I spoke with the owner of the dealership and he swore up and down the vehicle was okay but I knew better. I lost a great deal of money purchasing both vehicle not knowing the conditions of both of them.
I have 04 kia optima and I have had it since 2011 and here it is now 2016 and I have kept this vechial matained and now I am have issues with an oil leak and having to just keep putting oil in cause I can not afford to fix it
I have this same issue. The oil leaks but I cannot afford to fix it
I am now hearing some type of noise and I know I shouldn’t be.
Yup.. me too.
How do we identify if our car is part of the batch that was built with this defective motor?
Google VIN decoder. You can put in your VIN and it will tell you the location where it was manufactured. Most of the problem motors came out of the Alabama plant.