Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
A British Columbia man claims that certain Hyundai and Kia vehicles are equipped with inadequately lubricated engines which causes engine seizures and even catastrophic failure.
Plaintiff John Kevin Killoran alleges that the sub-par lubrication in Hyundai Sonatas, Santa Fe Sports, and Tucsons, as well as Kia Optimas, Sportages, Sorrentos, and Souls can even cause the engines to catch on fire.
Killoran claims that his 2012 Hyundai Tucson suffered from the alleged engine defect. He says that only a year after he purchased the vehicle, while he was driving with his spouse and young infant in late December, the engine began knocking loudly. Ultimately, the car lost power, says Killoran, and he had to pull over.
Originally, the plaintiff had to pay more than $600 to fix the Tucson, notes the complaint. Ultimately, however, Killoran alleges he had to replace the entire engine.
The plaintiff says that the replacement would have cost him more than $8,000, but he shared his story on an investigative news report and, as a result, Hyundai agreed to cover the cost.
According to the Hyundai class action, GDI engines are affected by the defect. The engines contain metal debris from the factory were they were made, Killoran claims.
The metallic residue makes it difficult for adequate lubrication to be distributed throughout the engine and as a result, the engines are allegedly prone to catastrophic failure.
The Canada Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit states that the defect is present in the following vehicles:
- 2011 through 2016 Hyundai Sonatas
- 2013 through 2018 Hyundai Santa Fe Sports
- 2011 through 2015 Hyundai Tucsons
- 2011 through 2016 Kia Optimas
- 2012 through 2016 Kia Sportages
- 2014 through 2016 Kia Sorrentos
- 2012 through 2016 Kia Souls
Killoran contends that Hyundai and Kia knew or should have known of the allegedly defective engine in the vehicles. In addition to consumer complaints, the carmakers issued technical service bulletins about the problem, says the plaintiff. Further, the carmakers’ own testing should have revealed the problem.
In addition to allegedly having to pay expenses related to the defective engines, the plaintiff says he would not have purchased or paid as much for the affected vehicle. Further, says Killoran, he and other Class Members face safety hazards, should their vehicles stall unexpectedly while driving.
“Had Plaintiff and the proposed class members known of the Engine Defect, they would not have purchased or leased the Affected Class Vehicles, or would have paid substantially less for them,” states the complaint.
“Engine failure and/or fire in the Affected Class Vehicles also requires expensive repairs, car rentals, car payments, towing charges, time off work, and other miscellaneous costs. Moreover, as a result of the Engine Defect and the Defendants concealment thereof, the Affected Class Vehicles have a lower market value, and are inherently worth less than they would be.”
The Canada Hyundai, Kia class action lawsuit seeks to represent all those who purchased or leased one of the allegedly defective vehicles.
Do you drive a Hyundai or Kia that stalled or lost power? Tell us more in the comments below.
The plaintiff is represented by K.S. Garcha of Garcha & Company, Barristers & Solicitors.
The Canada Hyundai, Kia Class Action Lawsuit is Killoran v. Hyundai Auto Canada Corp., et al., Case No. S-194327, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
DR Power Equipment recall issued for 58K leaf blowers, vacuums due to laceration risk
May 9, 2024 | Product Recalls
203 thoughts onCanada Hyundai, Kia Class Action Alleges Engine Defect
Less than a week ago I was driving on the highway when my 2013 KIA Sorento (2.4 L 2359 CC L4 DOHC 16 valve) suddenly started to make loud noises and lost power. I drove slowly to a nearby service station. Neither the oil light nor the engine light had come on.
I called for a tow truck, the driver shook his head when he started the vehicle, said it didn’t sound good. I had the vehicle towed to my regular service station and was told the engine had black oil full of metal bits. There had been no oil leakage as I would have seen that on my driveway.
I’m in British Columbia. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
I should add that the vehicle has less than 145,000 km and had recently been serviced.
Yup have had my 2013 Sorrento stall out twice in the last 3 months and have had to add about 9L of oil since July. It isn’t leaking or burning oil. I have about 151000kms and was serviced in July
I’ve been reading on the Top Class Actions website about the KIA engine problems described in a class action lawsuit. Also other websites. My son is having problems with his 2014 KIA Soul. He was driving it home through the mountains. He phoned concerned that the car wasn’t going to make it through to the coast. He made it then proceeded to go to California. When going 60 MPH at the beginning of a hill the car almost immediately slowed to 40. It couldn’t maintain speed. He had to pull over to the right and put his flashers on. He stopped one time and the car wouldn’t start until two hours later. The car was at a local KIA dealership last week for the RC140 engine compartment fire recall. The car has an excessive oil consumption problem which has led to a plugged catalytic converter resulting in very low power especially on hilly terrain. The car’s engine according to the service department has cylinder scoring. My question was why? The service rep said could be lack of maintenance (ie oil changes). I asked if it could be from the alleged filings left in the engine from not being properly flushed at the KIA plant. Not much of a comment. He also said that the bearing clearances for the connecting rods were fine. I asked if they took the oil pan off to check them and he said no they didn’t have to. KIA has developed a special tool for doing this check. Anybody I’ve spoken with has said you have to drop the pan. The service department said that they will try to get a goodwill change out for the catalytic converter. They did. After that he said nothing else will be done with the engine. If during driving the clearances on the connecting rods get excessive the engine will become very noisy and may or may not seize. Small comfort if driving down a busy highway or in heavy traffic. When my son picked up the car the invoice stated that the engine is compromised. I feel this engine is a ticking time bomb. I’m wondering if there is any recourse for getting KIA to do the right thing with this engine. I shudder to think what could possibly happen because of alleged negligence and/or denial on KIA’s part.
I own a 2016 Santa Fe sport just over 100,000 km and the engine blew up! Resulting in a 700+ dollar toll bill where it sits at a dealership thousand plus from home Waiting to see if warranty will cover it terrified we will have to pay out of our pocket Submitted some proof that they asked for and now waiting to hear what they have to say. needless to say worried and without a vehicle! If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it thank you
Hello. I have a 2017 Santa Fe at 127k that’s suddenly started to go through a lot of oil till nearly empty only at 3k. My oil change place couldn’t believe it and looked up my engine and confirmed I do that this faulty engine in my car. I never get a low oil warning too. My oil change place says there are seeing a lot of this issue and I live in a smaller city. This is a huge issue. I need my car to work. After reading all the comments I’m afraid to drive it. So many ppl stuck on the highways often with sudden stopping of the engine. I feel my car is worth very little now and I still owe more then this has caused it’s worth. Please add me to the lawsuit. I’m collecting my consumption usage weekly now with my oil change company.
I have a 2019 Hyundai Touscon and on our way home from Calgary to Kelowna my engine turned of going 80 km an hour. The car came to almost a complete stop and me and my children nearly got rear ended on the highway. The car than started working again only to completely seize a little while later. I had the car towed to the dealership and was informed the ending needs to be replaced. I have had regular oil changes and maintenance.
More recently my 2016 Hyundai Elantra ‘Sport’ transmission failed at 126,000 kms. Despite an extended warranty (180,000 kms) Hyundai refused initially to honour the warranty 3Xs and then refused to pay for hundreds of dollars in towing fees. At 138,000 kms the transmission has failed – again. Now Hyundai wants me to pay more money because they did not repair the transmission – and intend to blame Jiffy lube despite it not being touched since Hyundai ‘repaired’ it ! .
In 2019 my 2010 Kia Forte caught fire and I put the fire out with snow on the highway ramp, thankfully we were able to escape – The City of Toronto sent me a bill for almost $1200 for the Fire Truck since I don’t live in Toronto. I bet Americans don’t get a bill for $1200 when fire trucks attend one of many incidents.
My husband was driving on the 403 and lost complete power, car smoking from engine. Luckily he was right by exit and coasted off. We towed the car to our mechanic which cost us $$$ because he was 60 kilometres away. We were called yesterday 3 days without car, 3 days of worry to find out the car we still owe money on is completely done. The engine locked up and has ceased. I do regular oil changes at a professional shop. Have had routine maintenance since purchase 16 months ago. Hyundai said the car was in perfect health for its age and kilometres in December. How does that lead to this????? Please let me know if we can join this class action. I have all receipts from routine and other work done on car.
Can you let me know if anything happen with the lawsuit for you? I have the same issue with a 2012 Kia sorrento.
My Kia Sportage 2015 was stalled last week and today I was informed that the engine is locked up.
In February 2021 we saw a CBC Marketplace segment on problems with KIA Rondo’s stalling and catching fire. When we returned home from B.C. in April 2021 we inquired with our Saskatoon dealership about our KIA. They assured us there were no problems and they weren’t aware of such issues from the segment. In October 2021, we received a letter from KIA about our 2 KIA Rondos on a recall for a software upgrade. We booked both our cars and had the first one go in with 230,000 km’s and then had the 2nd one go in with 107,000 Km’s. When we picked up the first one, we only got about 100 km’s before the MIL came on and had to take it back in. We picked up our 2nd one, and same thing less than 100 km’s the MIL came on and had to have towed in. The dealer refused to fix the 230,000 one as they said it was past the warranty of 200,000, even though I had no problems prior of the MIL. The car was slowing down (sluggish) prior which I advised the service agent of. The 2nd one of 107,000 was fixed but not after having a fight with the dealer on both cars and wanting to charge us for oil changes which we told we needed to have. The dealership said the 230,000 km car needed a new engine long block ($15,000) and a catalytic converter for $3000. Now my car is sitting in my garage, unusable.
I purchased a new 2016 Kia Soul in November of 2016 from Applewood Kia Surrey. In January of 2021 I received a letter from Kia Canada regarding a Knock Sensor Detection System Update needing to be done. My car went in to have the update done at Applewood Kia Langley on January 13/2021.
April 20/2021, while driving home from work, my car suddenly lost power and my engine light came on and flashing. Thankfully I was just down the street from Applewood Kia Surrey and managed to “limp” my car to the dealership service department. Thus began 6 months of my ONGOING NIGHTMARE!
April 21/2021 I got a call from the dealership advising me that my engine was dead and they suspected directly related to the Knock Sensor issue. They told me they were contacting Kia Canada as my car was still under warranty.
5 months of run-around and delays, and my engine was replaced under warranty. I picked my car up September 25/2021. The VERY NEXT DAY I was noticing problems! There was hesitation when accelerating from a complete stop (a few seconds at least), rattling when accelerating and insane gas consumption (getting less than 300km on a full tank). There was also some minor damage to the bumper of my car that was not there when I dropped it off April 20th. Had my car back less than a week and I had to take her back to their service department.
The damage to my bumper was fixed, and they replaced some fuel flex pipe thingy, but no idea what was causing the high fuel consumption. They gave me a sheet and told me I needed to fill my gas tank to full and make note of the current KM on odometer, drive 100km and then go back to same station/same pump, refill to full and again make note of the KM on odometer. Once done, bring the completed sheet back to them. I did this and dropped the paperwork off on October 16/2021. I got a call within an hour to book me in for service AGAIN on October 27/2021.
I posted online about my gas issue and had 3 people tell me to check my oil for the smell of gasoline. Sure enough, I checked last night (October 17/2021) and smell gas in my oil. Now this is a MAJOR issue and a possible huge screw-up on the dealership’s service department’s part! Driving my vehicle with gas mixing with my oil can cause further engine issues. I called this morning and the service manager was not in, but the rep told me they will see about getting me a rental for tomorrow and getting my car back in ASAP.
I have contacted Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP in Ontario regarding the class action suit which I was NOT even aware of until late August. I 100% believe my vehicle should fall within the lawsuit as the engine issues was something Kia Canada was well aware of and took minimal steps to resolve in my opinion. Thankfully I was not on the highway doing 100km when my engine went kaput and I didn’t cause an accident and managed to safely navigate out of traffic.