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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.
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203 thoughts onCanada Hyundai, Kia Class Action Alleges Engine Defect
I have a 2015 Tucson.
My wife, daughter and I were driving our 2014 Kia Sorrento lx (with the theta ll engine) on the 401 to her hockey game. When out of nowhere the vehicle starts making this knocking sound stalls and loses power. Thank God I was able to maneuver the vehicle off the highway without anyone getting seriously injured. I had the vehicle towed to a my Kia dealership on the Queensway only for them to say, they can’t look at the car for two weeks. Two weeks! My problem with the whole issue is that Kia knew about this recall and did nothing. I brought my vehicle into the dealership in the summer for other recalls, but yet they did not mention anything about this problem. My family was at risk and this is liable and unacceptable.
My husbands sante fe hyundai engine ceased while i was driving it with my 2 kids in the car. Thank god i was not on the highway.
We took it to Canadian tire who then had it towed to hyundai who replaced the entire engine. We were not offered a rental car and were without a car for 10 days. Now the car is making weird sounds.
I have a 2014 Kia Soul with only 140,000kms that just had this issue. No longer under warrenty and was told nothing would be covered since they had replaced my knock censor a few months ago which apparently allows Kia to wash their hands clean of having to replace my engine.
My Kia Optima 2018 engine caught fire, without warning, and my relatively, new (odometer reading at 24,000 km) and regularly serviced vehicle was a total loss after the fire was extinguised by the local fire department.
Is there any recourse to compensation? Any class action suits in Ontario, Canada?
My 2013 santa fe sport the engine just quit. It is going to the dealer and they will be threatened to replace the engine or I will be filing suit against them. If this is a known issue why is there no recall and what the heck are they still selling them. When my suv gets fixed I dont even think I want to drive it.
This same thing happened to me last week! I drive a 2013 Kia Sportage. The engine started knocking loudly and then failed. No warning lights came on. It’s $8k for a new engine which I cannot afford. Hopefully I can find a way to fight this.
I’ve had non-stop engine problems with my Hyundai this past year. Engine light keeps coming on, despite continuous maintenance to the vehicle. I am worried that something horrible will happen. My vehicle is at Hyundai getting serviced again which I will have to pay another $400 for an engine flush which I just had done three weeks ago.
I have a 2016 Tucson experiencing engine failure and Hyundai has refused to replace the engine because I am 37000 km over their threshold of 200000km warranty
My Kia Ronda caught fire while driving! Thank goodness someone alerted us that there was a fire under our car. We pulled over and it went up in flames!! No warning or anything! Very scary!!!!! Could have been a horrible outcome!