2020 Hyundai Tucson

The "check engine" light has come on at least three (3) times. The first time, the car went into slow down mode. We stopped at a mechanic, who reset the computer so that we could drive it. We then had it towed to our mechanic, who told us about the problems these Hyundai engines are having. He told us that engine replacement was inevitable. It happened two (2) more times. This time, we had it towed to a Hyundai dealer. The first time, they kept the car for two weeks, only to tell us that they could not "replicate the problem". We opened a file with Hyundai USA [Hyundai Case Management #: [XXX]. It happened again. Same message: "Could not replicate the problem." The blogs are full of horror stories about the engines failing during high speed travel. [XXX] The Virginia Lemon Law does not apply until at least three (3) attempts have been made to repair it at a Hyundai authorized service provider. Our only options appear to be suing Hyundai, or continuing to drive it, running the risk of an engine failure/shutdown at high speed, or trying to sell it to CarMax with a known safety issue. The attached documents show when the incidents occurred. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I turned on a road that the speed limit is posted 55mph and I accelerated up to about 50 and suddenly my speed dropped back to about 10mph and the car began shaking and the engine light was flashing. There was absolutely no warning at all. I had left my house about 15 minutes prior and everything was fine while I was driving up until then. My engine failed. If I had entered an busy highway I would have most likely caused a Major Accident and been killed and/or killed others. It happened around 5:00 A.M. in the dark which was bad enough as I was alone on my way to work. I had it towed to the Dealership and they replaced the knock sensor and assured me that the car was perfectly safe now. But on Dec. 1,2022 I was driving on a 35 mph road and the car did exactly the same thing and I had to be towed again.This time after much arguing the engine was condemned and replaced.

The oil is burning up so fast. Every oil change that is within the mileage limits they tell me my car is bone dry. If the oil in my car runs out my car engine can blow up or it can stop working. The only way it has been reproduced is that every oil change for 2 years now they have told me it’s bone dry. It has not been inspected by manufacturer. They told me it would cost about $400 for them to even just check it out. There are no warning lights at all.

Jan '22 - Reported check engine light had begun to turn off and back on when gas tank was low. Feb '22 At 19k miles catalytic convertor reported failed for code (P0420), 3 way catalyst, upper and lower gaskets, and manifold all needed to be replaced - took 4 days Aug'23 called to request service for check engine light because it was coming off and on over periods of time. Scheduled for Sep'23 Sep '23 service reports new cat quoted for code P0420, I was not verbally informed by service advisor. 16 Nov '23 driving home and car starts to shake and is slow to accelerate, check engine light started to flash, car enters limp mode, could not drive safely on highway and waited hours for a tow. Codes P0420(cat convertor), P1326 (Knock sensor) 25 Nov '23 picked up car, had catalytic convertor, manifold gasket, knock sensor replaced. Drove 27 miles and car check engine light begins flashing again (P1326) on freeway while merging. Car hesitates, starts to slow, had to merge over to shoulder from far left lane as car had no acceleration. I felt unsafe to exit vehicle being 9 months pregnant. Waited 2 hours for tow back to service dept the same day I picked up vehicle. 8 Feb '24- picked up car from service department. They performed engine combustion chamber cleaning and reported excessive cylinder wall scoring. Service advisor feels confident this fixed the problem. I feel unsafe driving a car that has left me stranded multiple times on busy highways and freeways, especially with children. The manufacturer keeps replacing parts and cannot seem to diagnose issue, they keep repairing problems caused by a major issue that has not been diagnosed.

While driving down the interstate to go back to my college, I noticed a cloud of white smoke coming out of my exhaust. Seconds later, I no longer could accelerate and white smoke was also coming out of the engine. There were no lights on my dash at this point or at any point before this day. I quickly tried to get off of the road when I noticed my car was no longer going. I managed to get to the side of the road where finally my engine and oil light came on. I waited 2.5 hours for a tow truck on the side of the interstate, where I was barely off of the road. It was taken to the dealership where I bought it (since the car only has 32k miles on it) for a "hole in the engine" which is what I was originally told by the service department. Two days later, I received a phone call that there actually was no hole in my motor, and that the drain oil plug disappeared from my engine while driving, causing all of the oil to spill out of my engine that day on the interstate. Despite getting an oil change only 1500 miles ago from this exact dealer, they stated that the plug would have fallen out immediately after their service if it was placed back incorrectly. Hyundai stated this is now an "owner's problem" and that I was to call my insurance company to get an estimate from them because the dealership would not cover it since it was no longer a warranty issue. I called my insurance company who then got pictures from the dealer of the engine and a video. They then called me stating this type of damage is not covered under my policy, and that they would not pay for it. So here I am, stuck with Hyundai refusing to pay for a damaged engine even though the oil drain plug fell out, which inherently caused the damage, and despite having a 10 year/100k mile warranty on the motor. I found out there is an open investigation through the NHTSA about this exact issue and was hoping to receive clarity on what I can do.

Traveling on the highway and the engine decelerated, oil pressure light came on briefly and then went off. The engine light went on. Was not able to accelerate past 50 mph. The car was hesitating and shaking. Had to change lanes and drive a distance to get to safe place. Engine starting knocking and got worse the longer it was driven. Was a safety risk as unable to go any faster than 50 miles per hour and hard to steer with car shaking. Car has 79,384 miles on it. Dealership states engine failure and that engine needs to be replaced. Car had burned up almost all the oil that had been replaced two months prior. Hyundai currently has a recall for this exact problem with their 2017 Tucson’s

Check engine light came on for 2020 Hyundai Tucson; the vehicle has the 2.0 engine. I called Hyundai for service waited 3 weeks for service appt. Service ECM software update completed on 2/13/2023. On 2/15/2023 service light came on again. Advised Hyundai Service dept that the light was on again. There was a recall for 2019 2.0 engines for Exhaust Manafold Catalyst sensor. Advisor stated that bring it in 3 weeks and we will take it for a test drive.

Engine light was flashing on and off in September 2022 I took it in to a Hyundai dealer in September and was told it was the Catalytic convertor. The catalytic convertor was replaced in October 2022, 2 weeks later the engine light was flashing and the car would not accelerate. I took the care that day to Freehold Hyundai where after keeping it for 3 days they said it was an issue with the oil filter. I have taking the car on a regular basis for all oil changes since in my possession. On December 25th as I was driving to my families house for Christmas the engine light again started flashing and the car would not accelerate. I was able to get the car back to my house. No one was available to call that day due to the holiday. I contacted Freehold Hyundai 12/26/2022 and had the car towed to their facility. On 12/27/2022 I was told the cars engine is failing and that they need to obtain authorization from Hyundai in order to get approval. This is a leased vehicle and does have warranty coverage but they are not able to confirm it can be fixed and cannot offer me a lender car.

The car engine completely shuts down without warning. This has happened over a dozen times since last summer. The only thing we can think of was the ABS module recall work, but the dealership says everything is fine with the car and they cannot replicate. This happens when the car is at a stop, or sometimes driving slowly or turning. The engine gets quiet, the lights flicker, and then gas no longer works to accelerate. To fix this, we have to shift the car back to P, then turn the car off, then turn it on again, and then put it back into D. Sometimes this happens in the middle of live traffic which is unsafe. We have an active case with Hyundai America open about this issue since the dealers cannot identify and fix the issue. This is a high safety issue for my family and other drivers. The car is available for inspection. The frequency of this occurs about once a week (it used to happen 1-2 times per month but recently has been increasing.)