This is my experience with Hyundai. I’ll start with a backstory, what happened, then where I am today.
In 2000, I returned from four years in the United States Marine Corps. I met a great girl, and we got married. Our first purchase was a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. This Hyundai was a great car. We had it for over a decade. We never had any severe issues. We had a couple breakdowns when the car was getting older, that was still covered under warranty. The local Hyundai dealer took care of the issues, and even gave us a rental car to use while the repairs were being fixed.
In 2022, I purchased a newer Hyundai because I had such a great experience with the first Hyundai. I purchased a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport with about 40k miles on it. I noticed I was going through oil. I check the car, and I didn’t see any leaks. I started looking online, and I found that Hyundai had a list of years and models that had an “Oil Consumption” issue. A class action lawsuit was even filed in this matter against Hyundai. I quickly found that Hyundai would not address this issue even at 40k miles. I had to keep adding a quart of oil about every 900 miles. After another 20k miles, I started having to add a quart of oil for every tank full of gas, and I get about 290 miles per tank. Moving on, another 20k miles later, at about 79k miles, I started having breakdowns. After replacing the coil packs and the spark plugs, I thought the issue was over. Then the car broke down soon again. The shop that changes my oil said you have oil fowled spark plugs, so they replaced them. After another few months the car broke down again. The car would buck with check engine light on running on three cylinders. So, I took it back to the shop, and I was told it was the spark plugs again. The shop told me you are just going to have to replace the spark plugs every 3 months. So I had the spark plugs replaced. Now, every 6 weeks the spark plugs are clogged with oil, and the car breaks down shaking running on three cylinders.
I reached out to Hyundai Corporate, and their Customer Affairs Department told me they couldn’t agree to fix anything, and that I would have to take the car to a Hyundai dealership. I took my car to a Hyundai dealership in Salem New Hampshire (Key Hyundai of Salem). Key Hyundai of Salem, told me that all they could do was file a claim, and the claim would cost me $495.00. The $495 fee was incase Hyundai needed tests to be performed to verify if the engine needed to be replaced. A few days later after dropping the car off, I received a call from Key Hyundai of Salem stating Hyundai refused to do anything. I was told Hyundai may do a “good faith” and meet me with a percentage of the cost of the engine, which I would have been ok with. It’s my only vehicle, and I don’t need a car payment since this car is paid for, but Hyundai didn’t want to do this. Hyundai choose their bottom line over doing the right thing and customer loyalty.
I reached back out to Hyundai Customer support, and they said sorry. I said you had me spend $495, and you wanted a Carfax which was almost $50 for nothing. The Hyundai dealership(key Hyundai of Salem) took my money, and didn’t even look at the car. They just punched a few keystrokes of an email to Hyundai for the claim. Remember that $495 fee was for test that may be needed. So since no tests were made, I shouldn’t have to pay the full fee. Hyundai customer service is sending me a gift card for $250. I’m still out of pocket $300 for nothing.
Having been in my local shop when I get oil changes I see people coming in with newer Hyundai and Kia vehicles complaining of issues, and having to have their car in the dealer constantly. Apparently there are still issues with even the new Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Hyundai is keeping it hush hush, but it is there. You would be fair warned to stay away from these vehicles. I’m doing my homework for my next car, and it won’t be a Hyundai or a Kia.