NHTSA Complaint #11204279 — 2014 HYUNDAI SANTA FE

IN FEBRUARY 2019 WHILE DRIVING DOWN A HIGHWAY WITH 5 OCCUPANTS IN THE CAR, I WAS FLAGGED DOWN BY ANOTHER DRIVER WHO NOTICED SPARKS COMING FROM UNDER MY VEHICLE. I PULLED OVER AND IMMEDIATELY THE CAR SHUT DOWN. IT WAS TOWED AND LATER DETERMINED THAT THE ENGINE HAD BLOWN AT 88,000 MILES. EVEN THOUGH THE VEHICLE GAVE NO PRIOR INDICATION OF LOSS OF OIL PRESSURE OR ANY ISSUES WITH THE STATUS OF THE ENGINE, THE HYUNDAI WARRANTY GROUP TURNED DOWN THE CLAIM STATING THAT MAINTENANCE LEVEL WAS NOT FOLLOWED TO THEIR SPECIFICATIONS. I NOTICED THAT HYUNDAI HAS EXPERIENCED SIMILAR ISSUES WITH SEVERAL OTHER RECALLED ENGINES IN THEIR PRODUCT GROUP. I HAVE SPOKEN NUMEROUS TIMES TO BOTH HYUNDAI AND THE DEALER TO WORK OUT A COMPROMISE TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT FROM EITHER. I HAVE OWNED VEHICLES FOR OVER 40 YEARS, WITH MY LAST ONE REACHING OVER 250K MILES AND HAVE NEVER HAD A ENGINE BLOW. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS AN ACCEPTABLE SITUATION FOR BOTH THE OVERALL SAFETY OR PERFORMANCE OF HYUNDAI PRODUCTS.