NHTSA Complaint #11511352 — 2016 HYUNDAI TUCSON

On Sunday, February 26, 2023, as I was en route to my home in Liberty Hill, Texas, I heard a noise from what seemed to be under the hood. The noise sounded somewhat like a card in bike spokes. No warning lights were lit. When I arrived home, I had a neighbor listen to the noise. His opinion was that it sounded like the rods & to take it to a mechanic. I had a friend take me to the nearest garage/mechanic on Monday to make an appointment. I took my car to Cross Tech Automotive at 8 am on February 28. The 5 miles to Cross Tech was the only time I drove the car after the initial noise on Sunday 2/26/2023. The technician remarked that it was crazy that no warning lights were on, given the noise made by my car. After the car was examined, I was told that my car had no oil in it. I had routine oil changes done throughout the time I owned the car since late 2015. In fact, I’d asked the mechanics to do an oil change while the car was in their facility. There were never any oil on my driveway to alert me to a problem. There had been no sign of any problem until the noise I heard 2 days prior. And never a warning light of any kind. I was given an estimate of $12,000.00 to replace the motor, including labor. Because it didn’t make sense to spend $12,000 on a vehicle that was likely worth $15,000 prior to this problem, it was necessary to buy a different car. After doing an internet search, I discovered that excess oil consumption appears to be a problem with 2016 Hyundai Tucsons, among other Hyundais and Kias. I was never made aware of any issues by Hyundai Motor Company. The technician who diagnosed the problem wrote a brief description of what he found. I can provide this description. The invoice was for the diagnosis not repairs of any kind.