NHTSA Complaint #11532593 — 2011 HYUNDAI SONATA

On June 28th 2023, while driving on Route80-West near Parsippany, NJ my 2011 Hyundai Sonata GLS seized on the highway. I was forced to veer to the shoulder as the oil light flashed on, followed by multiple lights flashing on with immediate engine failure. I waited almost 3 hours for a tow to arrive late night, where many vehicles continued to speed past dangeriously close to my seized car. Even with my hazard lights on, this is not a safe situation a driver should be in. Having an engine stall is especially dangerous when traveling highway speeds. I assumed my engine stalled due to the widely known recall issue that Hyundai Theta-2 are susceptible to. After having my Sonata towed to Towne Hyundai at Denville, NJ- they informed me that it was not a valid engine recall but that my oil completely drained, destroying my engine in the process. They said quote "the oil pan cap was not properly torqued, resulting in it falling off mid-drive. Your last mechanic probably did not tighten it, and after months of vehicle vibrations, it fell off". After speaking to my regular mechanic and gathering opinions of many others, nobody has seen an oil drain plug fall off on its own. My last oil change had been almost 2 months prior to the incident, only 1,400 miles driven since then. I also had my same mechanic fix a check engine light issue 2 weeks before the incident, where they again saw no oil leakage or notifiable issues. I did not hit any potholes or damage the underside, my dash cam footage can confirm this. Towne Hyundai quoted me nearly $13,000 for a new rebuilt engine, and refused to front any cost. They denied it to be apart of their engine recall program. They returned back saying they can install a junkyard find engine and fix the car for around $6,400 that I have to pay out of pocket. After escalating my issue with Hyundai Corporate and building a case, they said they would speak to Towne Hyundai-Denville to confirm the incident.