Oil Consumption in Hyundai Vehicles Prove To Be Problem for California Driver
The owner of a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe in Los Angeles discovered his vehicle had consumed all of its oil in just 2,000 miles—and, soon after, that he was not the only Hyundai owner claiming to experience this, reports NBC Los Angeles.
When Zhenya Rozinskiy bought the vehicle for his teenage son, it had 90,000 miles on it, and he had it thoroughly inspected.
“We did the extensive 90,000-mile service that Hyundai requires. We just wanted to make sure the car’s in good condition,” said Rozinskiy. “It’s for a kid. You want to make sure it’s safe.”
Though it initially checked out, after just 2,000 miles, the “check oil” light came on in the vehicle as his son was driving. To Rozinskiy’s horror, when he went to investigate, the vehicle had no oil.
Rozinskiy soon heard from other Hyundai drivers online who had also experienced excessive oil consumption across various models, with one driver describing every 800 to 1,000 miles, and another claiming she’s lost quarts of oil in between oil changes.
No recalls exist for the issue. Hyundai told NBC LA that its 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty should cover it—but, if a vehicle is sold to another owner, that timeframe is drastically reduced, which is what happened to Rozinskiy.
Hyundai ended up having the $8,000 engine replacement Rozinskiy needed covered after NBC LA reached out to them, citing customer satisfaction. However, for other Hyundai vehicles, Autotrader Senior Editor Brian Moody stressed that incidents like this underscore the crucial nature of preventative maintenance.
“Because once you don’t do that and neglect it to such a terrible degree that something fails, then the manufacturer can rightly say, ‘It’s not our thing that failed. It was improper use that caused it to fail,’” said Moody.
