8.5

pretty bad
Typical Repair Cost:
$1,320
Average Mileage:
65,700 miles
Total Complaints:
13 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. not sure (7 reports)
  2. eventually will require engine replacement (5 reports)
  3. dealer installed 4 fuel injectors, 4 plugs, 1 coil (1 reports)
2017 Hyundai Sonata engine problems

engine problem

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2017 Hyundai Sonata Owner Comments

problem #13

Sep 182023

Sonata Sport 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 81,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I bought my 2017 Sonata in 2019. I've had constant issues with it burning too much oil, where I needed to continually buy 5qt bottles of oil to add between oil changes. I took it in to the dealership, and they told me they would have to approve an oil consumption test through Hyundai. Before being able to perform the test, my check engine light started flashing, and now the car needs a new engine, which Hyundai will not cover due to the vehicle being outside of the warranty period and me not being the original owner. The engine replacement is expected to cost a little over $9300.

- Rachel H., Eagan, US

problem #12

Oct 122021

Sonata

  • Automatic transmission
  • 70,000 miles

Hyundai, made me jump through hoops to fix this issue. My local dealer was good but this was an extended warranty issue. I had to do 2 different oil consumption tests which required taking the car in every 1000 miles to have the oil measured. In between the tests, they did some type of "engine cleaning". Since it didn't help they finally replaced my engine. I had $900 out-of-pocket costs for a part that wasn't covered and a rental vehicle. I was told that Hyundai corporate would reimburse me. It took them 7 months to reimburse me after many calls and emails! I only got $700 back but after that long I was happy about that. This was a royal pain in the ass for sure! Right after it also has an issue where the engine just stopped. I will report that separately. I will NEVER buy another Hyundai.

- Lori L., Roscoe, IL, US

problem #11

Jul 312019

Sonata SE 2.4L Gdi

  • Automatic transmission
  • 19,000 miles

Excessive oil consumption. I dropped the splash guard covering the undercarriage of the chassis to discover

the splash guard was covered in oil. I changed the oil drain plug and gasket, the oil still is leaking out of the oil pan. I have changed the oil plug and crush washers numerous times, but the oil drain plug still leaks. I believe there is an issue with the oil pan design, I do not see any issues with the threads in the pan or on the oil drain plugs that I have replaced with each oil change and I use new crush washers each time.

Update from Jan 14, 2024: Motor uses excessive amount of oil unrelated to the oil plug constantly leaking. But the oil plug does leak constantly, I check the oil weekly. Engine uses about a quart of oil a month.

- med1780, Richmond, US

problem #10

Jun 122023

Sonata SE 2.4L I4

  • Automatic transmission
  • 62,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Should I take it to the dealer? Based on some past comments, they will try worthless solutions and my money will be wasted. Is the only solution a new engine? Please let me know your thoughts.

- Timothy T., Macedonia, US

problem #9

Apr 102023

Sonata SE, ECO 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 104,000 miles

I bought a certified pre-owned 2017 Hyundai Sonata with low mileage in 2019. I use the vehicle primarily for work. After four years it is burning oil at an absurd rate. My mechanic looked at it and determined it is burning oil, no leaks. The problem is severe enough that I need to add at least 2 quarts of oil every few weeks.

This problem has been going on for several months already and I've been told that the only solution is to replace the engine, which I cannot afford.

- M I., Clifton Heights, PA, US

problem #8

Feb 012023

Sonata V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 78,000 miles

The engine is using an excessive amount of oil. Took the car to the dealership and they suckered us out of $460 to clean the engine. We were told that before they can report this problem to Hyundai corporate for warranty repair, we had to go through these steps, (step one and two was to let them put oil in the car and drive it 1,000 miles twice so they can create a maintenance log for it). Now that we have jumped through these hoops, we find out that the warranty will not cover the repair for the engine because we are the second owner of this vehicle. Wish they would have told us that before the suckered us out of $460 for nonsense engine cleaning. Now we are on our own and have to put oil in it every time we drive it until we can afford to buy a replacement engine.

- williams6706, Terrell, US

problem #7

Mar 012021

Sonata

  • Automatic transmission
  • 70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Hyundai has replaced other engines prior to my complaint but it appears they made up their mind not to replace anymore. I was told to just keep changing the oil but that only works for so long after the car ages it consume more oil and I went from putting oil in my car every 2 week to every week. No dashboard warning that my oil is low.

My last oil change I was told I had metal shavings in the oil pan. I went to better business bureau and Illinois state attorney office and Hyundai corporation and nothing was done. It is Year 2 since this issue surfaced and that happened was the dealership kept my car 2 days gave me a loaner car, did a oil consumption test and verified it consumes oil and was normal.

- Karen A., Chicago, US

problem #6

Jul 012020

Sonata

  • Automatic transmission
  • 78,000 miles

I was told about this RECALL, but for some reason I would be responsible for labor charges which I don't think is fair!! I've received a couple recall notices but I can not afford the labor charges, no matter how much. If anyone else has an accomplishment with Hyundai, can you spread the word as too how you got or getting it done. I'm exhausted trying to get ahold of Hyundai and not getting a response. Thank you.

- Michelle P., Marion, IL, US

problem #5

May 032021

Sonata SE 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 66,568 miles

Purchased car in 02/12/2019 with 43254 miles on the odometer.

1ST occurance - with 66568 miles on clock. I was horrified to have to add 1 quart oil every 1000 miles so I spend on oil $40-50 between oil changes plus the time. Engine misfired and check engine light came on.

Hyundai dealer replaced 4 injectors, 4 plugs, 1 coil ignition. They told me I needed a quart oil.

2nd occurance - on 09/4/2022 misfire began again, 82241 miles, engine code was #2 cylinder misfire. I took car to my local mechanic who inspected the car. Result was badly fouled 4 plugs, heavy signs of oil and a white build up on tips. Replaced all plugs and car runs OK. Just had a regular oil change mechanic says oil is black, I I am once again on oil watch. I have owned approximately 55 cars and not one comes anywhere close to this.

Oil I use is Pronto 5-20. Full synthetic. This amount of trouble does not match Hyundai service guide.

Bynote - I had the PCV valve changed approximately in Jan 2020. There was no change in consumption.

- Bruce B., Cherry Valley, US

problem #4

Aug 312017

Sonata SE 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 1,000 miles

When I first got the car in July 2017 it only had a little over 950 miles. By August 31 it was in need of an oil change. After that before the car even made it to 1000 miles, it was consuming too much oil. They found no leaks etc. One time they replaced some oil plug but it was still never any leaks. I noticed that my oil light had even stopped working but they never addressed that issue. I've been having major engine problems over the last two years. I took it in right when the problem started and they could not find anything on the diagnostic machine then here recently it happened again now they want me to spend all this money on oil testing, but claims there's no leaks.

- Theresa N., Indianapolis, IN, US

problem #3

Aug 112022

Sonata Limited 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 84,710 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

click to see larger images

excessive oil consumption excessive oil consumption

I don't know if anyone else has been going through the same issues as me. I started having oil consumption issues at approximately 55 or 56k miles (I'm not sure but I know it was under 60k). My car is currently at 84,710 miles, but they have not fixed the issue. At three different dealerships, I went to the dealerships which claimed I passed verbally but never put it on the repair orders/invoice that I passed. This caused me not to complete oil consumption test, even thought they were supposed to take an average. So I went to one particular dealership and completed the oil consumption test, they submitted paperwork to the PA (I guess the warranty people). They told me verbally that I did qualify for the engine replacement but Hyundai needed to run additional tests. They provided me a rental car and kept my car for a couple of days. They told me to come back for the vehicle and that's when they notified me that the only thing they did was a combustion cleaning, and according to Hyundai I had to restart the test. This was not what I agreed to when I signed the Hyundai Theta settlement case.

I contacted one of the lawyers. I can say that they claimed that they were not going to fix my car due to me being a second owner and that they were trying to see the underlying issue but it never mentioned that in theta settlement about this. Just because you're a second owner they have to run multiple tests. Then I went to a different dealership out in a different state, and guess what they did? They measured my oil once and told me I passed, even thought they have to get an average of 3 tests.

Hyundai Motor America stated the same thing, that I passed and that it was okay to do one part of the oil consumption test but when I asked for paperwork stating I passed, they claimed that they couldn't modify paperwork. So I asked Hyundai Motor America and informed them of what was told to me, and they informed me that they are not allowed to tell dealers what they can and cannot do but they do see that I passed. I informed them if I passed I should see paperwork 2 weeks later that they're willing to give me paperwork even though they said they couldn't modify it. I also have them on video not willing to give me paperwork stating I passed.

- dbradley0909, Pontiac, US

problem #2

Jun 012021

Sonata SE 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 100,000 miles

I bought a 2017 Hyundai Sonata SE in October of 2018, I noticed by 2020 it was burning a little over a quart of oil between oil changes, which Phil Long Hyundai of Motor City Colorado Springs stated was normal. By Summer of 2021 it was a little more than 2 quarts between oil changes that was being used. I took it to Hyundai and they suggested to change the PCV valve for $100, but it did not help after replacement. Not too long after the PCV valve and an additional oil change, the engine was burning 4 quarts of oil in less than a month. They claimed they did not know why. I decided to take it to a couple different mechanics for additional insight. None of them could locate the main issue and suggested to take it back to Hyundai as there is a known defect with the Theta II engines. I reluctantly took the car back to Hyundai and basically had to argue with them to really see what the issue was, they tried to talk me out of it, suggesting that it's expensive for a diagnostic, and I should wait until I get a check engine light to help diagnose the engine.

I told them I'm not waiting for all that to happen, and you will take a look at this mis-engineered product and determine what the problem is.

After about a month, from doing an oil leak test, which they originally didn't do correctly, because they never added the dye to the oil to help determine if there was an oil leak, they finally had to take a look at it once the engine light came on and subsequently completed a compression and leak down test, which it failed. I was told the engine was pretty much destroyed, and probably had about a month left before the engine would be inoperable. They rushed to put in a request with Hyundai Corporate, but stated I would probably not get a replacement, due to the fact I was out of warranty due to mileage and additionally, I did not have the required error codes or an engine knock.

A few days later they sent me a text to call and confirmed Hyundai corporate did not honor the request for a new engine and suggested I buy a new engine to guarantee this issue would be resolved. I asked the tech how much it would be and stated between the cost of the engine and labor, approximately 8K.

- seudavi, Colorado Springs, US

problem #1

Jan 012019

Sonata SE 2.4L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 38,850 miles

Early in the year I started randomly checking oil level and have noticed the level was often low. Before oil change, the dip stick showed no oil. I voiced my concerns and the dealership advisor stated the drain bolt was loose and that mechanic has tightened it. Again oil level was low after several thousand miles and I voiced my concerns to Hyundai dealership. They asked to change the oil again and begin oil consumption test. I returned to Hyundai every 1000 miles and the results are as follows: 1st 1k miles = 1.7QT missing; 2nd 1k miles = 2.0QT missing; 3rd 1k miles = 1.5QT missing. The average is about 1.7QT of oil disappearing per 1000 miles.

Hyundai asked me to leave the car for 4-5 days for inspection during which time a loaner car has not been provided. The results of performed tests inconclusive. Hyundai dealership service manager stated that I use low quality gasoline therefore I must pay $159.95 for fuel injects cleaning and pay for another oil change. There is zero traction from corporate neither from the dealership. I was asked to check oil level on daily basis and to keep adding oil as needed. I declined this nonsense work and escalated to corporate. No call back. Any suggestions?

- Matthew M., Chicago, IL, US

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