I bought a 2011 Hyundai Elantra from my grandfather. Had the car for less than a year when a heard a ticking coming from the engine. I took the car to a certified technician who informed me that I needed to replace the engine. I took the car to a Hyundai Service Center for a second opinion and was also told I needed to replace the engine. It didn't make sense since the car only had 73,000 miles.

The Hyundai Service Center submitted documentation to Hyundai to see if they would cover the cost of a new engine (it would cost 7,200 dollars to replace the engine). Because I was the second owner of the car, I was not covered under the 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. Hyundai declined to cover any of the cost of a new engine. I called customer service and was assigned a caseworker. The caseworker informed me that they will not cover any of the cost since I was the second owner and not covered under the warranty. Hyundai claims to have the best warranty out there, but it only applies to the first owner of the vehicle.

After doing research, I discovered that the engines on the 2010-2016 Elantras are known to experience a "piston slap" which occurs when there is too much of a gap between the piston and the outer cylinder. This is caused by a piston head that isn't secured in the cylinder, allowing the piston to rotate and causing the piston’s edges to collide with the cylinder wall. The ticking and knocking noise usually goes away once the engine reaches operating temperature and the piston expands to sit securely in the cylinder.

Hyundai needs to own up and issue a recall on their engines. I understand that I am not covered under the warranty, but engines should not need to be replaced after 73,000 miles, especially when the car was well maintained.

So we bought this car only 2 years ago with 45,000 miles on it. It booked for $11,000 and we bought it for $10K. We STILL owe A LOT! We have kept up on all the oil changes and always took care of it. It started making a ticking noise and has a low idle. My husband thought it could of been the lifters, so we took it in...NOPE! it is a engine failure :( We are floored! This is a fairly new car with not many miles on it and the engine is toast???!!! I am heartbroken because obviously this is going to be super expensive to fix. Then to top it off they said they can't even find a engine to replace it with even if we did let them replace it!

I will NEVER buy another Hyundai again! I will NEVER suggest them to anyone! Not even my worse enemy.

So the mechanic confirmed my worst fears this morning, it is definitely the engine. Will need to be totally replaced and probably run anywhere from $3000-3700 to replace with rebuilt engine. Then just hope and pray that the replacement engine holds up. The problem is so bad and happening to more people that even finding a replacement engine is difficult. Was suggested that I find a lawyer and get in hold of Hyundai corporate office. Guess all I can do is have my story and company heard. I cannot afford to sink another dollar in this damn car, not to mention will have to find a rental car in the meantime. FRUSTRATED!!!