I was driving on the freeway at about 75mph when the engine warning light came on and the engine shut down. At the time I lost power so the brakes were hard to press on and it took me longer than usual to stop. Thank goodness there was no stopped traffic ahead of me; otherwise, I could have been in a very severe rear-ender. The car was towed to the nearest Hyundai dealership. The service department manager told me that the engine had seized and that I needed a new one. After getting authorization from Hyundai they tore down the engine and found that while there was adequate oil in the engine, two of the crank bearings had come apart and so there was metal through the inside of the engine.

I maintained my car like clock work (thank goodness I had the records to prove it because I was asked for them). Unfortunately, I had 107k miles on the car so it was just slightly outside the warranty window. Hyundai still offered to pay for half the replacement cost of the engine (over $9k so my share was over $4.5k) out of goodwill, and is offering a 1 year warranty on a re-manufactured (vs. rebuilt) engine. This is better than nothing; but, naturally I don't feel that this is fair.

Hyundai wouldn't budge on giving me a longer warranty on the re-manufactured engine saying that they are already being generous in paying part of the cost under goodwill. I asked if the 50/50 offer would cover any other damages other than the engine replacement and I was told that if other problems came up that I would have to take it up with Hyundai as the problems arose. Because the engine had seized the service department could not perform any other diagnostics until a new engine is put in. So it is possible that there could be other damages but the service department is claiming that it is unlikely that anything else (i.e., transmission) could have failed. The engine should not be breaking down at 107k miles! I am definitely going to consider joining the class action law suit.

I am PISSED! We bought this Sonata because it seemed Hyundai had become a better car company. Boy, were we dismayed. Since I bought it we have had the CV Joint go out, (right after I bought it, 2011!) then the starter died 2012, then, the paint has chipped off the wheels 2014 and now the damn thing is DEAD>?????? What the hell? If you're telling me that a car company cannot manufacture a vehicle w/ enough tests on the major items to put out a good car, they should not have released the damn thing in 2011 if they had even one doubt.

This engine failure is purely the result of the way they manufactured the engine. The oil and fluids do not get all the way to the top of the engine........I'm shocked it hasn't happened before now. And, I know there are many of the other drivers this has happened to that had only 60 and 69K miles........OMG, if that had been me, I would have towed that piece to the dealership and stepped out with my rifle! Not really, but I can't imagine my car dying at that age!

This is complete lack of proper testing on the part of the manufacturer. I know there will never be a suit filed since only few people have reported here and few may know of this website. But, I think we all deserve to be compensated.

Now, I cannot even trade this piece as we were about to do and to think I was even looking at the 2015 model! HA .......

Cameron

Update from Mar 1, 2015: So far, no help from Hyundai at all w/ a new engine. My car has been in the dealership (Sounthern States Hyundai Raleigh) 2 weeks and nothing. They promised a Reman engine, said I had to go in a pay my half of the half of the cost $5025. I did. They said engine on order. Called me 2 days later stating NO engine available in the whole North East! What the hell kind of company is this? So far, I am out over $500 in rental cars, towing charges, and still paying the DAMN thing off while it sits in the dealership!

Tonight was a good night. I started on my journey to work (I work overnights) and as I traveled along a busy street, I began to feel my car pulling/stalling like it was hesitating. So, I eased on the gas a little to give it some fuel and it stopped. Just like that, it stop going, the lights all came on and were flashing and the car was at a stand still in the middle of a busy intersection none the less. I immediately got out of the car (it's 11 at night) called my job, my son, and then the tow truck to come to my rescue.

I just had my oil changed a month ago and I checked it and there is plenty of oil in there. Car has gas and battery is good- I don't see what the problem is? I have been reading all of these post and I am scared to death. I am a full time mother and college student and me and my fiancee are trying to buy a house. If this is engine failure, I will have NO choice but to fix it because I will have to pay the remainder of the car anyway. My warranty is out and so is the additional GAP coverage I brought. I definitely don't have all the of receipts from the maintenance I have had done on it. I brought the car in 2012 with 30 k miles and it currently has 110 k miles(majority highway) as I live in Texas and drive up North to Nebraska a lot. I also keep the car maintained well because I make frequent trips with my children on the highway.

Tomorrow, instead of going to school, I will contact the dealer and try to have them look at it, and if they won't, I will take it somewhere to find out the problem. I pray it is not the engine as this will leave me and my family in a unfortunate situation as I see so many of you are in. If it's not, I will try to trade this car ASAP even if I end up with an upside down loan. I have never wanted a car payment because too many things can happen and these car companies are so shallow once they have you hooked into the deal.

In 2012 I succumbed because my 2000 Grand Am was getting old. I had put over 200 k highway miles on her and even though she was still purring, it was time to get something new. I paid 5 k for that car, it was a one time owner and I got it with 60 k miles on it. I had it for over 5 years and put over 200 k miles on it and only had to tune it up twice, change the brakes, oil and tires. Never once did it do anything like this. I'm so disappointed.

Hyundai has been less than helpful. Since I am second owner, I am just out of luck. The quote from my first contact with Hyundai sums it up, "what do you want me to do about it." I have found a repair shop who is saving me some money. However, now Hyundai won't even pay for the towing of the car since I am not taking it to an authorized dealer. This will be $5,700 out of my own pocket, plus the towing. I have owned the car for about a year and a half. It's trade in value just plummeted so I will be forced to hang on to it.

The really scary part of this whole thing is that it just quit while I was driving. I had about 10 seconds of warning. I was fortunate to be on a less traveled road, but was 2 miles away from being on the interstate. Maybe Hyundai is comfortable with the threat of being ran over because of catastrophic engine failure, but I am not. I will continue to spread these words. I highly recommend you stay away from 2011 Hyundai Sonata.

On Thursday September 25th, 2014 I was driving too work as I do everyday. There was a wreck on the interstate so had to take the back roads. Got about a mile up a back street in an area that wasn't very good and at 6:00 AM in the morning.

As I'm driving the car suddenly shuts off. No warning or anything. just shuts off. so I coast it in too a gas station. I try to restart but it acted like the battery or the alternator was bad and didn't have enough juice to turn all the way over. I have to call a wrecker and had it towed to my Mechanic. They change the battery and try to crank. still not turning over, only trying. They pulled the solenoids and spark plugs and try turning it over. Turned over easily. Place plugs and solenoids back in and it cranked. ran like a sewing machine. Mechanic then rev's the motor and on the 2nd rev, it cut off abruptly again.

As the car only have 81K miles on it, we all assumed it would be covered under Hyundai's (Supposed best in industry) Warranty of 10yr/100k miles. So we put it back on the wrecker and sent it to Malcolm Cunningham Hyundai. I was called later that day and informed that it wasn't covered under Hyundai's warranty because I bought the car used.

Even though I purchased the vehicle from Car-max ("Certified" Used cars) I was told it had to be a "Hyundai" certified used car. I was also told they haven't found anything wrong with the car but were still checking it. So after them having it for 2 days and charging me $92 they said nothing was wrong with the car and to come pick it up. So I went and got it. paid their blood money. Drove back home and too work for 3 days and then I finely get a engine warning lite on and it started knocking around 2000 RPM's.

Took it back too my Mechanic and discover the bearings, Crank, and rods are all damaged and the engine was shot. I called Malcolm Cunningham Hyundai and asked what they plan to do about it. Exactly How many Cars come in too your dealership on a flat-bed wrecker with nothing wrong with them?

They said they talked to Hyundai North American and Hyundai has offered to cover half the $4200 Engine replacement. That was only after I provided all my maintenance records too them. I have maintained the vehicle perfectly. It was at their Dealership and not one mention of any sort of Maintenance issue was ever said or mentioned from the "Pro's". I don't have the $2100 to pay for the engine and sense I took every precaution at my own expense to make sure this wouldn't be Detrimental to this degree I don't feel as though I have been treated fairly by Malcolm Cunningham Hyundai at all.

I am writing because I anticipate that Hyndai is trying to pass the burden of a defective engine problem that needs to be recalled onto me. I own a 2011 Hyndai Sonata. On Friday July 18th 2014 I was exiting the Bronx River parkway at approximately 7:30pm when all of the sudden, with no warning, my car shut down. There were no current or prior indications that there was a problem with the car. I loss control of the brakes and could not stop. I coasted to the side of the exit ramp almost completely running through a red light during rush hour. As I was blocking traffic on the outskirts of busy intersection, 2 good Samaritans ran to my aid. I tired to restart the car but it would not start. We opened the hood of the car and a large cloud of white smoke arose from under the hood, we checked the oil , which was not empty. The car still would not start. I placed the car in neutral and and the 2 good Samaritans pushed my car to a safe location on the side of Yonkers Ave in Mount Vernon, New York.

Ultimately I called Hyundai road side assistance and after almost a 20 minuet conversation, back and forth about where to have the car towed the representative finally sent out a tow service almost 1 hour after the incident occurred. The tow arrived approximately 3 hours after the incident occurred. The car was supposed to be towed to a dealership that the Hyudani representative found in Yonkers. I received a phone call the next morning stating that that dealership in fact was no longer a Hyundai dealership and the car was now being towed to New Rochelle.

To make matters worse. I was contacted 2 days after the car was towed to the New Rochelle dealership at nearly closing time. They informed me that I would need a new engine and they are unsure if it will be covered due to the fact that the oil filter was an " after market label." They also informed that there was still almost 5 hours of additional diagnostic tests that need to be preformed and went ahead to further request that I provide receipts detailing all oil changes or maintenance I had on the car in the last 4 years to determine if the new engine on my 34,000 mile Hyundai Sonata would be covered under warranty.

I am awaiting the finally report of my 2011 Hyundai Sonata, that I purchased brand new only 3 years ago. I am hoping that the car will be covered under warranty however, so far it seems that Hyundai is doing everything in the power to avoid coverage by warranty.

I am very disappointed how Hyundai has handled the situation thus far.

I got my car out of the dealership shop 3 days ago. They replaced a steering column (it's the 3rd one!!) and "fixed" my starter. This was the second time I drove my car since I got it out of the shop (besides driving it home after picking it up last week). I barely got out of the driveway when the car completely died. I could not give the car gas so I pulled over, put the car in park, tried to increase the RMP's and....nothing. I had to have the car towed BACK to the dealership where they found the computer had died. Just, died. This car is crap - don't waste your money.