Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11559266

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2020 HYUNDAI TUCSON

Manufacturer

Hyundai Motor America

Components

ENGINE

Dates

Incident: 11/27/2023
Filed: 12/09/2023

Owner complaint summary

While driving down the interstate to go back to my college, I noticed a cloud of white smoke coming out of my exhaust. Seconds later, I no longer could accelerate and white smoke was also coming out of the engine. There were no lights on my dash at this point or at any point before this day. I quickly tried to get off of the road when I noticed my car was no longer going. I managed to get to the side of the road where finally my engine and oil light came on. I waited 2.5 hours for a tow truck on the side of the interstate, where I was barely off of the road. It was taken to the dealership where I bought it (since the car only has 32k miles on it) for a "hole in the engine" which is what I was originally told by the service department. Two days later, I received a phone call that there actually was no hole in my motor, and that the drain oil plug disappeared from my engine while driving, causing all of the oil to spill out of my engine that day on the interstate. Despite getting an oil change only 1500 miles ago from this exact dealer, they stated that the plug would have fallen out immediately after their service if it was placed back incorrectly. Hyundai stated this is now an "owner's problem" and that I was to call my insurance company to get an estimate from them because the dealership would not cover it since it was no longer a warranty issue. I called my insurance company who then got pictures from the dealer of the engine and a video. They then called me stating this type of damage is not covered under my policy, and that they would not pay for it. So here I am, stuck with Hyundai refusing to pay for a damaged engine even though the oil drain plug fell out, which inherently caused the damage, and despite having a 10 year/100k mile warranty on the motor. I found out there is an open investigation through the NHTSA about this exact issue and was hoping to receive clarity on what I can do.

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11559266). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11559266. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.