Hyundai Motor North America, for the past three years highly-ranked in J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study, could get its quality halo tarnished by a class-action lawsuit filed in California.
The legal action stems from disputes between Hyundai and Tiburon owners over warranty claims that were denied for clutch repairs in low-mileage Tiburons. The original suit covered 2003 Tiburon GTs with six-speed manual transmissions and the 2.7-liter engine, but may be expanded to include 2004 versions as well.
Despite the automaker's highly touted 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, owners with premature clutch failures say they were told that the clutch is considered a "regular wear item" not covered by the warranty, and that premature failure was likely due to driver error, leaving them with a hefty repair bill (in the neighborhood of $2,000).
Owners point to multiple service bulletins for the offending vehicles identifying "deformed parts," and much lower failure rates for later models with a redesigned clutch and flywheel as evidence that the design of their units was faulty. Hyundai says it's evaluating clutch claims on a case-by-case basis, which leaves clutchless Tiburon owners at the mercy of the service tech who inspects their car.
You can sample a few Tiburon clutch horror stories here and here. One unlucky 2004 Tibbie owner lost his first clutch at 16,000 miles, followed by the aftermarket replacement unit 4,000 miles later.
via Automotive News
The legal action stems from disputes between Hyundai and Tiburon owners over warranty claims that were denied for clutch repairs in low-mileage Tiburons. The original suit covered 2003 Tiburon GTs with six-speed manual transmissions and the 2.7-liter engine, but may be expanded to include 2004 versions as well.
Despite the automaker's highly touted 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, owners with premature clutch failures say they were told that the clutch is considered a "regular wear item" not covered by the warranty, and that premature failure was likely due to driver error, leaving them with a hefty repair bill (in the neighborhood of $2,000).
Owners point to multiple service bulletins for the offending vehicles identifying "deformed parts," and much lower failure rates for later models with a redesigned clutch and flywheel as evidence that the design of their units was faulty. Hyundai says it's evaluating clutch claims on a case-by-case basis, which leaves clutchless Tiburon owners at the mercy of the service tech who inspects their car.
You can sample a few Tiburon clutch horror stories here and here. One unlucky 2004 Tibbie owner lost his first clutch at 16,000 miles, followed by the aftermarket replacement unit 4,000 miles later.
via Automotive News
Sign in to post
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Continue