We are the original owner of a 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe. The vehicle is experiencing issues from internal engine oil consumption caused by a manufacturing defect in the GDI powertrain. In 2023, while driving under normal operating conditions, the vehicle began severely jerking, shuddering and hesitating during acceleration. This hesitation and sudden drop in power creates a severe and immediate traffic hazard, as the vehicle loses acceleration capabilities unpredictably while driving, merging, entering a highway or crossing intersections. I have since experience low oil volume due to this systemic oil consumption. On April 7, 2023 while I was under the 100,000 mile factory warranty (at 99,644), the issues were reported to the dealership but they found no issues. Since then the engine light come up regularly and we must add or change oil soon. On June 15, 2026 we took it back with the same issue and we have been told after checking it and filling it up we must repeat the process from 2023, drive it for 1000 miles without changing or adding oil, even if it dries up. This will create a safety hazard not only for the public but for my family. Now we are told the engine needs to be replaced but since we're out of warranty, we must pay $21,000. We were under warranty when we reported the issue and they purposedly led us out knowing the issues were happening to other Sonata and Santa Fe models. Now we are left with a dangerous vehicle which we cannot in good faith sell to any other family.
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe: excessive oil consumption
32 of the 493 complaints about the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe describe excessive oil consumption.
- owner complaints
- 32
- of this car's complaints
- 6%
- recalls
- 0
Excessive oil consumption by model year
What owners say
My car was in shop for Smog inspection and failed. Mechanic told me that the most likely reason was that the engine has issues related to failing crankshaft position sensor which triggered the check engine light. He further explained that the engine with this condition will have abnormal oil consumption. My experience is that is exactly what I wondered. No smoke in the exhaust, no oil leaks under the hood and no oil on the parking space at home nor work. Mechanic recommended I take the car to Hyundai dealer in Folsom. The service department there diagnosed my car and did not find fault with crankshaft position sensor but did find that there is a problem with timing mechanisms. They also said that the engine has difficulty starting, which I never experienced in over 50,000 I have driven it, save the time of battery replacement about 2 years ago. I decided to take my car back to my mechanic where he diagnosed it with timing issues. The abnormal engine noise was accounted for as a link to timing. In the interim I drive a rental at the rate of about $65.00 /day. I m in a quandary; if my mechanic repairs the timing issues, which may not be under warranty, does that invalidate the existing engine warranty? If I can get the warranty to cover the ongoing issues, we can save ourselves wasting time and money. If safety concerns are a priority, which is not, then we cannot sacrifice safety in the interest of celerity. In the meantime, my family are in the crossroads and I cannot accept that.
My car has a known oil consumption problem that has not been recalled on the 2014 vehicles. I have been dealing with issue for the 15 months. Getting the run around because call is out manufacture warranty but when problem first started was still under warranty. I have a extended warranty but
The engine went out while driving on the freeway. All maintenance has always been done and it was burning oil.
vehicle was driving then all of a sudden there was an excessive amount of white smoke coming out of exhaust Engine was making a clicking sound before like a card in spokes on a bike and has been excessively consuming oil recently Auto shop discovered that a piston came loose and was rattling around the engine until it eventually shot through the engine
Engine has excessive oil consumption. Many complaints on engines failing and Hyundai not doing anything about it. They won’t even run tests on the car.
While driving engine began to sputter and power ceased, stranding my wife on a busy highway in the dark. Engine suffered 2 out of 4 cylinders failure on the highway, engine is dead. Dealership quoted $18,000 all told to fix the damages. Routine maintenance performed and on top of that, constant topping off of oil for a bad oil consumption issue. Hyundai refused to warranty or help at all in any way even after stating over the phone that it has been a known defect for some time and should be covered. Hyundai has left me with a dead car, no help to fix it or replace it and a loan still to pay off.
What component failed or malfunctioned? Vehicle's engine is burning oil. There are no leaks and no oil left behind after it has been parked for extended periods, yet the engine is bone dry when oil levels are manually checked with the dip stick. The vehicle's engine has been the subject of numerous lawsuits and settlements for connecting rod bearing failures, so it is likely that my vehicle is in the early stages of this failure. Despite the lawsuits, settlements, and known issues, the manufacturer refuses to inspect or test for these issues under warranty. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? One of the recalls that resulted from one of the previous lawsuits led to the installation of an engine knock sensor which is meant to stall the engine and place it into a "limp mode" when the failure is happening. If this is to happen while I am operating the vehicle (especially on the highway), it could put myself, my child, or others on the road at risk when the vehicle suddenly goes from operating at 65+ MPH to something much slower without warning. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The manufacturer refuses to test for these issues under warranty, despite the symptoms clearly pointing to early rod bearing failure. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? The manufacturer refuses to test for these issues under warranty, despite the symptoms clearly pointing to early rod bearing failure. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? There has been no warning aside from a simple "check engine" light. Had I not manually checked my oil levels, I would not have noticed the engine was bone dry before operating the vehicle.
Same issue with my Santa Fe Sport with the engine burning oil. It left me stranded on a back road up hill when it just slowly stopped accelerating and shut off. I had it towed to Hyundai dealership who wanted me to purchase a brand new engine. After talking to a friend who is a mechanic he told me about the lawsuit going on. I confronted Hyundai with this new information I had gotten. I was able to get the engine replace but I’m appalled at Hyundais sketchy way of trying to bypass this. Had not for my friend told me then I would have paid for a new engine! Dealership kept my vehicle for 4 months because they were out of stock in engines due to the amount of vehicles having the same issue! Wow now the truth unfolds. Shortly after getting the car back the check engine light came on. When reversing the vehicle would buck and seem like it wanted to stall out. Autozone hooked up computer and said torque converter code showed. Autozone said if I just had my engine replaced then the dealership didn’t install it right or broke something during the process. I took it back to Hyundai and they verified converter code and said I needed a new transmission! Prior to the engine issue this car NEVER had problems. The second the engine was replaced everything went wrong! Seems very sketchy. The car started losing power when driving. I was on the highway and it would not accelerate. I was terrified I was going to get hit by all the other vehicles. Cars were dodging me and slamming on breaks and honking horns. I managed to make my way to pull over. Got the transmission replaced like I was told and the converter replaced. Car is still doing the same thing. Hyundai said I needed converter replaced AGAIN two months after they replaced it. Now everyone at Hyundai was fired… wonder why. Now I took it back to Hyundai again, car has not been driven in over a year. Now they are saying no issue with converter it’s the transmission! Hyundai needs to be out of business. They put us in danger!
The engine burns oil at an alarming rate. It also frequently stalls when driving on the highway, trying to accelerate, or when driving up hill. The gas pedal will shake when accelerating and the car sometimes feels like it’s jerking. I have done an oil consumption test and tried to work with a local dealership that told me there are recalls on all of the other engines in this make and model but not my liter. He said that a recall should be issued because this is a common problem but it has not been done yet. When the car displays these engine issues the Check engine light comes on, most of the time if you stop the car and wait 10ish minutes then restart the light will be gone.
Hi, I bought my car from Honda of Concord in June 2020 and they’re the only ones that have serviced my car. I had my last oil change on 03/24/23 and had 40 days to get my oil changed again. No light or anything came on until my car broke all the way down. When I checked the oil level there was NO oil in the car whatsoever, so I bought some and put it in there and towed it to the dealership the next day. The Honda dealership told me after charging me $100 for a diagnostic fee that it was because of the engine. So I had the car towed to the Hyundai dealership for my 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe. The Hyundai of Concord location told me they couldn’t see the car for 3-4 weeks. At that point I had it towed to South Charlotte Hyundai who then had to do another diagnosis which costs $109. They told me that the engine failed do to no oil being in the car!! Now I am going back and forth between these two dealerships. Honda says it’s due to oil consumption. There’s a recall going on for oil consumption with the type and year of car I have. Hyundai says it’s not related to the recall but because there was no oil in the car. I maintenance my car like I suppose to every month and they are trying to act like I’m responsible. I am not understanding this at all. Hyundai is trying to charge over $12,000 to fix my car and that’s just not sitting right with me. Either Honda of Concord messed my car up by not putting the oil back in after the oil change or not doing it right or Hyundai needs to fix this issue do to the recall! Also, the Hyundai Corporate woman stated she don’t see where Hyundai left notes on any action taken on the car so she’s not sure where they are getting the numbers from for the engine replacement amount. The dealership never attempted to do a pre approval to see if the engine could be replaced although out of warranty.
Just under 80k miles with the 3.3 V6 and I was told the car had oil consumption and had the timing chains done and not even 24 hours later driving down the highway the connecting rod went through the block absolutely junking the whole motor
Service bulletins that may apply
- Abnormal engine noise or damage
- Abnormal engine noise or damage
- Abnormal engine noise or damage
- The warranty coverage of certain engines for repairs and replacement has been extended to 15 years or...
- Abnormal engine noise or damage
- Abnormal engine noise or engine damage
- The warranty coverage for engine repair or replacement related to engine noise or damage has been extended...
- Higher-than-expected engine oil consumption
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe oil consumption
Is excessive oil consumption a common problem on the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe?
32 of 493 owner complaints about the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe (6%) mention excessive oil consumption. The model year with the most reports is 2017.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe?
There are 0 recalls and 19 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe
Engine failure 121Knocking 75Check engine light 72Stalling 52ABS 31Fire or smoke 30Loss of power 30Won't start 19Hesitation 13Won't shift 12Jerking 11Steering noise 10Sunroof shattered 10Headlights 9Power steering loss 8Brake failure 7Door locks 7Warning lights 7Harsh shifting 6Pulling 6Adaptive cruise 5Backup camera 5Fuel smell 5Key fob 5
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