2013 Hyundai Veloster: engine failure

Filed Mar 18, 2026 · Engine · NC

As my [XXX] son was driving, his car, out of nowhere, stopped working and the steering wheel became incredibly hard to turn. It put him and other vehicles around him at risk as he was doing 50mph and his car suddenly stalled. No warning. No dash lights. It was hard for him to pull over to safety. We replaced the battery and tried to restart the car, then the engine started smoking. We immediately called for a tow. Our local shop said his engine seized. We then towed it to Hyundai and they confirmed the same thing, "it definitely locked right up." The car has been well taken care of, no warning signs prior to engine failure, no warning lights, etc. His car is also under 100k miles. There is literally no reason for an engine failure. In 2019 there was a the federal safety agency Recall 19V204, Hyundai Recall #182 ECU Software update; this was supposed to fix the issue but here we are... the engine STILL BLEW. Hyundai is refusing to help. They won't do anything. There's known issues with Hyundai's 1.6 GDI turbo engine. They should be held responsible. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Feb 24, 2026 · Electrical, Engine · CA

"CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE & INEFFECTIVE RECALL REMEDY (the federal safety agency 19V‑204): ​While traveling at highway speeds, with my two children and boyfriend, the vehicle went completely black. Car loss complete power, going into a limp mode( 'Loss of Motive Power') The Check Engine Light began flashing before going solid. When I was able to pull to the shoulder, I tried to start the car and noticed the radio screen was black and stayed black(before this time, the screen would some times go blank or completely black and then turn back on). Car would start and shake really hard with noise coming from engine, and then car would die. Since then I have been going back and forth with Hyundai Motors and Hyundai dealer, telling them that this is not a warranty issue, but a safety issue and they both have ignored and didn't enology this at all. This happened October 4th, 2025 Recall of 182 was completed but it failed. The vehicle is at the Dalton Hyundai dealer in Nation City. Dealer confirmed zero compression in engine and want $5000 to tare engine to see if it would be under warranty but I keep telling them this is a safety issue that is still accruing and under the 573 Recall/19v-204 I tried to get help throw the BBB and got denied because of age and being the second owner and they told me to contact the federal safety agency I am a single mother of two young kids, I bought car on 01/26/25 and still owe money on car. Since 10/4/25 I have had to pay out of pocket for a car rental just get to work. My car is up for repo due to me not able to pay for a rental and my monthly car payment. I am lost and don't know what else I can do to get this matter seen. When buying this car the sale person said it is a good car, it will save money on gas, and it has been a nightmare.

Filed Feb 19, 2026 · Engine · MO

2013 Hyundai Veloster 2013 turbo had 69000 miles when the engine stalled on the highway and promptly slowed to 40 mph. Midas stated engine blew due to a recall so I had it towed to the closest dealership in Oct 2022. They denied the repair and sent it to corporate for authorization and it was denied. Dealership attempted to charge 150 for checking the recall. They then told me to talk to Corporate hyundai. I have went back and forth with them trying to get an explanation for the denial to fix the recall. They wouldn't send the explanation. I refiled the claim again sending them recall laws as well. Recently I received a call from the dealership stating they had the car towed and destroyed. Help

Filed Jan 1, 2026 · Engine · MO

Purchased car from Premier Auto in Kansas City, KS in January of 2023. The car had 70,000 miles on it. In July of 2023 I was driving on a 4 lane HWY with a speedlimit of 65. The car suddenly jerked to and slowed to 35 MPH. The car behind me nearly hit me. I had it towed to Midas to have it checked out. They informed me the engine had failed and it was because of a manufacturer recall. I then had it towed to a Hyundai dealership in October 2023. They stated to me that it was engine failure due to a recall but they would not fix it. They stated not under recall. The dealership then sent me a notice saying that I owed them 150 dollars and they would keep the car. I filed a claim with Hyundai corporate and they denied repairs stating not under warranty. I appealed that which was a denied response with the reason as not under warranty. I then filed a claim with BBB warranty department and their response was "we only assist with new car warranty issues. I then filed another claim with Hyundai corporate and the dealership and both denied it because of the warrant expiration. While that was happening I lost my spouse of 23 years. The car has been at the dealership for 2.5 years now and I continue to submit requests that are continuously denied.

Filed Jun 25, 2025 · Engine · NH

Vehicle Info: 2013 Hyundai Veloster VIN: [XXX] Odometer: 75,000 miles Problem Description: My check engine light began flashing and the vehicle entered limp mode. Diagnostic codes showed P1326 and U1103, which are linked to a known Theta II engine defect involving rod bearing failure. Hyundai issued a 15-year / 150,000-mile warranty extension and settled a class-action lawsuit to cover these failures. However, my request for coverage was denied due to “time in service” despite being well below the mileage limit (only 75k miles). This is a serious safety concern that may result in sudden engine failure. I am requesting that the federal safety agency investigate Hyundai's denial and handling of such cases INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Sep 16, 2024 · Engine · FL

A connecting rod bearing failed in the engine leading to catastrophic engine failure with the connecting rod breaking through the wall of the engine block causing a hole and undriveable vehicle. According to my research, this issue has been recalled in adjacent model years (2015-2016) but not in my model year (2013) that has the same engine. This issue has already been confirmed in these engines, but Hyundai states my car is not included in the recall. This was a safety risk because the engine failure breached the engine wall which could have ignited engine oil and caused a fire. The engine may have also failed at a critical driving moment when acceleration was needed and stranded the car in an unsafe position. Yes, the problem was reproduced at the dealer's service center because the failure occurred while they were test driving my vehicle. Since the service center tech was the one driving the car when the incident occured, I do not know if there was a fire or not and the speed they were traveling, etc. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealer service center and confirmed that this is the issue that caused the problem. The dealer even suspected this was going to happen as they had foreknowledge of the issue occurring on other vehicles that had already been recalled for this issue. The only prior warning of this issue is that I had some misfires on the engine a few days before which is what prompted me to bring it in for service. The misfires temporarily illuminated the "check engine" light but then the light went back out again. I had no idea this minor issue would result in such a severe, catastrophic failure.

Filed Mar 22, 2024 · Engine · CO

Purchased the vehicle and a few weeks late received a recall letter (23V651000) about their ABS issue. They never did send us the recall letter regarding the known engine issue. Months later the engine completely seized up. We took it to a mechanic who told us to call Hyudai since the engine was well beyond repair. We called the Hyudai dealership in town and they explicitly told us their were NO ACTIVE RECALLS for this car. After finding out a replacement engine would cost over $10k we had no other option but to salvage the vehicle. Fast forward about a month and we received recall letter (service campaign 966) about a recall active since MARCH 2021 regarding engine sensor malfunction that could result in total engine loss if not addressed. Hyundai is refusing to take responsibility for not informing us about this recall during few months we owned the car. They also are not taking responsibility at the dealership level for telling us there were no active recalls (there are TWO active recalls that were present when we called.) Is there anything that the federal safety agency will or can help with regarding this issue. Hyundai very clearly dropped the ball on this issue and are refusing to be helpful or take responsibility. This could have been a VERY dangerous situation if the car was driving at speed - luckily the engine broke down when pulling out of the driveway...

Filed Sep 26, 2023 · Engine · FL

I own a 2013 Hyundai Veloster in 2019 a recall was issued for engine management component recall number 182. In 2018 my engine was blown because of the engine management component how could I know this if the recall was an issue till 2019 the next year I took the car to Hyundai they said they're not responsible for the blown engine this car has 50,000 miles on it Hyundai is supposed to repair any car up to $100,000 me in 10 year warranty they refused to fix it engine gets hot heats up I'm scared of a fire Hyundai does not want to be responsible for this car what do I do to fix this problem it's not safe to be on the road but I need to drive my car please help me this is not the first time I contact the federal safety agency

Filed Aug 22, 2023 · Engine · CA

Unknown. I was driving my car home after work and basically the engine blew a piston out of the side of the engine while going 20mph, was just driving normally them a loud boom sounded like I hit a pothole or something but their where no objects in the road. And in my review I seen a trail of oil and one the car stopped all the oil was dripping from the underneath the car. The car had been sending a check engine light/coil misfire. And from what I know the recall is for some type of misfire code. I got no help from the dealer as to why my engine blew up other than it was my fault I lost the car in a accident and don’t have it anymore but I put in 7,000-10,000 on a turbo system and refurbished engine. And I strongly believe it has something to do with the recall at hand But I had no choice at the time and the recall didn’t come to me till after I lost the car.

Filed Aug 14, 2023 · Engine · FL

I've been going through this with Hyundai for over a year I own a 2013 Hyundai Veloster with 52000 me this car in 2019 had an engine management component recall my engine blew as in the heads blew the oil and the water and cooling are mixing

Filed May 20, 2023 · Engine · WI

Unknown. Yesterday May, 19th we were driving when the check engine light started flashing, the car started runing rough, misfiring, and there was a burning smell. On top of that our car has been burning too much oil and gass. As of right now we have an appt to have it towed to, and have it serviced at our local Hyundai dealership in Racine, Wi for our 2013 Veloster turbo. Our issue is that there is a recall on later models for engine failures, for the very same symptoms, but not ours for some reason.

Filed May 5, 2023 · Engine · NV

On 9/27/2022, I wrote a letter to the federal safety agency (which was published in a PDF) outlining the reasons why all Veloster's (2011-2014) equipped with 1.6 L GDI engines are having Detonation And Catastrophic Failures. To sum it up, the real reason is the compression ratio is "much higher" than recommended for use with Regular 87 Octane Fuel. The compression ratio in the Base Model is: 11:1 and the Turbo Equipped Model is: 10:1. A compression ratio of 11:1 is "boarder line" for 105 Octane Race Fuel. The 11:1 compression ratio creates a Higher Combustion Chamber Temperature, which ignites the fuel air mixture before the Piston Reaches TDC. This causes excessive pressure on the Pistons and Rods, because the cylinder is firing while the Piston Is In It's Upward Travel. While even though the compression ratio is lower for the Turbo Model, the Turbo Boost creates a higher cylinder pressure. That higher cylinder pressure combined with the detonation issues caused by the Low Octane Fuel, creates excessive pressure on the Pistons And Connecting Rods. This is what is causing these engines to fail! Hyundai has since installed a Dual CVVT Phase Regulator which lowers the Compression (by bleeding off Cylinder pressure) when the Knock Sensor detects Detonation. This is on all replacement GDI Engines. Many of the Hyundai And Kia Models use these same engines. Many of those models have already been recalled, but due to "Under Performing Sales" ours have not. The Veloster did not really "take off" until 2015. That's why the 2015-2016 Models (with the same engine) have Engine Recalls. If you have heard a Continuous Engine Knock your Engine already has Internal Engine Damage, but everyone who owns one of these Veloster's (that is still in running condition) should Immediately switch to Premium Fuel. Premium Fuel will help Prevent Detonation, And Temporarily Prevent Engine Failure. All of these Engines need to be Immediately Recalled, to provide for The Safety Of Our Family And Ourselves!