Hyundai denies offering $10,000 warranty repairs for Elantra N, accuses

Owner thinks automaker should cover repair costs for blown engine, but Hyundai claims data proves fault lies with him

Warranty coverage can be a fickle mistress. For a moment, it saves customers tens of thousands of dollars, as was the case with Toyota Tundra customers. In other cases, the automaker won’t pay anything when it thinks the owner did something to cause damage. This story focuses on the latter situation, with Hyundai claiming that an owner destroyed his engine and trying to hold them responsible.

Sudden engine failure

Christian Matzoros of Ontario, Canada, owns a 2022 Elantra N and is at the center of this controversy. Although the high-performance sedan was still under warranty, Hyundai refused to cover the cost of repairs, claiming Mazoros’ engine “revved too high.”

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In June, he was driving home when his car’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine failed at about 46,000 kilometers (about 28,580 miles). “It just stopped. I pressed on the gas pedal and it didn’t move,” Mazoros told CTV News Canada. Estimated repair costs? That’s up to $10,000 CAD (approximately $7,400 USD) plus taxes and fees.

We discovered that before contacting the media, he had reached out to the Hyundai N Owners Group on Facebook for help on June 3. I’m a former employee and this makes me sad. Ontario, Canada (let’s figure it out together),” he wrote in one post post.

Commenters asked him to provide more information about the car, but he only publicly stated that the car was stock and that the dealer was unwilling to give him a new engine. This surprised him because the vehicle was still under warranty when the engine failed.

Evidence of speeding in modern cars

Apparently, the Elantra N sat at the dealership for three months while he tried to work out a deal with Hyundai to get the insurance he thought he had. Unfortunately for him, Hyundai believed there was evidence that he was fully responsible for the loss. The explanation provided by the car manufacturer for denying warranty seems very discouraging.

“After examining the vehicle’s engine data retrieved through the engine control unit (ECU), a system that monitors and records engine performance for diagnostic purposes, it was determined that the engine encountered conditions that exceeded its designed operating limits, resulting in severe mechanical failure. “, a spokesperson for Modern Canada told CTV News. “These findings indicate that the engine speed was excessively high, which was beyond the scope of the vehicle’s warranty due to improper use.”

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The spokesperson further clarified: “Hyundai’s warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship under normal conditions of use. Damage caused by misuse, including exceeding the vehicle’s mechanical limits, is not covered. In this case, multiple times The excessive stress caused by significantly exceeding the recommended maximum RPM was outside the warranty parameters. We have provided Mr. Mazoros with a full explanation of the cause of the problem and the rationale for this decision.”

Potential “Funds Transfer” error?

It would be a different matter if Mazoros frequently hit the rev limiter with the throttle and caused engine failure. However, based on Hyundai’s wording – “significantly exceeding the recommended maximum rpm” – that doesn’t appear to be the case.

While Hyundai doesn’t explicitly state this, the fact that you generally can’t over-rev the engine just by hitting the gas suggests that this may be a “money transfer” situation. This occurs when the driver attempts to shift to a higher gear (such as fifth) but mistakenly selects a much lower gear (such as third), causing the engine to rev far beyond its limit. This can – and often does – lead to catastrophic engine failure, although this is not always the case.

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Matzoros, who purchased the extended warranty of seven years or 140,000 kilometers (87,000 miles), said he specifically chose the Elantra N because it was built for high-performance driving. “This is their track model, designed for track and circuit use. It has a two-litre turbo engine and is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox,” he explained.

“The car was already at the track, but that was not the case when it happened. I was driving home when it exploded,” Mazoros said.

Who owns the data?

Other automakers such as Toyota have denied warranty service in similar cases, blaming failures on driver error. At the same time, it’s worth noting that the carmaker can only obtain information about “overspeeding” because it has access to the data within the ECU. Some argue that such data should be the exclusive property of the owner.

“I wish Hyundai would cover this engine, especially since I did purchase the extended warranty and $10,000 is a lot of money,” Mazoros said. Whatever happens next for him, the lesson for the rest of us is clear, avoid choosing the wrong gear.