2016 HYUNDAI SONATA — Complaint #1865211
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION filed January 12, 2023
NHTSA complaint #1865211 (ODI reference 11501546) concerns a 2016 HYUNDAI SONATA and was filed on January 12, 2023. The owner reports the failure occurred on December 22, 2022. The report was geocoded to Maryland based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine and engine cooling:engine:oil/lubrication, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same HYUNDAI SONATA cohort independently describe similar engine and engine cooling:engine:oil/lubrication failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2016 HYUNDAI SONATA shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
We purchased a 2016 Hyundai Sonata in December 2020 for our son who is in college. In early August of 2022, my son noticed his oil light was coming on before it was time for an oil change. He had the vehicle topped off and maintained regular oil change and service schedule. While in for service at Fitzgerald Hyundai in Rockville, MD, August 2022, they replaced the spark plugs (4 cylinder tune-up) at 108,127 miles. The car continued to burn a lot of oil, so another appointment was scheduled at the dealership in Rockville September, 2022 at 111,792 miles. An oil and filter change, complete 23 pt. Vehicle Maintenance Inspection was performed, and all fluids topped off. The vehicle continued to burn oil at an unacceptable rate well before an oil change was required. My son continued to get oil changes and top off before the standard mileage. Another appointment was scheduled with the same dealer in Rockville, MD December 2022 at 118,989 miles requesting a diagnosis for the excessive oi
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1865211 |
| ODI Number | 11501546 |
| Date Filed | January 12, 2023 |
| Failure Date | December 22, 2022 |
| VIN | 5NPE34AF3GH |
Similar ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION Complaints for 2016 HYUNDAI SONATA
See attached document for complaint
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The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated that while driving at 45 MPH, she smelled a strong burning odor. The engine oil warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the deale
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.