I’m looking to buy a used N-Line Sonata for my daily commute. I drive about 30K miles a year. How is the reliability of the 2.5 turbo engine? My current '16 Sonata has 293K miles on it. I need the new engine to last at least 200K. Any thoughts?
Wow, you have 300K on the Theta 2.4L!? Is that the original engine?
MotorMan said:
Wow, you have 300K on the Theta 2.4L!? Is that the original engine?
Believe it or not, outside of the obvious machining defect, they’re actually pretty sturdy engines. It didn’t affect all of them.
@GoslingManstein
I’m not sure I should buy this overall. The machining defect was identified back in 2011. If Hyundai didn’t do anything to fix it in the next 9 years, that’s a bigger problem. If debris/machining was truly the issue, did they just let it slide?
I still believe there’s an inherent engineering flaw affecting the rod bearing reliability. Just like the current Toyota 3.4TT issues, blamed on machining debris, they’ve issued proper recalls and taken steps to rectify the problem. It’s not the issue itself, but how the solution is handled. Hyundai failed to fix it and let the engines ride the problem, similar to what Nissan did with their CVTs.
@HyundaiCruiser
It was indeed a design flaw, specifically in the machining process. This was a global issue. Retooling one or two engine plants is manageable, but retooling all of them worldwide is a different story.
It was fixed by introducing the Theta 3 family of engines.
@HyundaiCruiser
It was a design flaw in the machining process. It was a global issue. Retooling one or two plants is one thing; retooling all of them worldwide is another.
It was fixed with the Theta 3 family of engines.
Also, the class-action lawsuit didn’t happen until 2018, by which time the Theta III was close to production.
@GoslingManstein
I will disagree again; the Theta 2 has two plants, Alabama and Asan Korea (to my knowledge, correct me if I’m wrong). Most of the problems were based in the USA. So it’s really just one plant.
But my point still stands, if the Theta 3 is the fix, they knowingly let the Theta 2 ride the issue for 9 years.
If a retool was needed, it would have been cheaper than the billions they paid out in lawsuits. If they thought they could avoid lawsuits, that was a gamble they took at customer expense.
Ultimately, they chose to screw the customer and pay lawyers. It’s just business, but customers will remember this for a long time. They rolled the dice and lost.
@HyundaiCruiser
You can disagree, but that doesn’t make you correct.
Korean-built engines are included in the list of affected vehicles.
The North American market had many more Theta II engines in the available models, which is why the issue is more common here.
Simply put, we have a lot more Theta IIs in the North American market.
Again, Hyundai thought it could stretch the issue long enough to get to the ‘fixed’ engine, and in a way, it did.
The customers aren’t ‘screwed.’ Hyundai has replaced and will continue to replace a significant number of the affected engines.
Customers are coming out better than Hyundai.
@GoslingManstein
To this day, the ‘tooling’ issue has never been clarified. What was it? Clearances? Oil gallery size? You’re probably under an NDA anyway.
I think we’re ultimately saying the same thing: it was a company decision not to fix current production (for 9 years). This burdened many customers unknowingly. Even in 2016, when I bought a Sorento V6, I knew better than to go near the Theta 2. Ultimately, the V6 had head bolt issues, but that didn’t affect me; it was a great car.
The Smartstream 2.5L and 2.5T are relatively new, introduced around 2019. It might be too soon to determine if K&H has robustly fixed previous issues.
But so far, I haven’t seen much on it. It’s an updated engine with both GDI and MPI to avoid carbon buildup (Toyota and Ford do this too) as one example.
The 2.5T produces plenty of power on regular gas; I have the Sorento and can’t imagine what it would be like in an 800lb lighter sedan.
If your commute involves a lot of slow stop-and-go driving every day, the DCT is really not the best for that; it doesn’t shine when creeping in traffic.
The Theta 3 Turbo 2.5 has been pretty solid overall. There have been a few issues with fuel injectors and coil packs, but overall it’s very reliable so far.
I’d be more concerned about the transmission.