What to Do If You Own an Affected Hyundai, Kia

We reported this morning that Hyundai and Kia are revising gas mileage ratings for nearly 900,000 vehicles from the 2011 through 2013 model years — about a third of the cars sold by the affiliated Korean automakers over that range. 

What does it mean to you if you own one of the affected cars? We just got off the line with Hyundai and Kia officials, and here are some answers:

Comments

My son and I both bought brand new 2011's as we were told the mileage was better than the 2007 Honda's we owned. We have both noticed a huge difference and my son has stopped his road trips as he has been spending a lot more in gas. Guess we weren't crazy!

So basically I get completely screwed because I purchased a 2013?!?!? They should send the money on the expected life of the car, using the estimate that was on the sticker. You can bet I'll be calling and complaining about this.

@ Eugene, you WILL be reimbursed for every mile you drive as long as you own your vehicle, but it'll only be the difference they lied about. I think they are all liars. I guarantee the makers of Kia knew they were falsely advertising. This is a serious offense and they should have to pay more than what they are paying. We bought our Kia Soul mainly for the mpg that was noted on the sticker window, and now to find out they were falsely advertising by 6 miles is unacceptable. I see a class-action in the very near future, and I'm sure some of these car owners will even hire private lawyers. I don't think you can put a price on honesty...these big companies make me sick!!!!!

This company is missing the whole point of honesty and hard working people spending money on vehicles that were lied about. What a joke. Yea, you will pay back a cheap price to us car owners for mpg used, but what about the reinbursement for lying to us??? Yea, go figure that one out and offer us more money! We deserve it and you can afford it!!

So does that mean someone own a Hyundai/Kia vehicle, they will get a debit card once in a while since they are still being scammed from day 1?

I wonder who KIA paid to pull this off??? The adjustment should be 5-6 MPG. I own a 2011 Sorento withn a 4 cyl. & started complaining about the MPG after 2 weeks. At one point, KIA even offered to send me $200.00 which I refused - I asked if they would send me one a month & they hung up on me. The posted mileage on my sticker is so far off, the only way this thing could achieve it would be on the back of a tow truck. Nice job legal people, left the big guy win again. 1, ONE lousy MPG, are you nuts??? Why even bother. I'll go Toyota next time.

PS >>>> Also, I used my REAL name because I want them to know who I am and I wanted to say that I regret that I did not take their $200.00. I think I would be feeling better right about now. That's a lot more than I'll get from this. I'll bet all the attorneys are smiling though.

I bought a 2012 Kia Forte in Leesburg, Florida in August 2011 soley because of the sticker mpg rating that said 36-42 mpg. I thought that would surely mean somewhere near the top rated figure at some point. Unlike my past Toyotas that all got the excellent mileage the rating on the sticker had shown. Not so with my Kia. I have been tempted over the past year to write some local newspaper editorials to warn people about buying Kia's because the ratings weren't true. We'll hallelujah, they were found out and we will be reimbursed for their dishonesty. I won't buy one again. I'll go back to Toyota. My next concern is when we pump gas. You won 't hear the gas flow until you see 25-35 cents ring up on the pump. I've noticed that in the past year also. Hopefully our auditors will get onto that soon. Listen for that when you pump your next tank of fuel.

Your mileage may vary.
caveat emptor
Inflate your tires.
GM did this for years with the Cadillac Seville/Deville, yet no one complained.

I did a ton of research online when i was looking to take on a second payment because i needed something better to commute 120 miles a day and would have def not purchased my 2012 RIO if i knew it was not in the same class as the other cars i was looking at. I guess i am now stuck with a car that does not do what it said. Figures

Am I the only one not whining about this?!? I bought my '12 Rio 5 (and the sticker had nothing to do with it) one year 15 days ago, and have put nearly 27,000 miles on it. Without going into too much detail, I really have no complaints about my mileage. I do know one thing, though...if you have a heavy foot, and/or drive cross-country at 70mph or above, you will get sh*tty mileage. So whine all you want. I'll be getting $200 in free money AND drive a car I love.

i really do like my 2013 kia ,soul,,but the mpg was one of the reasons that i bought my car,,,i;am disappointed in the less mileage that i;am getting...

Raymond Boettner,
I agree with you. The actual mileage that I get out of my 2012 Sorento is at least 4 miles less than advertised. I have tried and tried again to try to make it go higher but to no avail. Some things that I’ve tried/considered are: making sure tire pressure is adequate, considered miles driven - city vs highway (my daily commute is 95% highway), tried not using breaks much (which I wouldn’t recommend but I could do this due to the highway commute), Push gas pedal gradually when accelerating and let it pick up speed at its own pace; without “stepping on it” (this is frustrating since it doesn’t have much horsepower but I would put up with anything to try to bring the MPG up)… as I said, none of these worked and I was still 4+ miles short when all said and done.
I hope that there is further investigation in to this matter as I don’t believe that their adjustments are accurate either.

I have a 2012 Kia Soul which was adjusted by about 6 MPG. I did a ton of research BEFORE I bought the car and knew it's MPG wasn't the advertised 32 MPG, but the realistic 27 MPG. I'm not mad about this at all. Heck, I see it as "free money" for the rest of my car's life.

Lesson of this story? Do your research before you buy a new car! It's not hard! Spend a month researching cars before you slap down thousands.

How come my 2011 Sorento 4cycle 2wd is not included in this? Purchased new and have never got predicted gas mileage. I would surely sell it back to them.

I'm so pissed off I bought a Kia sorento. I should have gotten a Prius V. The only reason I went with Kia instead was that they advertised the highest MPG with third row seating. F--- Kia! Their adjusted MPG is still higher that what I get while coasting down hill in neutral with the wind at my back. I don't just want a debit card, I want them to take the car back! Does anyone know if that is possible?

take the car back

They knew about this many months ago, in fact I read about it in Car & Driver & Motor Trend mags this past summer, granted the cars come from Korea with the window stickers on them but the liar's that run the dealerships should have put revised stickers on & the salesmen shold have told the customers, I think they should give each owner a free tank of gas each & every month they own the car, they've lost me as a customer thats for sure !!!bunch of lyin thievein, ( well you all know what they are ) !!!

I have complained about the milage on my soronto. I purchased the four cylinder motor with the new style fuel injection because I was told that I wouild receive great milage. The service dept; told me thert was nothing they could do. That means that I'm stuck with a four cylinder motor that dosn't save fuel. If I had known I woulf of purchased a six cylinder auto

I too would take my 2013 Sorento back. I loved our 2002 Sedona, but the Sorento's poor mileage is a deal-breaker. I hope there are some options here.

We purchased a new 2010 Hyundai Tuscon and it just eats gas. We drive our 2004 Pontiac Sunfire because we get much better gas mileage. I find out the 2010 Tuscon doesnt qualify for the rebate. This is not fair. I will never buy a gas eating Tuscon again.

I have a 2011 Tuscon that eats gas. From month one I said something is wrong and no one believed me. Most of my driving is highway. Sad to see the Tuscon was not included.

I've got a 2011 optima and love it. Mileage is fine with me. I could care less about mpg and more about the price of gas. If a person drove perfect according to the way the tech's wanted you to then you'd get the mpg. But come on you cry babies no one drives that way.

I bought a 2012 kia forte in january 2012 does it qualify??? Cause it isnt as good on gas as i thought.

I bought a brand new 2012 Accent in June 2012. I was on the fence between the Hyundai Accent and Mazda3. I only went with Hyundai because of the gas mileage and the accent holds value. Now that my worries about the mileage were validated, both reasons for buying went out the window. I wanted a full refund and I called the dealership. They said they'd "buy" the car back, gave me the run-around and refused to give me my full refund. I would have to sue them for breach of contract. If anyone knows of another way to get all of my money back, let me know, otherwise I'm probably getting a lawyer and going over my contract.

I have a 2013 Accent GLS and I am being offered like 60 bucks for 6700 miles? Um, Hyundai, as I am continuing to flood your Arizona call center every chance I get, as well as my local dealership-> This WILL NOT FLY! Either take my car back and refund my purchase price (= interest) or your problem WILL GET WORSE ! Yes, I am threatening you. The EPA lies as well and these companies got off easy. I am getting 14-19 MPG in the city and 19-26 on the Highway. Unacceptable ! Watch OU! I do NOT back down.

Is there a MPG class action law suit for 2011 Sorento owners?

haha...people are greedy and complain too much. I truly apologize for the so called "lie" and i also apologize for insulting the good people trying to get their "money's worth" however these MPG ratings are off by 1-3 MPG at most and you can honestly gain more than that back through good driving habits. Mine is rated for 28 combined and i get 31-34 combined and in stop and go. You want better fuel economy stop rushing, drive smooth and be patient on the road. Kia is being more than accommodating by compensating those who meet the criteria.

BTW...thats 40mpg on the hwy if I dont race the car at 70+ mph. You want a car built to drive faster at lower RPM's then look for a car with different gear ratios or more gears to work with.

WE own 2 2012 Kia Soul +'s and I turned in the paper work but have never received anything. No debit cards or any answer. Who should I contact?

Very nice to get card, however finding it almost next to impossible to use. Most merchants with a key pad decline the card. Tried to pay my car payment with it as a partial just to get it over with....and it was declined there also. Just adding injury to insult.

I have a KIA Sorento 2011, now has about 20,000 miles. The same problem with the gas millage, which is always 13-14 MPG and not as promised when I bought. I called them many months ago and they asked me to fill full tank 3 times and calculate the average mpg. I can also read the MPG on the car meter any time, and it did not change even I apply all ways to save gas while driving- it is fixed 13.6 or 13.8 mpg. I will call KIA again with the new data and I hope they will give some compensations! Please inform me if anyone have solved same problem.

I think there is too much false advertising and they should pay a stiff penalty. My elantra 2012 is not getting anywhere near the mileage advertised and I will never buy another