2020 Hyundai Palisade Powertrain & Transmission Problems

My 2020 Hyundai Palisade has an excessive and dangerous oil consumption defect. The vehicle consumes approximately 3/4 of a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. At a standard 8,000-mile oil change interval, the engine loses more oil than it holds between services. At approximately 185,000 miles, my vehicle stalled on the interstate with my family inside the vehicle. Upon inspection, the engine was critically low on oil. I added 5 quarts of oil to restore proper level. Critically, at NO point prior to the stall did the low oil pressure warning light illuminate. The vehicle's oil warning system completely failed to alert me that the engine was dangerously low on oil. This is a dual failure: the engine is consuming oil at an excessive and unsafe rate, and the warning system designed to protect the driver failed to activate when the engine was in a critical state. I have reported this issue to my dealership and filed a formal complaint with Hyundai Motor America. Neither has resulted in a meaningful resolution. Hyundai's internal "acceptable" oil consumption threshold of 1 quart per 1,000 miles is significantly outside mainstream industry standards set by other major manufacturers and appears designed to deny warranty claims rather than protect consumers. This defect poses a direct and serious safety risk. A vehicle stalling on the interstate due to oil starvation, with no warning to the driver, is a life-threatening failure. I am requesting that NHTSA open a formal investigation into the 2020 Hyundai Palisade for excessive oil consumption and oil pressure warning system failure.

Check engine light came on and stayed on. When using heat for car it was not heating up well or to temp. Got in to be serviced 12/16/25-12/18/25. Replaced a plastic part in engine and said engine was not heating up like it should. Cost $814. Reset check engine light. On 1/2/26 reversed car out of driveway into street and car came to abrupt stop and would not shift into any other gears. Another vehicle was coming up the street and almost collided with us and I could not get my vehicle to move which was blocking the road. Warning message said “Shifter System Malfunction: Service Immediately.” Pushed power button to turn off vehicle. Turned back on and able to get into drive to park back in driveway. Definitely having electrical issues and multiple problems with car since October 2025 when weather became colder for winter.

Since about 90,000 miles I have noticed a shudder from my transmission. It has progressed and having transmission issues. I have had regular maintenance done on my car and have even replaced the transmission fluid twice and the shudder is continuing to happen. I have looked at forums and all the things and seems to be a common theme amongst their transmission style.

I am the 3rd time owner of this palisade. Car was bought after a transmission replacement at 27,000 miles. (Second transmission). At around 70,000 miles, we started to have oil consumption problems/ignition coil problems. After a slew of tests and other recommend procedures that cost us money out of pocket, hyundai recommended to get a new engine. We get the new engine. They call to tell us the new engine is done, and proceed to share the transmission is bad and it needs a new one (3rd transmission). They are asking us to pay for the transmission as well. We want a buy back as we think this is a lemon car. 3 transmissions and a new engine under 85000 miles is not good and definitely grounds for investigation. These repeated failures make it unsafe/unreliable for us to drive our 6 month old baby in, let alone my wife and my myself. . We request and investigation/buyback.

many palisade owners and I have a same issue that the vehicle shaking when applying the brake the the car slipping jerking forward. that is really unsafe for us. please review this case

Uses 1qt of oil or more per 1,000 miles

The contact owned a 2020 Hyundai Palisade. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 MPH, he heard an abnormal popping and hissing noise. The contact stated that he started to smell a burning odor. The contact was losing forward momentum. No warning lights illuminated. When he applied the accelerator pedal, the vehicle continued to slow down. The contact pulled off the highway, stopped the vehicle, and turned off the engine. The contact stated that almost immediately, smoke was issuing from under the front end. The contact stated that the vehicle burst into flames. The police and fire department were called. The fire was extinguished using chemicals. The police and fire departments issued reports. The vehicle was towed away to an impound lot. The contact stated that he had the transmission replaced in 2024. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

Vehicle stalled and suddenly went into park mode from drive mode and lights started flashing along with engine light. Not idling properly, or shifting properly, has to be towed to dealership. 2020 with only 72,000 miles.

I own a 2020 Hyundai Palisade. The vehicle began jerking while driving, particularly during acceleration and shifting, prior to reaching 100,000 miles. Over time the issue worsened, and the vehicle started failing to accelerate properly when pressing the gas pedal. There have been significant hesitations before the vehicle would move forward. This creates a serious safety concern, especially when merging into traffic or turning at intersections. The condition appears to be related to the transmission. The symptoms began while the vehicle was still under the powertrain warranty period. I am concerned this may represent a broader transmission defect affecting other vehicles of the same model.

Safety Complaint Summary: I am filing a safety complaint regarding my 2020 Hyundai Palisade SEL AWD, ~96,000 miles). This vehicle has suffered three major powertrain failures under 100,000 miles: - Full engine replacement (due to excessive oil consumption, unresolved for months) - AWD system repairs - Now requires a full transmission replacement When my engine began burning oil, Hyundai’s service department charged me ~$500 and sent me back on the road without disclosing that this was a known issue. I continued running out of oil multiple times until an independent mechanic diagnosed the defect. My family was unknowingly placed at risk while Hyundai delayed resolution for 8 months. Diminished Value: The repeated nature of these failures not only raises safety concerns but has also destroyed the market value of the vehicle. Even after a transmission replacement, the Palisade remains a car that no buyer would trust — which underscores the seriousness of these systemic safety risks. Relief Requested: I ask NHTSA to review whether this defect pattern represents a broader safety issue and whether Hyundai should have disclosed the known oil consumption defect earlier and should investigate why a vehicle is suffering three powertrain issues and if this is a wider problem with the car type/year. A notice to consumers should be issued so we are not driving around in an unsafe car.

In short, the transmission has been replaced, the fuel injectors and other components. After that gets fixed they are saying we need a whole new engine and hyundai with only a pay a portion of it. We did the oil consumption test and it failed. The car was down for almost two months and they want us to pay 6k as our part. This is absolutely ridiculous and this seems to have been a known issue.

Burns oil and I have to change it every 3K-5K miles. I add oil throughout to keep it topped off, but by around 5K miles it’s nearly black. It would be completely dry by 10K miles. Yesterday I noticed an oil drip from what I assume is a faulty gasket, which is new.

We have a a reoccurring issue of a gear selector malfunction warning popping up on the dash. When this happens it is at random and causes the vehicle to forcibly put the car in park. The heavy concern is that it happens when the car is in motion. Forst few times it happened when backing out of a parking spot. Most recently it happened while driving out of our neighborhood. My concern is that this could potentially happen during a time in which speeds are higher and cause a wreck. We have taken the vehicle to Hyundai dealership locally and the code for the issue will not show so they send us home because they are not able to pinpoint the exact problem. We have continued use of the vehicle because when this does happen we have been able to cycle the car off and on and it goes back to normal and all warnings are cleared..... this cannot be normal a nd I just don't wish to find out what happens when it does this at a higher rate of speed.

Over the past 5 years, this vehicle has experienced three major powertrain failures: two complete transmission failures and, most recently, a catastrophic engine failure. The most recent issue involved the engine burning excessive oil without warning. While my wife was driving downhill, the vehicle shut off completely, causing a total loss of power steering and braking. She was barely able to get it safely to the side of the road. It was a serious safety risk, especially with children in the vehicle. Each failure has occurred well before it should in terms of mileage, and despite repairs, the issues continue. After this third failure, Hyundai offered to cover only 50% of the repair costs—which seems to acknowledge some degree of corporate responsibility—but we declined, as this is a relatively new vehicle and the problem is clearly systemic. We paid the second total transmission replacement completely out of pocket. A quick Google search and outreach to social media revealed that hundreds of Hyundai owners (across multiple models from this era) are experiencing very similar engine issues, many with official recalls for consumption, but there being no official recall or widespread support for Palisade owners. Personal stories suggest a clear pattern. The original dealership that sold the vehicle listed it as Certified Pre-Owned, but has since changed ownership and retains no records, which has made verifying the warranty status impossible. Hyundai corporate and customer service have been extremely difficult to work with—there are multiple active case numbers, no internal communication, and the local dealership doesn’t coordinate with national reps. This vehicle has spent over 100 days in service across these failures. I’ve tried every route available—dealership, corporate support, and online forums. The community is unsafe, and without broader action, other families could be at risk.

Issues began in November of 2024 Began with a a oil consumption test and failed. Submitted for a new engine due to high oil consumption 3 quarts in 1,000 miles. Waited 6 months for a new engine to be available. July 2025 noted oil leaking brought in for repair and stated it was a boot joint that was leaking. Multiple return trips to repair since oil was still leaking. Check Engine light came on in , September and a faulty sensor in engine was noted (for mixing air and gas?), replaced sensor. Oil still continues to leak and after insisting they take the entire engine out to figure out where it was coming from a leaking faulty oil plug was noted on the rear side of the engine.

The GDI v6 motor that’s in it shudders and rattles when at idle. There’s metallic shavings and gas smell on the dipstick. It’s always low on oil and smokes a little at idle aswell. It’s completely ran out of oil and been to the shop 3x so far in a years time. Add oil to it every 2-3 weeks at this point ,It’s not leaking oil it’s definitely burning it. Once the dealership even had to come tow it to the shop the car shut off in the middle of the road and then again in the driveway as my wife was trying to turn into the driveway she lost all power and steering she ended up in the middle of the front yard, thank god she was just getting home at the time of the incident. I’ve heard of the same engine giving problems and having an open recall for similar issues pertaining to a bearing and or rings being damaged or broken allowing for the oil to be dripping or being burnt. The vehicle is a family vehicle and gets driven daily by my wife to and from the kids school and the grocery store it’s not driven hard or for very long periods of time. I would like to know if there’s anything that could be done about this issue. I’ve looked to see if the recall was open for this model palisade but it only shows for the Santife models even though it’s the same engine. The shop and dealers always tell me it’s nothing and just keep up with oil changes but that’s near impossible when it runs out of oil before the next oil change is due.

Purchased a 2020 Palisade in March of 2024 with 76k miles on it. Asked the dealership we bought it from to look at the transmission after a week of owning the car, they said it was fine. I took it to Hallmark Hyundai dealership on 9/26/24 and they would not look at it until i had the transmission fluid flushed this was at 88430 miles. It was barely making it up a hill, we had the gas pedal to the floor and it was pulling back like it was going to stall. I scheduled to have the transmission fluid flushed at a local certified mechanic and he found tons of metal shaving and chunks throughout the fluid this was done at 89368 miles. I took it to Wilson County Hyundai after this was done and they said I needed a full transmission replacement this was done at 89643. They replaced the transmission, and on my way home from picking the car up there was metal grinding sounds coming from the transmission. I called Wilson County back and they asked me to bring it back, it was back on their lot less than 24 hours later. The transmission that was sent from the manufacture was a faulty transmission. The replaced the new transmission, and the sound stopped this was done at 89730 miles. After a couple thousand miles the metal grinding came back, along with the hard shifting, gear skipping, excessive vibration between gears, going up in RPMs but not shifting. I took it Jim Johnson Hyundai and they reset the Transmission adaptive, this is not fix the problem this was done at 96497. It back in the dealership now at Wilson county with the mileage of 99000 and their service manager told me they have 5 of them on their lot right now needing new transmissions. The car has less than 100k miles on it.

I had just pulled into a (handicapped) parking space at my bank in Marana Az. as I prepared to stop with the brake still depressed, the car suddenly surged, with the tach going to 5000rpm. The vehicle jumped the sidewalk (with rear wheels making drag marks on the sidewalk. Vehicle shot up the slight rise , hit and demolished a concrete bench and some plants and was heading toward the main entrance when I shut the engine off with the ignition key. The car stopped less than 10 feet from the bank entrance. the car came close to going through the entrance shattering the glass doors and possibly injuring bank customers and employees. There was no warning, but this car has had 3 or 4 sudden engine surges before - about one every 1 1/2 years. Hyundai service has checked and denied any problems. On line queries indicate the surging problems are not uncommon. They happen without warning and result in serious injury and damage to people and property. Hyundai is stonewalling. Other drivers have similar events occur for sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) and suggest problems with the Electronic Throttle Control (ETC) including throttle position sensors. Our Palisade has less than 40,000 miles on it and has been well maintained, but Hyundai people refuse to acknowledge any problems - my wife and I consider that this car is a potential death machine.

While merging onto a highway, my 2020 Hyundai Palisade abruptly lost all engine power and stalled. This immediate and complete failure occurred at a critical moment, posing an extreme safety risk. All dashboard warning lights illuminated, but provided no specific diagnosis. The vehicle was towed to a dealership, where technicians determined the engine was consuming oil at an abnormal rate, despite a lack of visible leaks. I was instructed to participate in an "oil consumption test," a three-part process that required multiple oil changes and inspections over several months. Each time, the vehicle had burned over a quart of oil—a clear indication of a defect. Despite this evidence, Hyundai denied my warranty claim, accusing me of negligence for being unable to produce oil change records between 29,600 and 46,900 miles. This is a common and unacceptable tactic used to avoid accountability for a widespread issue. My experience is not isolated. Hundreds, if not thousands, of owners of 2020-2023 Hyundai models, including the Palisade, report identical engine oil over-consumption issues and subsequent power loss. This issue is a **severe safety hazard** that can lead to sudden, catastrophic engine failure and potential accidents. Hyundai's refusal to acknowledge this defect and issue a recall is **gross negligence**. They are knowingly allowing thousands of unsafe vehicles to remain on the road. There are currently federal lawsuits against Hyundai for this very issue. The transportation authority must force Hyundai to issue an immediate recall and remedy this critical defect before a tragedy occurs.

Started my palisade and put the car in reverse. After 1 or 2 seconds, my car went to neutral. Error showed on my cluster “Shifter system malfunction! Service immediately”. I tried multiple times to put my car in park, drive or reverse without luck. After about 2 minutes the cluster said it couldn’t put the car in park and it automatically set the emergency brake. I had to shut the car off with it in neutral. I was able to restart the car and it did go into gear.