A DRIVER has slammed a major car manufacturer after she was slapped with a $20,000 bill when her engine exploded on the highway.
Blanca Crowe was left with tens of thousands of dollars worth of fees despite “doing all the right things” before her Hyundai‘s engine failed at high speed.
Blanca was left with a $20,000 bill for her car repairs[/caption]
The Californian TikTok creator has been locked in a months-long dispute with the South Korean car giants over who was responsible for the massive bill.
She purchased the 2018 Hyundai Tucson – with 58,000 miles on the clock – from popular dealership CarMax with an extended insurance warranty in 2023.
Despite regularly checking the vehicle’s oil, she told how “all hell broke loose” in January this year when her engine randomly exploded on the highway.
It then had to be towed more than 100 miles to a dealer in Carlsbad, California, where it stayed for five months as she battled to get the extortionate fees covered after her warranty claim was denied.
Posting about her ordeal on TikTok, she said: “I’m driving on the highway one day – no issues. All of a sudden, all hell breaks loose.
“Battery light comes on, check engine light comes on, the oil change light comes on.
“The engine is making this heinous noise and the engine explodes on the highway. I have to get my car towed 100 miles.
“It has been a nightmare for me from the start of dropping it off.
“It took so long because the extended warranty company kept coming out for inspection after inspection just to look at the engine to deny it.
“This looked like a lack of care on my part despite having all my oil change receipts.
“So me scrambling because now I have a 20 grand bill to pay for and my car is not even worth that much.”
She then got in touch with Hyundai corporate to ask for a goodwill repair as the car had registered less than 60,000 miles.
But global firm initially denied Blanca’s request, arguing that she was the second owner and the car was not under the five-year warranty due to its age.
After weeks of back and forth with Hyundai, the automaker eventually agreed to cover 70% of the fees.
But she told how she felt she had been “wronged” after being left with an eight thousand dollar bill.
She added: “They get back to you and they say you’re not under warranty.
“You’re the subsequent owner and you’re not within the sixty thousand miles or five years rule.
“So I’m screwed. I pushed and fought and finally they said they could do 70%.
“They are acknowledging that this is an issue but they don’t want to take full responsibility.
“I feel like I got wronged. I just got involved into some scam is what it sounds like.
“They just denied my claim and left me in the dark then I had to beg and plead for this coverage.”
Blanca eventually forced Fidelity Insurance to pay the remaining 30% of the costs to fix the vehicle.
Earlier this year, drivers with brand new Hyundai vehicles were complaining of the car’s paint mysteriously chipping and peeling in large chunks.
The owner of a brand new Hyundai Sonata 2.0T, Armando Toossi, said the paint began peeling off in large pieces after taking his car to get washed in 2016, as reported by CBC News.
Toossi was shocked because he had bought the car that same year.
The U.S. Sun has approached Hyundai for comment.
She eventually forced Hyundai and Fidelity Insurance to cover her fees after months of back and forth emails[/caption]
She had purchased the car from CarMax[/caption]
