Filed: Oct. 02, 2015
Latest Update: Oct. 02, 2015
Summary: STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT AND CONTINUE INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE L.R. 7-12 BETH LABSON FREEMAN , District Judge . Plaintiffs Beth Graham and Elizabeth Mendoza, and Defendant Hyundai Motor America, who are the parties in the consolidated case pending before this Court, In re: Hyundai Sonata Engine Litigation, 5:15-cv-01685-BLF, hereby stipulate as follows: WHEREAS, this litigation arises out of allegations (denied by Defendant) that Hyundai manufac
Summary: STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT AND CONTINUE INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE L.R. 7-12 BETH LABSON FREEMAN , District Judge . Plaintiffs Beth Graham and Elizabeth Mendoza, and Defendant Hyundai Motor America, who are the parties in the consolidated case pending before this Court, In re: Hyundai Sonata Engine Litigation, 5:15-cv-01685-BLF, hereby stipulate as follows: WHEREAS, this litigation arises out of allegations (denied by Defendant) that Hyundai manufact..
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STIPULATION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE CONSOLIDATED COMPLAINT AND CONTINUE INITIAL CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE L.R. 7-12
BETH LABSON FREEMAN, District Judge.
Plaintiffs Beth Graham and Elizabeth Mendoza, and Defendant Hyundai Motor America, who are the parties in the consolidated case pending before this Court, In re: Hyundai Sonata Engine Litigation, 5:15-cv-01685-BLF, hereby stipulate as follows:
WHEREAS, this litigation arises out of allegations (denied by Defendant) that Hyundai manufactured, sold, and leased Sonata vehicles that have an engine defect that can cause sudden engine seizure;
WHEREAS, counsel for Plaintiff Mendoza filed Mendoza v. Hyundai Motor Company, Ltd., No. 5:15-cv-1685-BLF on April 14, 2015, and counsel for Plaintiff Graham filed Graham v. Hyundai Motor America, Inc., No. 5:15-cv-2071-BLF, on May 7, 2015;
WHEREAS, on June 24, 2015, the Court issued Orders consolidating the two cases under the present master docket and master file in Case No. 5:15-cv-1685-BLF, ordering Plaintiffs to file a consolidated complaint, and continuing the Initial Case Management Conference until October 15, 2015;
WHEREAS, on August 20, 2015, the Court issued an Order extending Plaintiffs' time to file a consolidated complaint, currently due on October 8, 2015.
WHEREAS, on September 8, 2015, the Court issued an Order appointing Eric H. Gibbs and David Stein of Gibbs Law Group LLP and Matthew D. Schelkopf and Joseph G. Sauder of Chimicles & Tikellis LLP as Co-Lead Interim Class Counsel;
WHEREAS, since consolidation, counsel for the parties have met and conferred several times by telephone and in person, and have had several productive discussions regarding the allegations in the complaint, defenses to those allegations, scheduling, and potential resolution of this matter;
WHEREAS, on September 2, 2015, the parties conferred with legal and engineering representatives from Hyundai and discussed a recall announced by the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency and Hyundai on September 24, 2015, whose details are described in the Safety Recall Report attached as Exhibit 1;
WHEREAS, the parties are currently scheduled to enter mediation on October 29, 2015, with the assistance of Hon. James P. Kleinberg (Ret.) of JAMS;
WHEREAS, the parties believe that they will make substantial progress in their discussions regarding resolution of this action in mediation and believe it will be the most efficient and expeditious manner of advancing this litigation;
WHEREAS, as a result, the parties seek to extend Plaintiffs' time to file a consolidated complaint and continue the Case Management Conference currently set for October 15, 2015.
THE PARTIES HEREBY STIPULATE AND AGREE, subject to the Court's approval, that:
1. Plaintiffs' time to file a consolidated complaint is extended until November 12, 2015; and
2. The Case Management Conference set for October 15, 2015 shall be continued until November 19, 2015.
IT IS SO STIPULATED.
ORDER
PURSUANT TO STIPULATION IT IS SO ORDERED.
EXHIBIT 1
OMB Control No.: 2127-0004
Manufacturer Name: Hyundai Motor America Submission Date: SEP 10, 2015 NHTSA Recall No.: 15V-568 Manufacturer Recall No.: 132
Manufacturer Information: Population: Manufacturer Name: Hyundai Motor America Number of potentially involved: 470,000 Address: 10550 Talbert Avenue Estimated percentage with defect: 2 Fountain Valley CA 92708 Company phone: 1-855-671-3059
Vehicle Information: Vehicle: 2011-2012 Hyundai Sonata Vehicle Type: LIGHT VEHICLES Body Style: Power Train: GAS Descriptive Information: Model Year 2011 and 2012 Hyundai Sonata vehicles manufactured at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama equipped with 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter Gasoline Direct injection engines.
Production Dates: DEC 11, 2009 — APR 12, 2012
VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) Range
Begin: NR End: NR [] Not sequential VINs
Description of Defect:
Description of the Defect: Hyundai has determined that metal debris may have been generated from factory machining operations as part of the manufacturing of the engine crankshaft during the subject production period. As part of the machining processes, the engine crankshaft is cleaned to remove metallic debris. If the debris is not completely removed from the crankshaft's oil passages, it can be forced into the connecting rod oiling passages restricting oil flow to the bearings. Since bearings are cooled by oil flow between the bearing and journal, a reduction in the flow of oil may raise bearing temperatures increasing the potential of premature bearing wear. A worn connecting rod bearing will produce a metallic, cyclic knocking noise from the engine which increases in frequency as the engine rpm increases. A worn connecting rod bearing may also result in illumination of the oil pressure lamp in the instrument cluster. If the vehicle continues to be driven with a worn connecting rod bearing, the bearing can fail, and the vehicle could stall while in motion. FMVSS 1:NR FMVSS 2:NR
Description of the Safety Risk: An engine stall at higher speeds can increase the risk of a crash.
Description of the Cause: NR
Identification of Any Warning that can Occur: 1) Knocking noise from engine
2) Illumination of engine warning lamp
Supplier Identification:
Component Manufacturer
Name: NR
Address: NR
NR
Country: NR
Chronology:
The 2011 Hyundai Sonata was the first Hyundai vehicle to use an engine manufactured in Hyundai's Alabama
engine factory. As is the case with any production process, revisions were made to the manufacturing
processes. Of note, Hyundai initially used a mechanical deburring process to remove machining debris from
the crankshaft. In April of 2012, Hyundai incorporated a high pressure "wet blast" process to remove metallic
debris from the component.
As the subject vehicles gained field experience, Hyundai became aware of engine-related warranty claims in
the field. The vast majority of those claims evidenced that customers were responding to substantial noise, or
the vehicle's check engine light, and bringing their vehicles to service as a result of those warnings. Many
customers also complained after the warranty was no longer available. In a relatively smaller number of
instances, customers reported stalling events. However, the majority of those customers did not mention the
speed at which the vehicle was moving at the time of the reported stalling event. These customers were also
able to restart their vehicles and/or move the vehicles to the side of the road.
In June, 2015, NHTSA raised the issue with Hyundai. Hyundai explained that, as of that time, it did not
consider the issue to be safety-related due to the substantial warnings and the evidence that customers were
responding to the warnings, among other reasons. Upon reviewing Hyundai's information, the Office of
Defects Investigation informed Hyundai of its concern over the potential for higher speed stalling events.
These discussions occurred throughout August, 2015. On September 2, 2015, this issue was discussed at
HMA's Technical Committee meeting. At that time, Hyundai decided conduct the field action as a safety recall
and to file this Defect Information Report.
To date, there have been no reports of accidents or injuries attributed to this condition.
Description of Remedy:
Description of Remedy Program: 1) Hyundai Motor America will notify owners of affected vehicles to
return their vehicles to their Hyundai dealers to inspect, and if necessary,
replace the engine assembly.
2) Hyundai Motor America will increase the warranty for the engine
sub-assembly (short block) to 10 years/120,000 miles for both original and
subsequent owners of 2011 and 2012 Sonatas manufactured at Hyundai
Motor Manufacturing Alabama equipped with 2.0 liter and 2.4 liter Gasoline
Direct injection engines.
3) Hyundai will provide reimbursement to owners for repairs
according to the plan submitted on November 2, 2014.
How Remedy Component Differs from Recalled Component: NR
Identify How/When Recall Condition was Corrected in Production: The cleaning process was revised in April
2012 to utilize a hydraulic pressure "wet
blast" process to clean the crankshaft oil
passages.
Recall Schedule:
Description of Recall Schedule: NR
Planned Dealer Notification Date: NOV 09, 2015 — NOV 09, 2015
Planned Owner Notification Date: NOV 09, 2015 — NOV 09, 2015
* NR — Not Reported
