— A Hyundai Palisade class action lawsuit alleges the SUVs smell bad, really bad, and Hyundai allegedly hasn't been able to fix the problem. According to the two Palisade owners who filed the lawsuit, the interiors smell like rotten eggs, garlic, garbage and other odors capable of making occupants sick.
The class action lawsuit includes consumers who purchased or leased Hyundai Palisade SUVs beginning with model year 2020.
The Hyundai Palisade class action lawsuit alleges Minnesota plaintiff Richard Stucki and Georgia plaintiff Travis Tharpe purchased new Palisade SUVs and claim they wouldn't have bought the vehicles if Hyundai would have told them about the smelly problem.
Plaintiff Stucki purchased a new Hyundai Palisade in May 2020 and after driving a few hundred miles, his wife noticed a strong horrible smell after the Palisade sat in their garage overnight or when it was parked in the sun.
Stucki, a former car dealership service director, says it was far from the customary “new car smell” associated with brand new vehicle interiors.
The plaintiff took the Palisade to a dealership after about six weeks, but technicians allegedly couldn't find any abnormal smells and the bad odors continued to occur.
Stucki says he contacted Hyundai's corporate customer service and was provided a case number regarding the odor complaint. The plaintiff says he was told the Palisade odor problem was being investigated and someone would be getting back to him.
The Palisade class action alleges Hyundai never contacted the plaintiff, so he again contacted Hyundai and told representatives the bad smells were making his wife sick. He was assigned a new case number and assured a national case manager would be notified.
The plaintiff claims the runaround continued as he was given a third case number about the Palisade smell problem until finally a dealer sprayed the interior with Febreeze. According to the lawsuit, this method masked the smell for a while but didn't eliminate the problem.
The plaintiff says he was provided a fourth case number and again was told Hyundai would get back to him, but Stucki says his Palisade "has not yet been repaired and continues to be defective."
Georgia plaintiff Travis Tharpe purchased a new Hyundai Palisade in February 2020 but wishes he wouldn't have spent a dime on the SUV.
Shortly after taking possession of his Palisade, Tharpe says he smelled a foul odor from inside the Palisade, so he contacted Hyundai and was given a case number. However, the plaintiff says he never heard from anyone, so he took the Palisade to a dealership but was allegedly told there was no fix for the smell.
Hyundai Palisade Lawsuit Claims TSBs Prove Hyundai Knows
According to the Palisade class action lawsuit, Hyundai allegedly knows about the bad smell problem but refuses to recall the SUVs.
Hyundai issued technical service bulletin (TSB) 20-BD-018H in October 2020 and TSB 21-BD-002H in January 2021 informing dealers about Palisade smells and what to do if owners complained.
Both bulletins say the Nappa leather on Palisade headrests could cause bad smells, a problem which could allegedly be fixed by using common cleaners and odor eliminators. But the class action lawsuit alleges the "fix" does nothing to fix the bad odor problem.
The lawsuit alleges some Palisade owners received replacement headrests but the bad smells remained, and the plaintiffs claim some Hyundai dealers report having to return the replacement headrests to Hyundai due to the odors.
The Hyundai Palisade class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota: Stucki, et al., v. Hyundai Motor America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Hellmuth & Johnson, PLLC.
