2019 Elantra Sport (1.6L Turbocharged I4)-Am I cooked???
2019 Hyundai Elantra Sport had basically no oil, now rattling even after refill. No warning light came on. Looking for advice/similar stories.
I have a 2019 Hyundai Elantra Sport with around 120k miles. I was due for an oil change, and recently the car started making a rattling noise. The noise was noticeable while driving and seemed to come and go at different speeds. It also sounded different when accelerating at higher RPMs.
I drove it to my mechanic, and they told me the car had basically no oil in it. They filled it with about 5 quarts of oil. After adding oil, the rattling became quieter than before, but it did not fully go away.
The weird/frustrating part is that I never got an oil warning light or any obvious warning before it reached this point. No oil pressure light came on that I noticed. The car also wasn’t obviously leaking oil onto the ground, so I’m wondering if it may have been burning oil or slowly consuming it.
The mechanic’s recommendation was basically to stop driving it and sell/trade it before I get stranded with a blown engine or need a full engine replacement. He said driving it more could make the situation worse.
A few details:
- 2019 Hyundai Elantra Sport
- Around 120k miles
- Was due for an oil change (Consistently getting them every 5-6k miles since I bought at 31k miles)
- Mechanic said it had basically no oil
- Took about 5 quarts to fill
- Rattling got quieter after oil was added but is still there
- No oil warning light came on
- No obvious oil puddle/leak
- Mechanic advised not to drive it anymore
- I’m currently considering selling it as-is rather than trying to repair it
Has anyone dealt with a 2017–2020 Elantra/Elantra Sport running extremely low on oil with no warning light? Did the rattle go away after an oil change, or did it end up needing major engine work?
At this point, I’m not trying to spend thousands chasing repairs unless there’s a realistic chance it’s something manageable. Any advice on whether this sounds like “sell it now” territory vs. worth diagnosing further would be appreciated.