Dual-clutch or clutch-pack failure on the 2016 Hyundai Tucson
When dual-clutch or clutch-pack failure gets reported
Owners of the 2016 Hyundai Tucson report dual-clutch or clutch-pack failure at a median of 9,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 3,000 miles and a quarter after 25,000 miles, from 100 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 75,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 1,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 40,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 38,600 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
88% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 miles | 2,850 miles | 9,357 miles | 24,875 miles | 39,600 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $1,800–$5,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2017 at 10,000 miles.
By volume the 2016 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Problem concerns the 7-speed dual clutch transmission. Clutch plates in the transmission may not engage in drive or any forward gears after stopping at an intersection, toll booth, etc. When you apply power to move forward the clutch plates inside the transmission will not engage. Even putting the vehicle in 1st (vs drive) does nothing. The only gear that works when this happens is reverse. You'll have to back your way out of the intersection to the side of the road. Very dangerous! Be careful of rear-end collisions or being side-swiped as folks try to get around you. Turn the vehicle off and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Restart the vehicle and put transmission in drive. Gradually increase RPM to about 4,000, transmission will start to engage. Crawl from the shoulder to a place of safety. Turn the vehicle off and let it sit for another 10 minutes or longer (if possible). Make sure all systems are off, even interior lights (very important). Essentially, the computer that controls the transmission must have time to reset completely. Restart the vehicle and transmission will probably engage normally. Have taken vehicle to dealer for…
I have 4000 miles on this car and already have had it in the shop 5 times! Transmission- is very jerky, doesn't have pick up most the time, doesn't shift right away it takes a moment to kick in while RPM's are jumping. Hesitation from a dead stop, once at a dead stop and you slowly take foot off break the RPM's drop and the car shutters and feels like its going to die! Dealer said its normal for a dual clutch because its like a manual and that I need to drive 2 footed or deal with it. I also had it to dealer say prior to this time, it's because the dual transmission is staying in second gear and that's normal and that's why it feels like its going to die. Transmission never shifts the same.. When in eco it worse and when in sport mode it very jerky and the shifting is awful and never smooth. Bottom line is this.. Feels like the transmission has no idea when to shift and or how to shift. The RPM's go up but the car doesn't seem to pick up speed like it should as far where the RPM's are at, always revs up before it will even more. Also when at highway speeds it takes a lot to kick it down to pick up speed which is very dangerous…
I have 4000 miles on this car and already have had it in the shop 5 times! Transmission- is very jerky, doesn't have pick up most the time, doesn't shift right away it takes a moment to kick in while RPM's are jumping. Hesitation from a dead stop, once at a dead stop and you slowly take foot off break the RPM's drop and the car shutters and feels like its going to die! Dealer said its normal for a dual clutch because its like a manual and that I need to drive 2 footed or deal with it. I also had it to dealer say prior to this time, it's because the dual transmission is staying in second gear and that's normal and that's why it feels like its going to die. Transmission never shifts the same.. When in eco it worse and when in sport mode it very jerky and the shifting is awful and never smooth. Bottom line is this.. Feels like the transmission has no idea when to shift and or how to shift. The RPM's go up but the car doesn't seem to pick up speed like it should as far where the RPM's are at, always revs up before it will even more. Also when at highway speeds it takes a lot to kick it down to pick up speed which is very dangerous…
Also reported on the 2016 Hyundai Tucson
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Door latch or handle failure
Other electrical problem
Excessive oil consumption
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 126 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does dual-clutch or clutch-pack failure happen on the 2016 Hyundai Tucson?
Across 100 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 9,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 3,000 miles and a quarter after 25,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is dual-clutch or clutch-pack failure on the 2016 Hyundai Tucson?
126 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed