Used Genesis G90 1st Gen (2017-2022): Buyer's Guide

Hyundai recalled the Genesis G90's turbocharged V6 for a fire-risk oil leak in 2019, covering the 2017 and 2018 model years. In 2024, it recalled the same leak again, this time expanding coverage to every 2017-2022 G90 built with that engine. If you're shopping a used 3.3T G90, that history says something: this generation's turbo six needed two tries to get fixed. The 5.0 V8 has a cleaner record. So does the interior, which reviewers have called close to 90 percent of an S-Class experience for a third of the price. Here's what six years of forum threads and two rounds of recalls say about buying one used.

This Generation at a Glance

The first-generation Genesis G90 ran from the 2017 model year through 2022, launched as the flagship sedan for Hyundai's then-new luxury brand. It got a mid-cycle refresh for 2020: a new grille, headlights, hood, fenders, and bumpers, with the mechanical hardware carried over unchanged. No changes followed in 2021 or 2022. The full redesign, with a different turbo V6 and air suspension architecture, arrived for the 2023 model year and isn't covered here.

Two engines ran the entire generation with no swaps or additions: a 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 (365 hp, 376 lb-ft) in the Premium trim, and a naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 (420 hp, 383 lb-ft) in the Ultimate trim. Both pair with an 8-speed automatic and are available RWD or AWD.

Genesis built the G90 to undercut the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, and Lexus LS on price while matching or beating them on comfort features. It largely succeeded on paper: the G90 has more front-seat legroom than the LS 500, and it includes cooled rear seats, a heated steering wheel, and a remote trunk release standard where the S-Class charges extra for the same items. What it gives up against the Germans is technology polish and outright brand cachet, and against all three rivals it gives up resale value. That last part is exactly why it shows up used at prices a comparable-age S-Class or 7 Series buyer would envy.

The G90 is a big car regardless of engine. Curb weight runs around 4,663 lbs, riding on staggered 245/45R19 front and 275/40R19 rear tires. Genesis backed the drivetrain with a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty for the original owner, which was aggressive for a brand nobody had heard of in 2017. As a used buyer you won't get the full term; Genesis warranties step down for second owners, so ask the dealer exactly how much coverage is left on the specific VIN rather than assuming the sticker number applies to you.

Current pricing and inventory: Genesis G90 market data, with per-year pages for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Powertrain & Trim Breakdown

3.3T Twin-Turbo V6 (Premium trim)

The 3.3T is the volume engine and the cheaper one to buy used, but it's also the one with the recall history. In October 2019, Hyundai recalled 2017-2018 G90s (campaign 19V-538000) because the turbocharger's oil supply pipe could develop a loose seal and leak oil onto the exhaust manifold, a fire risk. In May 2024, Hyundai issued a second, broader recall (24V-191000) for the same failure mode, this time covering every 2017-2022 G90 with the 3.3T, and explicitly stating it replaces the 2019 fix. Cars repaired under the original recall need the new remedy completed too.

Beyond the recalled part, owners on The Genesis Owners Group forum report front cover gasket seepage on the 3.3T, a repair RepairPal prices between $1,491 and $2,063. The engine also asks more of you at service intervals: spark plugs are a 40,000-mile item on the 3.3T versus 100,000 miles on the V8, and Genesis specs a 6,000-mile oil change interval versus 7,500 for the V8. Forum posters in threads comparing long-term V6 and V8 ownership costs consistently flag the 3.3T as the pricier engine to keep on a maintenance schedule, even before you factor in turbo-specific repairs.

Ask for the recall completion status before you buy. A 3.3T that never had the turbocharger oil feed pipe replaced under either 19V-538000 or 24V-191000 is a used car with a documented fire-risk part still in it.

There's a secondary, less certain concern worth flagging. Genesis's 3.3T shares its architecture with an older naturally aspirated Hyundai 3.3 V6, and owners on forums researching long-term ownership have pointed to timing chain tensioner wear as a known weak point on that earlier engine family at high mileage. Whether that carries over identically to the turbocharged version isn't something CarScout's data can confirm, so treat it as a reason to ask about timing chain noise on a cold start rather than a confirmed G90 defect.

5.0L V8 (Ultimate trim)

The naturally aspirated 5.0 has the better reliability reputation of the two. NHTSA complaint data shows fewer engine-related complaints against V8 cars, and owners in forum threads asking about high-mileage 5.0 reliability report the engine holding up well past 100,000 miles on the recommended 4,000-mile-ish oil change discipline some owners follow.

Its main long-term wear item is carbon buildup on the intake valves. The 5.0 is direct-injection only, with no port injectors to wash fuel across the valves the way older engines did, so carbon accumulates over tens of thousands of miles and can eventually cause a rough idle or a misfire. Budget for an intake valve cleaning (commonly called walnut blasting) somewhere in the 60,000-80,000 mile range if the car hasn't had one. Owners also report coolant weeping from O-ring and gasket seals on the 5.0, worth checking for on a pre-purchase inspection. A handful of isolated reports describe the engine entering a limp mode after hard acceleration; treat this as an outlier rather than a pattern.

The V8 isn't touched by either turbo recall, since it has no turbocharger. It does share two other recalls with the 3.3T: the starter solenoid fire-risk fix (24V-107000, covering 2017-2019 G90s) and a 2018-only windshield bonding recall (18V-305000).

Air Suspension (both engines)

This is the single most expensive thing that can go wrong on a first-generation G90, and it doesn't care which engine is under the hood. Every first-gen G90 rides on an electronically controlled air suspension, and owners on The Genesis Owners Group describe a recurring failure pattern: pinhole leaks in the air struts or bags, failed ride-height sensors, exploded air dryers, and burnt-out compressors. The symptoms are a saggy or uneven stance, a knocking noise over bumps, and a ride that's gone harsh instead of cushioned.

Repairs run $800 to $4,000 depending on what failed, and repeat failures compound fast: one owner in a forum thread described going through two compressors and three air struts for a combined $13,000 over the car's ownership. Genesis dropped this air suspension design entirely on the redesigned 2023 G90, which tells you how the company itself views the first generation's setup.

Infotainment (DIS system)

The pre-2023 Genesis infotainment display freezes or goes to a black screen for some owners, a complaint that shows up repeatedly across forum threads. Most cases are software glitches, not hardware failures, and clear with a soft reset: hold the MAP and SETUP buttons together until the screen goes black and the Genesis logo reappears, or hold the power button 10 to 15 seconds. Persistent freezing that survives a reset usually means the head unit needs a firmware reflash at the dealer, occasionally a full head unit replacement under warranty.

If you're looking at a car whose screen is already dead or stuck on the Genesis boot logo, don't assume the whole system is toast before checking with a dealer. Parts specialists who work on this specific display note that some units respond to a straightforward reprogramming rather than a full replacement, which is a meaningfully cheaper fix if you catch it before the current owner has already tried (and failed at) a DIY swap.

Trim Levels

The G90 was never short on standard equipment even at the Premium level, which is part of the pitch against German rivals that gate the same features behind option packages. The real decision is Premium versus Ultimate, and it comes down to how the car gets used. If you're the one driving it, the 3.3T Premium delivers most of the experience for less money up front and lower running costs, aside from the recall history. If rear-seat passengers are part of the equation, the Ultimate's massaging, heated, and ventilated rear seats make a real difference, and cars from 2018 on add dual rear-seat entertainment screens as standard; the 2017 Ultimate shipped without them, a detail worth checking on an early car.

Depreciation has been steep enough that trim choice matters less on price than you'd expect from a $70,000-plus new car. A well-kept 2017-2018 Premium can be found in the high teens to high $20,000s, while a 2020-2022 Ultimate with lower mileage runs into the $30,000s and up toward $46,000 depending on condition. That overlap means a newer, lower-mileage Premium and an older, higher-mileage Ultimate can land at a similar price, so decide on engine and trim priorities first and let the year follow, rather than anchoring to a specific model year going in.

Which Model Years to Target Within This Gen

The 2017 model year carries the most NHTSA complaints of any year in this generation, consistent with a first-year launch working out its issues, and it's also the only year without a completed fix for the original turbo oil pipe leak until the 2019 recall caught up to it. 2018 adds the windshield bonding recall on top of that. From 2019 on, recall counts drop and stay low; every 2020-2022 G90 in CarScout's NHTSA-sourced data carries only the single expanded turbo recall (24V-191000), which by definition means every 3.3T built in those years needs that fix checked regardless of prior repairs. The 2020 refresh is the practical sweet spot: updated styling, the same mechanicals, and a car three model years removed from the worst of the launch-year complaint volume.

Mileage in CarScout's current listings tracks the pattern you'd expect: 2017-2019 cars average around 82,000-85,000 miles, while 2021-2022 cars average closer to 45,000-70,000 miles. If a 2017 or 2018 car in your search shows unusually low mileage for its age, that's not automatically a red flag, but it's worth asking why it sat, since a G90 that spent years lightly driven can still have aging air suspension components from time rather than mileage.

Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist

Every G90, regardless of engine:

• Walk around the car and check ride height at all four corners. A car sitting noticeably lower on one side, or lower overall than a comparison photo of the same trim, points to an air suspension leak.
• Drive over a speed bump or rough pavement and listen for a knocking noise from the suspension, or an air compressor that cycles on and stays running longer than a few seconds. Both are early air suspension warning signs.
• Ask whether the starter solenoid recall (24V-107000, only 2017-2019 G90s) was completed, and confirm the year you're looking at actually falls in that range before asking.
• Cold-start the infotainment screen and let it boot fully. If it freezes or goes black on startup, note whether a MAP+SETUP reset clears it.
• Check tread depth and wear pattern across all four tires. The staggered fitment means the front and rear sets wear independently, and mismatched wear can mean the car has been driven hard or the alignment has drifted.

3.3T Premium specifically:

• Request maintenance records and check for spark plug replacement near 40,000 miles and oil changes on a roughly 6,000-mile cadence. Gaps here predict future turbo and engine problems.
• Ask if the turbocharger oil feed pipe recall (24V-191000, covers all 2017-2022 3.3T G90s) has been completed. This is the recall that matters most on this engine, and it applies to every model year in this generation.
• Look for oil weeping around the front of the engine near the timing cover, a sign of the gasket seepage owners report.

5.0 Ultimate specifically:

• Let the car idle cold for a minute and listen for roughness or a misfire feel. That's the first sign of carbon buildup on the intake valves.
• Check the coolant reservoir level and look for residue around engine seams, a sign of the O-ring weeping some owners report.
• Ask if an intake valve cleaning has ever been done, especially on a car past 60,000 miles.

Run the VIN through CarScout's free recall lookup tool before you commit to a test drive, and again before you sign anything. A private seller who can't produce any service records at all, on either engine, is a bigger red flag on a G90 than on a mainstream sedan: the maintenance intervals are shorter and more expensive to skip than most buyers expect from a car in this price range, and a gap in records is often a gap in oil changes too.

Running Costs

Both engines carry the same wildcard: air suspension. Budget for the possibility of an $800-$4,000 repair regardless of which engine you buy, since the suspension architecture is identical across the lineup. EPA data for both engines comes from the same generation across 2017-2022 with only minor year-to-year variation in AWD versus RWD combined figures.

Tires are another line item worth planning for. The staggered 245/45R19 front and 275/40R19 rear setup means you can't rotate front to back and extend tire life the way you can on a car with matching sizing, and a nearly 4,700-lb curb weight wears through a set faster than a mid-size sedan would. Factor a full staggered tire replacement into your ownership math every few years rather than treating it as a surprise.

FAQ

Is the Genesis G90 3.3T reliable? It's serviceable but higher-maintenance than the V8, and it carries a documented fire-risk recall (24V-191000) that covers every 2017-2022 model year. Confirm the recall was completed and check maintenance records for on-time spark plug and oil service before buying.

Is the Genesis G90 5.0 V8 worth buying over the 3.3T? NHTSA complaint data and forum consensus both favor the V8 for long-term reliability, plus longer service intervals and no turbo recall exposure. Its main tradeoff is worse fuel economy and typically a higher used price for the Ultimate trim it comes in.

What year Genesis G90 should I avoid? 2017 has the highest complaint volume in CarScout's NHTSA-sourced data for this generation and predates the original recall fix. 2018 adds a windshield bonding recall on top of the carryover issues. Neither is disqualifying if the recalls are completed, but they need more scrutiny.

Does the Genesis G90 have air suspension problems? Yes. Owners report pinhole leaks in the air struts, failed height sensors, and compressor failures across the first generation, with repairs running $800 to $4,000. Genesis replaced this suspension design entirely on the redesigned 2023 G90.

How does the Genesis G90 compare to the Mercedes S-Class? Reviewers have described the driving and interior experience as close to the S-Class for meaningfully less money, with the G90 including features like heated and ventilated rear seats standard where German rivals often charge extra. Its technology suite is generally considered a step behind the S-Class, and its resale value is softer.

Bottom Line

Buy a 2020-2022 5.0 Ultimate if the budget allows it: the mid-cycle refresh styling, the more reliable engine, and the lowest recall count in the generation. If the price gap to a 3.3T Premium matters more, a 2019-2022 Premium is fine as long as the turbocharger oil feed pipe recall (24V-191000) shows as completed. On any first-gen G90, check the ride height and listen for suspension noise before anything else. CarScout members can build a scout for this exact trim and year range at usecarscout.com and get a daily email when a match with the recall completed comes up.

Sources

Data sourced from NHTSA's recalls database, EPA fuel economy data, and real owner experiences from The Genesis Owners Group forum (genesisowners.com), Carbuzz, TheWeeklyDriver, and consumer reliability data from J.D. Power and Consumer Reports. See the full Genesis G90 market data for pricing and inventory.