Clutch failure at 52,792 miles. I own 3 other cars ; Ford, Honda, and Chevrolet with clutches well over 120,000 miles. It is not a result of my driving. Hyundai would not replace. Not covered under the warranty.

- Middletown, MD, USA

I purchased vehicle new in March 2004. I previously owned a 1994 Hyundai excel which I also purchased new. The durability of the excel and the warranty on the Elantra were the reason I chose to buy it. At 13,000 miles in April, 2005, the clutch on the Elantra began slipping. I took it to the dealer and was told that the clutch is not covered under the 100,000 mile warranty. It is covered only under a 12,000 mile warranty. After negotiation with the management, the dealership agreed to cover 50% of the repair. This was acceptable at that time and the problem appeared to be corrected. It is now August, 2006, and this vehicle has 33,066 miles on it and clutch #2 is wearing out. Starting out in low gear is difficult, the clutch slips in the lower gears (2 and 3) and the clutch pedal is extremely stiff. At highway speeds the vehicle performs ok. I am afraid to take the car back to the dealer since they are more than likely going to put the same piece of junk clutch in as a replacement to this one. I have talked to an independent transmission shop and they can use a non-oem part to replace. The only problem with this solution is that the cost is going to be +$1000 versus the $800+ that the dealer will charge and the use of the non-oem part may void the vehicle warranty. I would like to point out a few other facts: The 1994 excel went to 122,000 miles before needing its clutch replaced. The replacement clutch was still in the car when it was traded in at 176,000 miles. My wife and I have been driving standard shift vehicles exclusively since 1990, so I don't want anyone at Hyundai suggesting that we don't know how to drive a standard shift vehicle. I currently drive a 1997 Plymouth a 5 speed transmission. Its clutch was replaced in April 2006 with at 135,000 miles. My wife, who is the primary driver of the Hyundai is a professional bus driver.

- Bethlehem, PA, USA

Vehicle was undrivable when clutch went bad without any warning at about 13,900 miles. Dealer charges $900 to replace clutch due to warranty only being 12 months 12,000 miles. I was able to have Hyundai cover the cost of the parts ($260) but I paid 100% of the labor. In 30+ years driving I never had a clutch go bad on me in less than 100,000 miles. And the only time I had prior clutch problems I was able to put the car in gear and drive it. This time the clutch was so bad that it would not move the car unless it was going downhill - atother times the motor just reved and the transmission just slips.

- Duluth, GA, USA

I bought my Hyundai Elantra in May 2004 and the clutch is burned out. I had a Jeep Wrangler for 10 yrs and the clutch never burned out. I also had a Toyota Celica that was manual that never burned out. I was quoted $1500 to get it fixed even with the so called warranty. Supposedly the warranty on the clutch is only for 12 months or 12000 miles.ak

- Hershey, PA, USA