10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 13 / 5
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 5 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 38,973 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
I was driving at 45mph when my front sunroof exploded and shattered. I heard a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, then noticed my sunroof was shattered. Most of the glass then fell inside of my car. There were no other cars in front of or around me.
- Plainfield, IL, USA
My son 2013 Hyundai Elantra would not stop correctly while he was driving it causing it to turn in a semi circle and ultimately crashing into a shoulder on a freeway to stop. After which the wheels broke off on the right side of it.
- Rowland Heights, CA, USA
My 19 year old daughter was in an accident on April 9th 2016 in her 2013 Hyundai Elantra.. both vehicles were at a dead stop at an intersection before either of them started moving. My daughter was going straight and the other vehicle was turning, both of which were going approximately 10 mph. My daughters car hit the front fender of the other vehicle causing a bent wheel and a small dent to the fender. My daughters Hyundai, totaled. Every airbag in the Hyundai deployed, including the back seat which seemed strange since it was a frontal crash. The transmission wouldn't go in to any other gear it was stuck in drive. The hood was smashed up to the front windshield. The damage to the car was over $12,000 there has to be some faulty part(s) or equipment on the car to cause such damage at such low speeds. I can't imagine what could happen at highway speeds in a crash in a Hyundai. I wrote to Hyundai about safety concerns of their Hyundai Elantras, their response was unacceptable: "we understand that you are dissatisfied with the design of the 2013 Elantra and we apologize for any disappointment this has caused you. This information has been forwarded to all appropriate parties within Hyundai for review, including Hyundai management." Really Hyundai! people can be severely injured or die in these vehicles which I feel Hyundai needs to be a little more concerned.
- Lyman, WY, USA
The accident happened on a Saturday around 1pm. I was heading home when I approached a intersection when a lady coming from a street on the right side was coming out and even though she had a stop sign she fail to fully stop and me having no time to react I hit the middle of the car (T-bone her).
- Brooks, GA, USA
I was parking my car in a parking lot of a store. I slowed down and applied the brakes. Somehow the brakes failed and I hit another car. The collision stopped the car. I have only had the car for 1 year and feel very unsafe.
- Warwick,, NY, USA
Pulling into the parking space at work less than 5mph car accelerated and hit the parking garage wall. Reported to my car insurance company, car was taken to dealership after body shop. Dealership couldn't find anything on diagnostic report.
- San Jose, CA, USA
Driving down highway with light rain. Temperature approx 34 degrees. While at speed limit (65mph) the moon-roof exploded! not simply shattered but exploded. (inside 'sun' cover was open at the time) there were no other cars on the road within 1/2 mile of me. I did not just pass under a bridge and no construction on the roadway at the time of the explosion. Almost lost control of car but managed to maintain until I could pull over on side of roadway. Suffered minor cuts to scalp, face and neck (nothing that required hospitalization). Significant shards of glass throughout the interior of the car and some minor damage to paint surface from shards of glass hitting the outside of the car; rear roof of car and rear deck lid of trunk. Lodged complain with corporate Hyundai (have case number), also went to local Hyundai dealership gave them case number and had them take photos. Dealership initial reaction is that glass is not covered. They suspect the dropping temperature may have had something to do with it. I have escalated my claim with Hyundai corporate; asking under the circumstances that this is obviously a manufacture defect, that they cover all costs of repair. Awaiting their response.
- Frisco, TX, USA
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that due to the sun, a glare reflected from the dashboard into the windshield. As a result, the contact's visibility was impaired. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 9,000. Updated 3/31/15
- Ham Lake, MN, USA
Car loosely steered barely off road, 1/8 mile from home, bumped tree 15' away, backed up, engine shut off (as usual since day 2 of lease), windshield heated to over 150 degree's in 35 degree weather, so I vacated car, which was in flames 2-3 minutes and burned to ash..had 5 months, daily problems, battery, fuses, ignition, numerous calls to dealer, shop, no help, could easily have died in firetrap alive, car dove itself, when & where it pleased, and was uncontrollable.even Hyundai motor finance has not paid on gap coverage in 11 months, ruining my credit to boot, and was over financed past legal limits, on a total new lemon and not only was car not replaced as promised, I cannot get a response from Hyundai, or Hyundai finance.,this was the biggest mistake of my life, and I will tell everyone to never purchase a Hyundai product. You should be ashamed.and lose your franchise license.I will have to sue to ever begin to be compensated for all you have done to me, and because of your product.
- Lagrange, NC, USA
My wife was driving the car. It was a dark road in the night. Perhaps she didn't see the stop sign and crashed into a vehicle coming from right hand side, going in the same direction my wife was going. My wife crashed the other vehicle from behind. It was serious crash in which the entire front portion of the car is damaged. But the air bags did not come out. My wife had her head hit the steering wheel and had an injury. My complaint is "why did the air bag not inflate in such a serious crash?"..updated 10/06/14. Updated 05/13/2015
- San Jose, CA, USA
On July 18, 2014, my 2013 Hyundai Elantra ran into a subway restaurant at 12150 S. cicero, alsip, il. I was going into the subway parking lot, my goal was to park, but my car did not stop when I put on my brakes. My car kept going; it drove over the sidewalk, through the scrubs, and hit the building head on. Hitting the building is what stopped my vehicle, my air bag did not deploy. I then put on the brakes, put it in reverse and backed off the building, backing into the parking place that I was originally going into to park. Once my car was parked, it began to smoke. I got out of the car, looked at the damage to my car and the subway building, called my insurance company, state farm and my son. The 2 employees in the subway, called the police and the subway restaurant owner.
- Alsip, IL, USA
Sun roof (moon roof) exploded. While traveling at 65 mph, with the sun roof closed and the internal ceiling shade closed, an extremely loud pop came from the roof of the car. Very loud! then, the sound of wind and broken glass streaming over the car and onto the cars traveling behind us. We pulled over and found the sun roof shattered from edge to edge. We made our way to the nearest Hyundai dealer and persuaded them to vacuum out the glass. They told us that this was due to a rock hitting the top and would not be covered by the warranty. We made our way home with no top but talked to many different Hyundai representatives who all claimed that they'd never heard of such a thing. Our subsequent research has suggested otherwise. This is a major concern for the safety of those driving and occupying these cars and for the other drivers on the road as well.
- Kingston, WA, USA
Myself and my son pulled into the parking lot of a store. Parked the car was in the store about 5 minutes came back out, tried to use the remote to pop trunk and it wouldn't work nor would the doors. I then opened the door with the key and the car was full of black smoke. Someone pulled up told me to pop the hood that something was on fire. At that time it sounded like something was running but the car was off and keys in my hand. Moments later I noticed fire started to drip under the dash right at the fuse box area on the drivers side and with minutes the car was fully engulfed in fire. A total loss. New car had 8-12 miles on it when I bought. Fire department was called and put it out. I have pictures and it was horrible. Blessed that we weren't driving at the time. Hyundai has been notified and my insurance has requested several times for their engineers to come and inspect the car. As of today no one hasn't shown up or responded.
- Bartlett, TN, USA
Elantra GT two issues related to body integrity and paint. Noticed today on rear the small triangle window in back has chrome/metal decorative molding missing. Clear the adhesive gave way. Car is only hand-washed or goes thru touch-free car wash. 5 spots on different places on the car of paint, size of the head of a Q-tip, removed. Not related to scratches, paint clearly looks peeled not chipped. Locations include on hatchdoor, side panels, between door and roof, and hood. Car is in a garage at home and parking structure at work with limited outside exposure. Both issues are insane for a car with 14,826 miles on it.
- Wauwatosa, WI, USA
Driving on the loop 101 and heard a loud noise inside the car almost like a gunshot, pulled over and noticed that the sunroof had shattered into tiny pieces, it was not extremely cold and I have only had this vehicle for 2 weeks.
- Glendale, AZ, USA
Got a Hyundai 2013 Elantra GT in early Nov. 2013 with the style & tech package which has the panoramic sunroof. The car is barely 3 months old. Driving to work on 288 South fway when I suddenly heard a boom, at first I thought it was another car that had blown its tire but then I heard the sunroof cover above my head fluttering. Pulled over just as a F350 truck parked in front of me, driver comes out and tells me I cracked his windshield, I see that the front section of my sunroof is gone. The driver says he was behind me and saw my sunroof implode and a huge piece of the glass hit his windshield and shattered. Asked him if he saw anything hit my roof and he said no. Driver helped me clean up a lot of the broken glass that was still on my roof. He also pointed out the damage to the paint on the rear section above the led brake lights. We exchanged information & I decided to drive to the dealer since it was not far off. On the way a lot of the broken glass started falling inside the car. At the dealership they all said they had never heard or seen anything like this happen before. Since they did not have the facilities to repair the damage they referred me to another dealership where I arranged for the car to be towed. Told the service dept what happened and said they would investigate. Their verdict is that a rock or something hit it to cause the damage. They will replace the sunroof out of courtesy but not cover for a rental car despite a warranty. Service mgr says he can do one and not both. Not to mention they would not retouch the paint damage. My insurance will not cover because their investigation points to a manufacturing defect since this has happened before. I am really concerned about this incident happening again which could result in an accident or serious injuries. Worried about the integrity of the sunroof.
- Pearland, TX, USA
On 8/11/13 the 2013 Hyundai Elantra that was purchased 6/3/13 at the fred beans dealership in doyelstown, pa. Unintentionally accelerated and crashed into a concrete wall in the parking lot at king of prussia mall in king of prussia pa. The car was turning into a parking space and when the gas petal was applied the car accelerated full speed into the wall. This is the second time this has happen to a car that was only 9 weeks old. It had happened in our driveway 4 weeks prior to the collision on 8/11/13, but the car was brought under control and we assumed it was just not being familiar with a new car. The car was immediately towed to the dealerships body shop for inspection and a claim was opened with Hyundai customer assurance. The car was inspected by an independent inspector several weeks later and after 6 week we have received a letter stating that there was no failure on the manufacturers part and there was nothing they could do. I have requested testing results and documentation from Hyundai and I was told it was classified, so I asked for a list of tests performed and it cannot be given to us. We have received several letter from Hyundai, none of which had a persons last name or any name at all. I have had the car's body work repaired and have tried to trade the car into the dealership for another new car but the dealership will require another substantial down payment which makes this option unfeasible. The dealership has not had any correspondence with the manufacturer and has requested I formally ask for some monetary relief towards the new car replacement. I have made several requests and have gotten a final "no" decision from Hyundai. The car has and still sits at the dealership and I will not allow my daughter to drive an unsafe an undocumented car. Please let me know how to proceed.
- Blue Bell, PA, USA
I rear ended a car and nearly totaled my car. For some odd reason the airbag never deployed during the time of impact.
- Glendale, AZ, USA
The 2013 Hyundai Elantra was parked in a driveway and turned off, and an electric fire started in it. It burned completely up.
- Corsicana, TX, USA
- Lancaster, PA, USA