2012 Hyundai Elantra — Problems & Complaints
NHTSA has 675 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.
Hyundai Elantra — Complaints by Model Year
Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.
454 complaints
461 complaints
675 complaints
1,330 complaints
386 complaints
262 complaints
293 complaints
767 complaints
283 complaints
251 complaints
What Owners Complain About Most
Recent Owner Reports
STEERING GETS STICKY OR STUCK. IT'S NOT LIKE IT GETS COMPLETELY STUCK THAT YOU CAN'T TURN THE WHEEL, BUT THERE'S A NOTICEABLE RESISTANCE WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. IT HAPPENS WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT AND WANTING TO CHANGE LANES. LEFT OR RIGHT IT DOES IT BOTH WAYS.
CAR WON'T START ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. FOR ABOUT A WEEK STRAIGHT, I WOULD TRY TO START MY CAR IN THE MORNING AND IT WOULD NOT START. ALL LIGHTS COME ON IN THE CAR SO IT'S NOT THE BATTERY. AFTER ABOUT 3 TRIES, CAR STARTS. ALSO HAPPENS WHEN I LEAVE WORK AT LUNCH TIME AFTER IT HAS BEEN JUST SITTING FOR A FEW HOURS. USUALLY IT STARTS AFTER 2 OR 3 TRIES AND TURNING THE KEY ALL THE W…
Car has been properly maintained for years. No accidents or known major issues. Suddenly the car would not start one workday morning. The tow truck driver was unable to start the car; towed car to repair location. Nationally known major service station said the car was low on oil, they filled with 2 quarts. No prior oil problems, no oil or engine idiot light on dashboard was l…
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. WHILE DRIVING OVER A BUMP, TAR, OR ROUGH PAVEMENT, THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE WOULD BECOME UNSTABLE AND SWAY VIOLENTLY FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHERE AN ALIGNMENT WAS PERFORMED, BUT THE FAILURE CONTINUED. DUE TO THE FAULTY SUSPENSION SYSTEM, THE TIRES WOULD BECOME WORN AT AN ACCELERATED RATE. THE MANUFACTU…
THE FRONT PILLARS CREATE VERY LARGE BLIND SPOTS, ESPECIALLY WHEN TURNING. THE REAR VIEW MIRRORS ARE NOT SUFFICIENT. DUE TO THE UPSWEEP DESIGN OF BACK WINDOWS THE REAR PILLARS CREATE LARGE BLIND SPOTS WHEN CHANGING LANES. ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS I HAVE ALMOST WRECKED BECAUSE OF THIS. I WILL BE GETTING RID OF THIS CAR DUE TO THE VERY POOR AND DANGEROUS VISIBILITY. *TR
Recalls & Crash Tests
Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2012 Hyundai Elantra, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.
Problems Checker
Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.