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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2021 Hyundai Elantra — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 131 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

131

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

3 / 1

Injuries / Deaths

across all reports

Years to Avoid

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.

2014 Hyundai Elantra

386 complaints

2015 Hyundai Elantra

262 complaints

2016 Hyundai Elantra

293 complaints

2017 Hyundai Elantra AVOID

767 complaints

2018 Hyundai Elantra

283 complaints

2019 Hyundai Elantra

251 complaints

2020 Hyundai Elantra

253 complaints

2021 Hyundai Elantra

131 complaints

2022 Hyundai Elantra

101 complaints

2023 Hyundai Elantra

98 complaints

2024 Hyundai Elantra

54 complaints

2025 Hyundai Elantra

22 complaints

2026 Hyundai Elantra

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Forward Collision Avoidance 32 reports

Electrical System 30 reports

Unknown Or Other 29 reports

Seat Belts 27 reports

Engine 13 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 10 reports

Service Brakes 8 reports

Power Train 7 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Forward Collision Avoidance ODI 11562509 12/29/2023

vehicle only has 14k miles and is showing an error message for "check forward safety system" and "check smart cruise control system" after some research found this is a very common issue with multiple Elantra's where the front radar goes bad causing safety systems such as automatic braking/acceleration, and cruise control to not work. this is a big safety issue that has been r…

Electrical System ODI 11632318 12/25/2024

The reverse camera does not work

Unknown Or Other ODI 11631600 12/19/2024

High Beam Assist, Check Rear Cross-Traffic Safety System, Check Blind-spot safety system, Check forward safety system, Check Lane Keep Assist System, Traction Control disabled. ALL of those messages came on while driving. Rear backup camera quit working, reverse lights do not engage. No remedy for recall still. Vehicle is unsafe to operate without recall being fixed. This is m…

Seat Belts ODI 11497445 12/14/2022

NHTSA Recall Number 22V354000 has been active since May 18, 2022. The dealership says no dealers in the area have received the part to fix it. The recall itself carries serious safety concerns as the seatbelt will explode metal fragments in an accident. The dealer has also told me that 35 other people are waiting for the recall to be fixed as well. This is ridiculous, Hyundai …

Forward Collision Avoidance ODI 11559939 12/13/2023

While my son was driving on the highway, the smart cruise control suddenly stopped working with "Check forward safety system" and "Check smart cruise control system".

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2021 Hyundai Elantra, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2021 Hyundai Elantra reliable?

Owners have filed 131 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2021 Hyundai Elantra, most often about forward collision avoidance. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.

Which Hyundai Elantra years should I avoid?

The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.

Where do these complaints come from?

Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.

Do complaints mean a recall is coming?

Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.