What 274 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Hyundai Elantra

The dealership replaced my engine and spark plugs when the pistons were grinding metal causing a catastrophic failure in November of 2024. In July of 2025 I started experiencing the same issues and the dealership stated that Hyundais ignition coils have a high rate of failure because they changed the design and used my old ones from my engine replacement. It is now I brought my car into the dealership July 18th and they stated that was their best guess but they didn’t now forsure. I was never informed of the high rate of failure until I was experiencing it.

NHTSA ODI 11692353

Engine is knocking cannot find a solution for this problem car stalls wen coming to a stop the car completely powers off , noticing a weird smell now ,

NHTSA ODI 11622343

I was driving about 45 mph when the car just turned off the first time. I was able to put it in neutral and start it back up to get to the side of the road and it died on me again. I was about 30 feet from my destination at this point so I got it where I was going and turned it off. When I turned it back on it was making a terrible knocking/grinding noise. It didn’t have a drop of oil in it (about a thousand miles after my last oil change mind you) so I put oil in it and started it again and the sound quit. I went to drive it and it died before I could accelerate to a decent speed, got it cranked and rolling again and it slowly got up to 40 mph, but the second I started to slow down again it would die. So I had it towed to my mechanic who at first thought it was because the timing chain had a lot of slack in it, assuming it jumped time so he changed that, but it was still dying. He ended up finding the cause to be the exhaust cam sprocket? I’ve never heard of this before but I do know that ever since I bought the car 3 years ago it never felt like it would get up and go whenever I hit the gas. Since I picked it up from being fixed, this thing zoom zooms everywhere now! But it is still using an ungodly amount of oil between oil changes.

NHTSA ODI 11585555

The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the accelerator pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact continuously depressed the brake pedal, and the vehicle responded significantly, causing the contact to depress the brake pedal to drive safely. The contact stated that the vehicle would shudder while responding on some occasions. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while driving at various speeds. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the failure recurred, and the vehicle and the steering wheel were shuddering temporarily. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle failed to respond. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was test-driven twice; however, the failure could not be duplicated. Additionally, the vehicle was taken to a local Pep Boys, but the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and several cases were filed. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

NHTSA ODI 11582082

When I drive my car shuts off in the middle of driving in traffic I almost got into an accident with my kids in the car The dealership doesn’t know what’s the problem they fixed a code of p0011 can anybody help because it’s a safety hazard with me and my family in the car please help feel like I’m just wasting money

NHTSA ODI 11572217

MY HYUNDAI ELANTRA IS A LEMON. I HAVE BEEN HAVING ACCELERATING PROBLEMS, STALLING PROBLEMS FRESH FROM THE LOT EVEN BEFORE 5,000 MILES WITH MY HYUNDAI NOT ACCELERATING TOOK IT TO DEALER SAID NOTHING IS WRONG WITH IT 5 YEARS AGO. IT STILL CONTINUES TO STALL ON ME! IT BROKE DOWN ON ME TWICE IN TWO DAYS IN A ROW. ONE ON 8/8 AND 8/9! COULD HAVE KILLED ME OR OTHERS IF I TOOK IT ON THE HIGHWAY. MY CAR HAS BEEN STALLING AND I HAD TO PUMP THE BREAK TO REV UP THE ENGINE AT THE SAME TIME WHILE TURNING! COULD HAVE KILLED US! I AM SITTING IN A LEMON! IT IS NOT SAFE ON THE ROAD AT ALL!! I LOST MY JOB BECAUSE OF THIS AND THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO TRY AND GET A RENTAL. HYUNDAI WON'T LET ME GET A LOANER CAR! I CANNOT AFFORD UBER ALL THE TIME. ALL THE LIGHTS ARE ON. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TOO AND AIRBAG LIGHT. MY TRANSMISSION SEEMS TO BE SLIPPING TOO AND THE DOUBLE CLUTCH. CRANK AND CAM SHAFT PROBLEMS! HEADLIGHTW ARE VERY DIM TOO. AIRBAG WEIGHT FRONT SEAT SENSOR IS TURNING ON. ENGINE IS STALLING. SLOWS DOWN! WILL NOT ACCELERATE AFTER 60MPH GOES SUPER SLOW DOWN TO 55 MPH UP HILL. I WANT HYUNDAI MANUFACTURER TO PAY OR I AM GETTING A LEMON LAWYER AND CONTACTING THE BBB AND THE STATE OF ARIZONA.

NHTSA ODI 11538511

We own a driving school. My husband was giving a road skills test for a student in our 2018 Hyundai Elantra. For unknown reasons the car rapidly accelerated. He told the driver to get off the accelerator. She said she was not on the accelerator. He looked over and her foot was on the brake. We have an instructor's brake and by pressing it my husband was able to overpower the Elantra accelerator They missed another car by inches, but he was able to stop the car. They continued down the road and the car's rpms where high. He tested the car by putting the transmission in neutral, The car revived but the student's foot was on the brake. They continued to the office using the instructor's brake to control it. After the car was shout off and restarted It never had this same issue. We just brought it to the dealership for inspection of problem. Our mechanic looked at the car but could not find a reason for the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11536879

While driving at any speed, vehicle momentarily does not respond to any gas pedal input. Driver presses on gas pedal but no change in speed, no rpm change no warning lights on dash. After a few seconds vehicle responds again randomly. Puts driver at danger due to not being able to same speed as traffic very dangerous!

NHTSA ODI 11536323

WHEN ACCELERATING AFTER STOP CAR LUNGES AND THEN STARTS TO MOVE, SINCE BOUGHT IT I HAVE TOLD DEALERSHIP SEVERAL TIMES THEY SAY NOTHING WRONG THAT HOW IT IS. ALSO TIRES HAVE ALL FELL APART OR WENT FLAT AND HAVE WIRE SHOWING ON INSIDE . I FEEL THIS IS SAFETY CONCERN AND WHEN BUYING A NEW CAR TIRES SHOULD LAST LONGER THAN 1 YEAR I SHOULD NOT ACCELERATION PROBLEMS EITHER.I HAVE SOME PICTURE

NHTSA ODI 11317599

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT ACCELERATE INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE CONTACT DEPRESSED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. ALSO, WHEN THE STEERING WHEEL WAS TURNED LEFT OR RIGHT, IT VIBRATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SEVERAL DEALERS INCLUDING TONY HYUNDAI WAIPAHU (94-1299 KA ULKA BLVD, WAIPAHU, HI 96797), BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED, BUT DID NOT ASSIST. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,400.

NHTSA ODI 11150138

I AM DRIVNG DOWN THE HIGWAY AND I HAVE IT ON CRUISE AND IT WILL JUMP UP IN SPEED BY 3-7 MILES AND THAT IS GOING STRIGHT NOT DOWNHILL OR UP HILL THEN WHEN I TRY TO SLOW DOWN USING CRUSE IT WILL NOT SLOW DOWN I HAVE TO ALL MOST BREAK THE BUTTON WHEN TRYING TO SLOW DOWN AND IT NEVER DID THAT BEFORE THIS JUST STARTED TO HAPPING

NHTSA ODI 11120086

CAR HAS INTERMITTENT PROBLEM WITH ACCELERATION. WILL GO INTO A FAIL SAFE MODE, WONT ACCELERATE PAST 40-60 MPH. I HAVE HAD VERY CLOSE CALL ON MULTIPLE ACCIDENTS DUE TO THE FACT I AM UNABLE TO ACCELERATE. MY CAR LOST POWER AND COULD NOT PICK UP SPEED AT ALL. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE AND THE CAR DEALERSHIP WILL NOT HELP ME.

NHTSA ODI 11093798

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS A SUDDEN LOSS OF ACCELERATION WHEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS APPLIED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (EMPIRE HYUNDAI INC, 428 PLEASANT ST, FALL RIVER, MA 02721, (508) 673-7646) MORE THAN TWICE, BUT THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE AND DIAGNOSE THE FAILURE DUE TO NO DTC. IN ADDITION, A SERVICE TECHNICIAN TEST DROVE THE VEHICLE AND WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND INDICATED THAT THEY WOULD PROVIDE A FOLLOW-UP RESPONSE TO DETERMINE A SOLUTION. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 50. *TT *TR

NHTSA ODI 11064085