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What 128 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hev

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (128)Crash / fire / injury (9)Driver assistance (32)Electrical system (29)Seat belts (27)Engine (13)Speed control (10)Brakes (8)Transmission & drivetrain (7)Lane Departure (6)Steering (5)Visibility & wipers (5)

5 of 128 complaints match · Steering · clear filters

Aug 28, 2025SteeringElectrical system

The Horn never worked since I bought it in August 2023, i’ve been in a countless near accident situations where I was rendered helpless. I’ve had several instances where I get locked out of my car because the vehicle would not read the key. I tried fix the issue because I assumed it was a dead car or key battery but the same problems kept happening shortly after. I became aware of the issue with the horn not working, when I recently purchased the vehicle. I tried to contact the ALM dealership salesman to report the issue and they told me he had recently quit. They mentioned bringing it back to the shop but it wasn’t guaranteed that the issue would be fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11683767

Aug 29, 2023SteeringElectrical systemDriver assistance

On three occasions while turning out into an intersection my steering wheel will lock up and my forward collision warning system will engage and my just stop in the road. Out of those three times, my car has been towed to the dealership twice. The dealer has been working very hard to identify the issue while working with Hyundai tech services. They have poured countless hours and money into this car and still have not been able to identify and correct it. My vehicle has become a deathtrap waiting to happen.

NHTSA ODI 11541394

Aug 19, 2022SteeringSuspensionBrakes

The car was brought back to the dealership after a few months after noticing that the steering wheel would shake and the car would jerk when brake was applied to slow down. In normal street driving as well as during highway driving. The dealership since it was under the warranty replaced the front rotors and the brake pads to solve the issue. Within the one year of purchase of the car, it was once again having the same issues of steering wheel shaking and the car jerking motion back and forth. When he car was brought back to the dealership they said that it was not under the warranty and that they would not address the issue And that if i wanted it to be fixed i would have to pay out of pocket I think that there is something wrong with either the rotors or the braking system that is casing this shaking and the car jerking when trying to slow down, and it should be addressed and investigated further.

NHTSA ODI 11480282

Sep 25, 2021SteeringBrakes

When I start up my car ALL the warning lights appear on my dash. When I try to drive the vehicle I have no control over the steering wheel or brakes. This is the second time this happened to me

NHTSA ODI 11434377

Jun 3, 2021Steering

The contact rented a 2021 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle drifted to the left and to the right. The contact stated that an unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 376.

NHTSA ODI 11419536

Working with the data? Download all 128 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 14, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2021 Hyundai Elantra Hev verdict →