NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2017 Hyundai Elantra. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
Both of the rear doors will not open. This started with the driver rear door and now the other side will not open. You have to forcefully pull on the door any where from 10-15 times sometimes to get it to open. The longer it has been left alone the more times it takes to get it open again. This is not a driver issue this is a manufacturer problem. This is also a safety hazard. I have looked this up and many Hyundai cars have had this same issue.
My passenger rear door which I barely use will not open from the inside or outside. In addition, when I turn at a slow speed I have problems with the steering wheel not turning smoothly and when I break the vehicle jolts. I have told the dealership about the steering wheel and the jolting and they haven’t done anything about it. That has been going on for a few years. The door I just noticed a month ago.
My daughter purchased her first car, a 2017 Hyundai Elantra, last December (2020). She drove it for the first few months without any major issues but then it started having issues with the car “jerking” and stalling every time she drove it. It actually stopped in the middle of the road multiple times and she had to start it up again, which is highly unsafe. The check engine light came on and she took it to the local O’Reilley auto parts for the free diagnostic scan. It pulled up a camshaft sensor. Her best friend’s dad is a local mechanic and has a high-tech reader, so he plugged it in and it pulled up camshaft/crankshaft. He also noted that the oil was really low (she had it for six months at this point). No oil light on. They added oil to it. The car sat in our driveway for a few months until we could afford to repair it. Took it to the local repair store and they stated that one of the major issues was the timing chain was loose due to “worn sprockets” (which the mechanic stated appeared to be a manufacturing defect as they are too short to properly grasp like they are supposed to). After completing a $1800 timing belt repair they are now stating that, that was not the only issue and that the motor itself is going to need to be replaced. At this point, the car is not valued at the price of the repairs and replacement, leaving my daughter without a car and with a finance payment. I’m at a loss of what to do. I do not know much about cars but I do know that a car that was manufactured in 2017 should not need an entire motor replaced by 2021.
Check engine light came on while driving to dealership for an unrelated recall on door handle. A diagnosis of the car computer showed a code of P0128 Coolant Thermostat. Further check of information on this particular problem produced a Technical Service Bulletin from the manufacturer, Hyundai, Number 18-01-012. This bulletin was found on the NHTSA site. I notified the dealership and sent a copy of the bulletin. The dealership refused to comply with the bulletin and never returned our calls. I tried another dealership and Hyundai corporate office in California, and again was refused to comply with the bulletin. The replacement of this part was to be performed by any dealership if this particular vehicle was brought in for any type of service. The dealership manager, service manager and service department were all rude to my wife and myself in person and by phone. One person told my wife to fix it herself and hung up on her. Since obtained this bulletin from NHTSA website I feel that the refusal to perform the work is in direct violation of a known defect to this car. There is no recalls listed for this car even though I received a recall notice concerning the door opening flaw. There is nothing noted about the problem with the Coolant Thermostat even though the Manufacturer and NHTSA have both reported the problem. This repair was to be made regardless of whether there was a noted problem or not, as per the writing on the Technical Service Bulletin.
Originally I had gottem my oil changed at the Hyundai dealership 2 months before . The car was turning off on me while driving making slow turns or slowing down to 5mph or less. Then my car broke down on me and wouldnt turn on. Mechanic was saying there was no oil in and it created a sludge in the engine basically ruining the car. My check oil light never came on, and the oil was just recently changed so this shouldve been apart of the recall where similar issues happened.
Rear passenger Door Will not open from the inside or outside. Huge safety issues if get in a wreck and can get out.
Elantra was running fine, parked the car at the store and went to start it and it didn't start. Tried starting it multiple times before smoke started coming out of the engine. Had the car towed to a Hyundai dealership to have it diagnosed and found out the engine was seized and the starter was blown due to trying to start the vehicle.
According to the Hyundai Dealership, located in Corona, CA, the Hyundai Elantra's are known for the ignition coil to go out. This is also not covered under warranty and list below of why it should be: This can cause Engine misfiring in a vehicle whose ignition coils have failed. Trying to start the engine of such a vehicle will result in engine misfiring that sounds like a coughing, sputtering noise. When driving at high speeds, jerking and spitting will be seen in the behavior of the vehicle. A vehicle with a failed ignition coil will also result in vibration when it is idling at a stop sign or light. Driving with a faulty coil pack can damage other components of the engine. Also most cars will register a faulty coil and immediately stop gas feed to that cylinder. However, damage may be caused if the fault isn’t registered by the PCM and the dead cylinder continues to receive gas. Your catalytic converter and oxygen sensors may become contaminated by raw gas and need to be replaced. This can be dangerous if it is a known common issue in a Hyundai Elantra and cause an accident when travelling at a higher speed. I was at a stop when this problem occurred for me but was able to safely move out of the way.
The 2017 Hyundai Elantra value edition has issues when and after making left turns the vehicle stalls and loses power causing the cluster to light up. Which can be extremely dangerous when operating the vehicle. There is no check engine light or any indicator that turns on prior on the cluster before the vehicle stalls. The intermediate steering shaft is notorious for going bad and had to have it replaced.
The paint on the hood of the car is lifting and peeling.
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light would remain illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle would jerk and hesitate and experience unintended acceleration. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the fuel injectors were faulty. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was contacted regarding the failure, but no assistance was offered. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
November 2, 2021 driving on the freeway, car started to shake, travelling at approximately 5mph in traffic. Check engine light came on and stayed on. Not knowing what was going on with the car took it to an independent mechanic to determine the problem. Mechanic ran diagnostics and determined car was misfiring. All 4 spark plugs were replaced and 2 coils. Induction cleaning was performed. February 4, 2022 car started shaking at a stop light, pulled into a parking lot. My father came to get the car and the check engine light came on. My father used an OBD meter and determined the car was misfiring once again. He was going to replace the coils himself, called Hyundai to see how much they would charge and was told that it was under warranty. Hyundai ended up replacing 4 coils. The coils placed installed in November did not meet the new coils that Hyundai is now using as OEM parts. Seems like this should be a recall if Hyundai knows that the coils delivered with the car our faulty. Tried to recover some of the costs from Hyundai for the previous work and was told they do not reimburse work done at independent mechanics.
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated the rear passenger’s side door failed to open. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic and was informed that the rear passenger’s side door latch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that shortly afterward, the front passenger’s and front driver’s side doors failed to open. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
Bad Ignition Colis Poor Fuel Economy: if you notice that your car is getting less mileage from a full tank than normal, this could mean that you have a bad ignition coil. This takes place because, when your, spark plugs aren’t getting a certain power, the system will try to compensate by taking more fuel. Hard Starts And Stalling: the ignition needs to spark at just the right time for the engine to start and a vehicle to run. If an ignition coil is malfunctioning and not delivering the required voltage to the spark plugs, you will find it hard to start the engine. Misfiring Engine: A malfunctioning ignition coil will cause your vehicle to misfire when you accelerate. In some other cases, a misfire could cause your vehicle to shut down while you are driving
Two ignition coils have failed. The first was covered under warranty, the second wasn't. We were told the ignition coils are a known issue and we should expect the remaining coils to fail soon. If it's a known issue, why hasn't a recall been done?
While accelerating on moderate incline engine has failed three times and souns like it’s flooding. After taking the vehicle to the dealership, they reported no engine failures or misfires were documented by the vehicles OBD. Engine has become excessively noisy, but after a 17 mile driving test by the dealership, they reported not experiencing any issues or hearing any noises. Vehicle Mileage: ~48.5K miles.
The contact owned a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 mph, the steering wheel seized. There was an abnormal popping noise detected and the air bags deployed. The contact stated the steering was stuck in a trucker's position. A police report was filed. There was no reported crash or fire. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The driver sustained injuries to her hands, arm, thighs, brain, and neck and medical attention was provided. The local dealer was notified. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.
The engine shakes while driving slowly or idle and starts to act like it will stall. Happened in the middle of driving several times including on the freeway where I was lucky enough to get off to the side of the road without getting hit. Turns out the ignition coils are bad and was confirmed after trying to replicate the problem several times. This has been reported several times for this make and year. Looks like some years were previously recalled but not my specific vehicle. Yet it was still a problem. This presents an extreme safety hazard as you do not know when it will stall and can do so while driving. With repeated reports of this part being affected, there should be a recall. Seems like hyundai is trying to save money at the expensive of the driver's safety. My previous Elantra lasted for 13 years without this problem.
Air bag light malfunction sensor on no accidents
The rear driver side door will not open from the inside or outside. Huge safety concern in case of accident - and also just everyday use problem. The passenger side door latch will not open from the outside. It will open from the inside.
The car shut out of without warning. On 10/6/2021:I pulled into the carport, as soon as I stopped the car shut off. All of the dash lights were off, radio was off, and door with not open with the buttons. The light came back on around 5 seconds later. 9/16/2021: the car shut off when was sitting in the car talking to my mom on my cell phone. Suddenly, the car shut off: no radio, no lights on the dash, the doors only opened manually. The key fob would not work. The brakes locked, the car would not start. I was able to start my ten minutes later. I purchased a battery around 3/2021.
Heavy engine knocking, no warning lights came on, had low oil (oil changed 1.5 months ago), car stalled 30 seconds after pulling to expressway shoulder
This is a manufacturing defect issue, not a safety issue. The paint on my white Hyundai Elantra is peeling from the undercoat on the hood. The mileage is just about 8,000 miles past the paint warranty. The car is kept in the garage and well maintained. While washing it with a garden hose, the paint quickly and easily peeled off the hood in giant chucks. I found this seems to be a common problem in many states.
Well my car is making a deal bad noise when I turn to the right I just recently realize that this year make moudel had a recall on the steering but where is the data base provided for me that it was fixed cause I can't find anything on it at and if it was fixed how do we know it wasn't a default part put back in my car need to have this looked into because when I turn to the right it's like it takes control of the steering and then I lose all power of steering not at all times normally at low rates of speed when turning towards the right or making the right turn at times it feels like going down the highway at 75 miles per hour but it's wanting to take control of the car at times
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the vehicle was idling rough. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the camshaft and crankshaft replaced. The vehicle was repaired but continued to experience failure. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and informed the contact that they were unable to assist. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Randomly stall all different times all lights will light up and coast until stopped. Down a hill and to turn it would stall. Go into 8 most serious accidents. I need someone to reach out cuz this car is not safe to drive wit kids at all
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving at 25-30MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. The contact stated he saw smoke coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road, where he checked the engine and oil level but could not determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated he continued to drive the vehicle, however, the vehicle would not go past 30 MPH. The independent mechanic came to the contact's residence and diagnosed that the engine had failed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed that the failure was caused by a lack of engine oil. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised that they would cover the replacement of the engine based on the dealer's diagnosis. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 101,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Sonata. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, he heard a rattling sound coming from the engine. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that there was metal debris in the engine and, the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was advised by the dealer that there was an open Manufacturer Recall Campaign Number: 953 (ECM/Engine Monitoring Logic). The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000. Consumer stated engine blew up not too long after the purchase, in 2021. Apparently a recall was sent out in 2018 but was not an owner back then.
The back passenger door suddenly can not be opened from inside or outside. Huge safety issue. Just out of warranty and it seems to be a common Hyundai problem after searching. There was no warning at all. Please have Hyundai recall this severe safety problem that is affecting so many cars!
When my teenage daughter drove our 2017 Hyundai Elantra, the power steering locked up on her while entering a busy interstate. Thankfully, she did not run into the barrier wall or nobody hit her from behind. Took it into the Hyundai dealership and apparently the torque sensor went out. They want to charge $1800 to fix it. Conveniently for them, it’s not covered under warranty as warranty stopped at 60k miles. The car just rolled over at 61k. As I researched, apparently this is a known issue with Hyundai.
The car is losing antifreeze. There is no antifreeze on the ground. From my understanding this has been an ongoing problem with this model of car and it needs to be a recall. I was informed that it’s losing antifreeze due to deficits in the exhaust system.
The vehicle shuts off without warning when idle. First time it occurred I was is a drive through and I started it up after it stalled. Second time it occurred was the following day at a red light, I went to accelerate when the light turned green and the vehicle and stalled out and I had a battery warning, oil warning, and check engine light- I had just had my car serviced a week ago where the oil was changed and the battery was tested. No to mention previously on Saturday 09/11/2021 while I was driving the traction control light came on and the RPMS showed 0 and the MPH showed 0 even though I was driving at around 50mph (in dry conditions) I had to pull off to the shoulder and restart my car. I currently have it at a shop.
The steering wheel on the vehicle is loose and jagged; therefore when I turn the steering wheel it does not follow. I have to turn slowly to make the adjustment and I can hear the griding in the steering wheel system as I try to steer. I must get a repair as soon as possible fearing that the steering will stop working and cause me to veer in a dangerous direction.
Engine stall while turning. Metal flakes in the engine. Engine completely failed requiring a new engine. Factory paint failed and bubbles off.
Steering really bad car pulls both ways on the highway makes weird noise when taking off and accelerating and car randomly dies
The driver rear door will not open from the inside or from the outside. No matter how you lock/unlock it when you pull either door handle nothing happens basically leaving a rear seated passenger trapped.
The rear passenger side door will not open or close
The Driver's side door once locked and unlocked will not open?
The contact owns a 2017 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while her son was driving approximately 35 mph, the engine seized. The driver detected smoke and oil leaking from the vehicle. The vehicle was pushed into a parking lot. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified however, no further assistance was provided. The contact mentioned the rod punctured the engine.The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.
the problem is with the door lock actuator rear driver side and front passenger side, 2 doors!!! they don't open even from inside and out side when the door is locked and unlocked its so dangerous at the accident time or emergency times when the car is in fire and doors don't open from both sides when they are unlocked
MY 2017 HYUNDAI ELANTRAS STEERING BECOMES EXTREMELY HARD TO STEER, THEN THE ENGINE STALLS OUT AND THE DASH LIGHTS COME ON. I'M FRIGHTEN OF CRASHING WHEN THIS HAPPENS. I RESTART THE ENGINE AND THE STEERING RETURNS TO NORMAL. THE CAUSE IS A DAMAGED ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING (MDPS) CONNECTOR. THERE WAS A RECALL (#161) FOR A REPLACEMENT ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING MOTOR AT NO CHARGE FOR THIS YEAR MAKE AND MODEL VEHICLE BUT I'M TOLD MINE WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THAT RECALL?
Rear passenger door will unlock but not open.
Abbreviated. Full description in files. Since July 2021, I have had intermittent issues with my 2017 Hyundai Elantra. When trying to accelerate, the car would struggle to move and feel like it was about to stall. The engine light would come on any time I would step on the gas. It was a danger should my car refused to accelerate while making a turn, merge, etc. On 8/31, I brought my car to Healey Hyundai. However, Healey could not fix the car, as the error codes were not in the car. On 9/6 I was able to drive to Healey Hyundai within the same day of the issue. The error code, a misfire on cylinder 2. On 9/16, Hyundai Motor Corp recognized there was a premature failure of the ignition coil on cylinder 2. A warranty repair was done to replace the ignition coil. Once fixed, a representative from Healey Hyundai acknowledge they had seen this issue before. They went so far as to warn me that the other ignition coils could go at any time. On 9/27 at 11 am, the issue occurred again and worse than I ever experienced it. The engine light turned on and my car struggled to move. For 15 minutes until I was able to safely stop. Once off, the light went away, and it appeared to operate normally. On 9/28 at 1 pm, I brought the car to Healey Hyundai again. It was 26 hours, 30 miles, and 4 starts since the issue occurred. However, the error codes were again missing from the car. Healey Hyundai was not able to reproduce. And while I have felt the car shutter and hesitate since, it is not enough for the engine light to turn on. The original ignition coils installed in the car are faulty. They overheat during normal use causing them to melt and warp. It also explains why the issue has decreased as the weather cools. Also alarming is the excessively short period of time error codes are stored in the computer. It is a matter of time till my car fails again and I am afraid for my safety when it does.
I got into a car accident on August 29, 2021. My driver side aid bag never deployed and I found out there was a recall 2 years before I bought the car from the dealership in 2019. I ended up getting stitches on my eyebrow, and my nose needed some but it was to late by the time I received medical attention so they gave me strips and my lip was split open. I have pictures of my car and my face and the side airbags went off but not the steering wheel
Drove my car yesterday when it stalled. I was able to start it again and pulled to the side of the highway. The engine was knocking loudly. I turned off the car and called a tow truck. When hyundai received my car they told me it was the rod bearings.they initially told me id be covered regardless of warranty as its a known issue. They called me late that day and told me they won't cover it since I'm 18,000 over the powertrain warrenty. This very problem has been recalled from 2013 upto 2019. However my car isn't listed. They told me ill need a new engine which costs $6000 for parts and labor. After researching im not the first this has happened to.
When driving on bumpy roads or a transition to a bridge on a freeway the ABS and traction control will fail. There will be the pulse sound of the ABS but no brakes and the brake pedal will go stiff and brakint will take an excessive amount of time. Sometimes letting go of brake pedal and trying again will resolve issue. There have been instances where the ABS, Brake and Traction Control Light have come on and the only way to fix this is to power down the car and restart. Also another issue is rough idle or misfire/check engine light when accelerating. Diagnostics is showing misfiring on cylinder 3.
My passenger side front strut exploded, drove the shock through the hood. Very dangerous! Just happened, no warning. Schedule to take to dealer to see if covered by warranty. Car has 67,000 miles.
Door handles not functioning on my vehicle. Rear drivers side door will not open from inside or outside.Front passenger door does not open from outside only from inside. Front drivers door has had issues opening and closing door handle currently falling off. No known recalls or safety alerts for my vehicle even though Hyundai has released a 10 year extended warranty on door handles mine is not warrantable to my knowledge.
Passenger door locks won't open door from inside or outside
Consumes oil at a fast rate about 1.5 quarts every 1,000 miles. Car burns oil way too fast the dealership and Hyundai do not want to deal with it.