← New search

2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 25.5.

About this comparison →

How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

Other model years Selected year
Compare all Elantra Touring years →

Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

21 reports with mileage · 1 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Suspension. Review the 6 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 4 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

2 crash reports1 fire reports2 injury reports

Engine complaints

1 reports
Clear category filter
100,939 miles · Mar 16, 2019
Engine

MY ISSUE IS WITH AUTOMAKER HYUNDAI AND A KNOWN MANUFACTURING DEFECT IN THE ENGINES OF SOME 2011-2013 HYUNDAI ELANTRA CARS. I OWN ONE OF THESE CARS. IT IS FOR MY DAUGHTER, 17, WHO PAID THE MAJORITY OF THE $7000 WITH HER OWN MONEY TO BUY THE CAR. SHE HAS PUT AROUND 6-7 THOUSAND MILES ON IT SINCE SHE BOUGHT IT AND DESPITE HAVING T…

Read full complaint

MY ISSUE IS WITH AUTOMAKER HYUNDAI AND A KNOWN MANUFACTURING DEFECT IN THE ENGINES OF SOME 2011-2013 HYUNDAI ELANTRA CARS. I OWN ONE OF THESE CARS. IT IS FOR MY DAUGHTER, 17, WHO PAID THE MAJORITY OF THE $7000 WITH HER OWN MONEY TO BUY THE CAR. SHE HAS PUT AROUND 6-7 THOUSAND MILES ON IT SINCE SHE BOUGHT IT AND DESPITE HAVING THE CAR LOOKED AT BY A MECHANIC PRIOR TO PURCHASE, THE ENGINE HAS DEVELOPED A TICKING/KNOCKING NOTICE. AFTER TAKING IT TO A LOCAL DEALER IN MILWAUKEE, AMAMTO HYUNDAI, THEY HAVE SAID THE ISSUE IS A BAD ROD BEARING AND THE ENGINE WILL HAVE TO BE REPLACED. THE COST IS IN EXCESS OF $4000 - MORE THAN HALF IF WHAT SHE PAID FOR THE CAR. I HAVE DONE SOME EXTENSIVE RESEARCH ON THE WEB OVER THE LAST 10-14 DAYS AND HAVE FOUND THIS PROBLEM IS A COMMON ISSUE WITH THESE ENGINES, BUT A RECALL HAS NOT BEEN ISSUED BY HYUNDAI FOR THE ELANTRA. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THEY HAVE RECENTLY ISSUED RECALLS FOR OTHER MODELS FOR VERY SIMILAR DEFECTS IN THE ENGINE, DONE IN THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS, THAT CAUSE THE ENGINE TO FAIL AND OR CATCH FIRE IN THE HYUNDAI SONATA AND THE KIA SOUL. I HAVE GONE TO HYUNDAI WARRANTY DIRECT AND HAVE FILED A COMPLAINT, BUT I WAS DENIED AS WE ARE THE SECOND OWNER AND BEYOND THE 60,000-MILE WARRANTY. HYUNDAI DOES OFFER A 100,000 MILE ON SOME CARS AND IN SOME CASES HAVE REPLACED THE ENGINE. BUT, IN THE RESEARCH THAT I HAVE, HYUNDAI TRIES TO 'DODGE AND DENY' AT ALL COST. I HAVE EVEN FOUND A LINK TO A PENDING CLASS-ACTION SUIT FOR MY VERY ISSUE. I HAVE PROOF AND DOCUMENTATION TO SHOW YOU THAT BACKS UP WHAT I HAVE FOUND. I ALSO HAVE A SERVICE BULLETIN ISSUED BY HYUNDAI IN MARCH OF 2014 (#14-20-002) THAT CLEARLY STATES THE MANUFACTURING DEFECT CAUSES THE ENGINE TO KNOCK AND THE REPAIR IS TO REPLACE THE ENGINE.

NHTSA ODI #11187209

Official recalls

1

14V310000 · Structure:frame And Members

Jun 10, 2014

Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai) is recalling certain model year 2010-2012 Elantra Touring vehicles manufactured December 15, 2009, through May 7, 2012. The affected vehicles have a support bracket attached to the headliner that may become displaced during a side curtain airbag deployment.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: If the headliner support bracket makes contact with an occupant during a crash, it may cause a laceration injury.

Remedy: Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will apply adhesive strips to the headliner, free of charge. The recall began on July 28, 2014. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-800-633-5151. Hyundai's number for this recall is 117.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

1

RQ13004 · Headliner Bracket Detachment

Opened Dec 4, 2013 · Closed Jun 24, 2014

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Air Bags:side/window; Structure:body:roof And Pillars; Unknown Or Other

Hyundai is conducting a safety recall to reinforce the attachment of the metal support bracket to the headliner assembly in approximately 35,000 model year (MY) 2010-2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring vehicles built from December 15, 2009 through May 7, 2012 (see NHTSA recall 14V-310 for more information).These Elantra Touring vehicles have a common headliner bracket design while the earlier MY 2009-2010 Elantra Touring vehicles have a headliner bracket design that utilizes a shorter length bracket which, should it become separated from the headliner, is unlikely to be displaced into the path of the driver or any occupant.During this investigation, ODI identified a MY 2010 subject vehicle in a salvage yard with a deployed driver-side curtain air bag that showed the headliner bracket displaced downward into the driver's window area.Also, during a static side curtain air bag deployment test conducted by Hyundai, the headliner bracket almost completely separated from the headliner.The headliner tested came out of a MY 2010 subject vehicle.Finally, ODI identified two warranty claims on the subject vehicles that indicate potential headliner bracket issues.Warranty records for these claims indicate vehicle owners complaining of noise or rattling coming from the headliner area and Hyundai dealer technicians reported finding brackets that came loose or unglued from the headliner.ODI is not aware of any related injury allegations.This investigation was opened to evaluate the scope of NHTSA Recall (13V115) influenced by an earlier ODI investigation (EA12-008).EA12-008 involved the same defect issue on MY 2011-2013 Elantra models, and a similar remedy approach was utilized in the 13V115 recall action.Based on the recall action taken by Hyundai, this investigation is closed.

Additional source detail variants (3)

Air Bags:side/window

Hyundai is conducting a safety recall to reinforce the attachment of the metal support bracket to the headliner assembly in approximately 35,000 model year (MY) 2010-2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring vehicles built from December 15, 2009 through May 7, 2012 (see NHTSA recall 14V-310 for more information).These Elantra Touring vehicles have a common headliner bracket design while the earlier MY 2009-2010 Elantra Touring vehicles have a headliner bracket design that utilizes a shorter length bracket which, should it become separated from the headliner, is unlikely to be displaced into the path of the driver or any occupant.During this investigation, ODI identified a MY 2010 subject vehicle in a salvage yard with a deployed driver-side curtain air bag that showed the headliner bracket displaced downward into the driver's window area.Also, during a static side curtain air bag deployment test conducted by Hyundai, the headliner bracket almost completely separated from the headliner.The headliner tested came out of a MY 2010 subject vehicle.Finally, ODI identified two warranty claims on the subject vehicles that indicate potential headliner bracket issues.Warranty records for these claims indicate vehicle owners complaining of noise or rattling coming from the headliner area and Hyundai dealer technicians reported finding brackets that came loose or unglued from the headliner.ODI is not aware of any related injury allegations.This investigation was opened to evaluate the scope of NHTSA Recall (13V115) influenced by an earlier ODI investigation (EA12-008).EA12-008 involved the same defect issue on MY 2011-2013 Elantra models, and a similar remedy approach was utilized in the 13V115 recall action.Based on the recall action taken by Hyundai, this investigation is closed.

Structure:body:roof And Pillars

Hyundai is conducting a safety recall to reinforce the attachment of the metal support bracket to the headliner assembly in approximately 35,000 model year (MY) 2010-2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring vehicles built from December 15, 2009 through May 7, 2012 (see NHTSA recall 14V-310 for more information).These Elantra Touring vehicles have a common headliner bracket design while the earlier MY 2009-2010 Elantra Touring vehicles have a headliner bracket design that utilizes a shorter length bracket which, should it become separated from the headliner, is unlikely to be displaced into the path of the driver or any occupant.During this investigation, ODI identified a MY 2010 subject vehicle in a salvage yard with a deployed driver-side curtain air bag that showed the headliner bracket displaced downward into the driver's window area.Also, during a static side curtain air bag deployment test conducted by Hyundai, the headliner bracket almost completely separated from the headliner.The headliner tested came out of a MY 2010 subject vehicle.Finally, ODI identified two warranty claims on the subject vehicles that indicate potential headliner bracket issues.Warranty records for these claims indicate vehicle owners complaining of noise or rattling coming from the headliner area and Hyundai dealer technicians reported finding brackets that came loose or unglued from the headliner.ODI is not aware of any related injury allegations.This investigation was opened to evaluate the scope of NHTSA Recall (13V115) influenced by an earlier ODI investigation (EA12-008).EA12-008 involved the same defect issue on MY 2011-2013 Elantra models, and a similar remedy approach was utilized in the 13V115 recall action.Based on the recall action taken by Hyundai, this investigation is closed.

Unknown Or Other

Hyundai is conducting a safety recall to reinforce the attachment of the metal support bracket to the headliner assembly in approximately 35,000 model year (MY) 2010-2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring vehicles built from December 15, 2009 through May 7, 2012 (see NHTSA recall 14V-310 for more information).These Elantra Touring vehicles have a common headliner bracket design while the earlier MY 2009-2010 Elantra Touring vehicles have a headliner bracket design that utilizes a shorter length bracket which, should it become separated from the headliner, is unlikely to be displaced into the path of the driver or any occupant.During this investigation, ODI identified a MY 2010 subject vehicle in a salvage yard with a deployed driver-side curtain air bag that showed the headliner bracket displaced downward into the driver's window area.Also, during a static side curtain air bag deployment test conducted by Hyundai, the headliner bracket almost completely separated from the headliner.The headliner tested came out of a MY 2010 subject vehicle.Finally, ODI identified two warranty claims on the subject vehicles that indicate potential headliner bracket issues.Warranty records for these claims indicate vehicle owners complaining of noise or rattling coming from the headliner area and Hyundai dealer technicians reported finding brackets that came loose or unglued from the headliner.ODI is not aware of any related injury allegations.This investigation was opened to evaluate the scope of NHTSA Recall (13V115) influenced by an earlier ODI investigation (EA12-008).EA12-008 involved the same defect issue on MY 2011-2013 Elantra models, and a similar remedy approach was utilized in the 13V115 recall action.Based on the recall action taken by Hyundai, this investigation is closed.