IllustrationTHE TRANSMISSIONS ON THESE CARS FAIL AND GET STUCK IN GEARS CAUSING DANGEROUS DRIVING SITUATIONS AND BREAKDOWNS. I HAD SEVERAL OF THESE CARS AS COMPANY TRANSPORTATION AND THEY ALL HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR
2000 Hyundai Elantra
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2000 Hyundai Elantra do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 182.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Elantra 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
160–25K
1825–50K
1450–75K
1975–100K
8100–150K
1150K+
76 reports with mileage · 121 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.
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 43 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Air Bags. Review the 39 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 33 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
36 crash reports2 fire reports24 injury reports
Power Train complaints
22 reportsTL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 25-40 MPH, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, BUT THE VEHICLE DECELERATED. THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO ACCELERATE AFTER 4-5 SECONDS. THE DEALER STATED THAT THERE WAS INTERNAL FAILURE WITH THE TRANSMISSION'S FOURTH GEAR. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 81,000.…
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TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. WHILE DRIVING BETWEEN 25-40 MPH, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, BUT THE VEHICLE DECELERATED. THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO ACCELERATE AFTER 4-5 SECONDS. THE DEALER STATED THAT THERE WAS INTERNAL FAILURE WITH THE TRANSMISSION'S FOURTH GEAR. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 81,000. *UPDATED 12/12/2007 *BF
SHIFT LOCK STICKS IN A 2000 AUTO ELANTRA WITH AROUND 99,600 MILES. I LOCK UP IN PARK IN WILL NOT GET OUT OF PARK OUT U PUT PENCIL DOWN SHIFT LOCK HOLE. OR HIT SHIFTER HARD FORWARDED IT DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK. HAVE NOT TOOK TO GET SERVICED YET OR LOOKED AT . *AK
I OWN 2 MANUAL-TRANSMISSION HYUNDAI ELANTRAS, 2000 AND 2001. BOTH CARS HAVE APPROXIMATELY 35,000 MILES. BOTH CARS HAVE HAD THEIR CLUTCHES GO BAD IN THE PAST 2 MONTHS (MASTER CYLINDER ON THE 2001, SLAVE CYLINDER ON THE 2000). *NM
1) WHEN SLOWING DOWN AT AN INTERSECTION VEHICLE DOWNSHIFTS WITH A THUMPING NOISE AND THE CAR JERKS VIOLENTLY. WHEN ACCELERATING FROM AN INTERSECTION THE VEHICLE UPSHIFTS WITH A VIOLENT JERK. 2) CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON AND DEALER STATES THE GEAR 4 RATIO IS INCORRECT. 3) DEALER UNABLE TO PERFORM REPLACEMENT UNLESS CAR OWNER COV…
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1) WHEN SLOWING DOWN AT AN INTERSECTION VEHICLE DOWNSHIFTS WITH A THUMPING NOISE AND THE CAR JERKS VIOLENTLY. WHEN ACCELERATING FROM AN INTERSECTION THE VEHICLE UPSHIFTS WITH A VIOLENT JERK. 2) CHECK ENGINE LIGHT IS ON AND DEALER STATES THE GEAR 4 RATIO IS INCORRECT. 3) DEALER UNABLE TO PERFORM REPLACEMENT UNLESS CAR OWNER COVERS COST.*AK
CAR CONTINUES TO OVERHEAT. THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME IT HAS HAPPENED; SOMETIME THE PROBLEM CAN NOT BE DUPLICATED AND I AM SENT ON MY WAY EVEN THOUGH IT HAS HAPPEN BEFORE. THE CYLINDER HEADS, WATER PUMP, THERMOSTAT, SENSOR AND MANY OTHERS ARE ONLY A FEW OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN REPLACED ON THIS PROBLEM. THE CAR SHUTS-OFF WIT…
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CAR CONTINUES TO OVERHEAT. THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME IT HAS HAPPENED; SOMETIME THE PROBLEM CAN NOT BE DUPLICATED AND I AM SENT ON MY WAY EVEN THOUGH IT HAS HAPPEN BEFORE. THE CYLINDER HEADS, WATER PUMP, THERMOSTAT, SENSOR AND MANY OTHERS ARE ONLY A FEW OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN REPLACED ON THIS PROBLEM. THE CAR SHUTS-OFF WITHOUT WARNING, AND DRIVES LIKE A DESIEL ENGINE (ROUGH), YOU ALMOST HAVE TO FLOOR IT TO MAKE THE CAR STOP AND THE DEALER SAYS IT IS NORMAL; EVEN THOUGH I HIT ANOTHER CAR GOING ABOUT 5MPH BECAUSE THE CAR JERKED FOWARD AND SMASHED MY HOOD (I HIT A FORD:EXCRUSSION SO HE HAD NO DAMAGE) AND THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT SHIFT CORRECTLY. SURE THE DEALER SHIP TRIES TO FIX THE PROBLEM BUT THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES I HAVE BEEN OUT OF MY CAR FOR A LONG AS 7 TO 8 WEEKS AND MANY TIMES THERE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHATS WRONG. I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT RICK CASE THE DEARLERSHIP OWNER AND I NEVER REICEVE A CALL OR EMAIL. *AK
IN DECEMBER, 2000, WITH ONLY 5000 MILES ON THE CAR, THE TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP AND NEEDED TO BE TOWED BACK TO THE DEALER. SINCE THEN, THE CAR HAS HAD NOTHING BUT TRANSMISSION TROUBLES. THE TRANSMISSION HAS GOTTEN STUCK IN 2ND GEAR WHILE OUT ON THE HIGH WAY. WHEN SLOWING DOWN, IT HAS SUDDENLY JERKED INTO FIRST GEAR, CAUSING TH…
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IN DECEMBER, 2000, WITH ONLY 5000 MILES ON THE CAR, THE TRANSMISSION LOCKED UP AND NEEDED TO BE TOWED BACK TO THE DEALER. SINCE THEN, THE CAR HAS HAD NOTHING BUT TRANSMISSION TROUBLES. THE TRANSMISSION HAS GOTTEN STUCK IN 2ND GEAR WHILE OUT ON THE HIGH WAY. WHEN SLOWING DOWN, IT HAS SUDDENLY JERKED INTO FIRST GEAR, CAUSING THE CAR TO NOT ACCELERATE. IT HAS JERKED INTO 2ND GEAR, FEELING LIKE THE CAR HAS BEEN REAR ENDED. EACH TIME IT HAS BEEN BACK TO THE DEALER, THEY CAN FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. PRESENTLY, AT 45,000 MILES, IT IS GETTING ANOTHER NEW TRANSMISSION.
WHEN CAR IS COMING TO A STOP THE TRANSMISSION/ENGINE RUMBLES. IT HAS BEEN THIS WAY FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS (EVERY DAY) BUT ON THE 2 OCCASSIONS I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING.
THE PASSENGER WINDOW WILL NOT ROLL DOWN. THE SWITCH WENT OUT 2. DEALERSHIP REPLACED ONCE. THE HORN WAS BAD. THE CAR DOESN'T WANT TO SHIFT RIGHT. WENT THROUGH 3 TRANSMISSIONS. DEALERSHIP SAYS IT FINE. IT STILL DOESN'T WANT TO SHIFT RIGHT. IT DOESN'T WANT TO TAKE GAS. WANT TO GET RID OF CAR.*AK
THE TRANSMISSION FAILED WITHOUT WARNING, WHICH CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO STALL, CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THE TRANSMISSION WAS ON NATIONAL BACK ORDER. *JB
Official recalls
100V259001 · Electrical System:wiring
Sep 11, 2000
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: SOME SONATA VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 2.5 LITER V-6 ENGINES AND ALL ELANTRA MODEL VEHICLES MAY HAVE EXPERIENCED INTERMITTENT LOW-SPEED ENGINE STALLING, WHICH COULD OCCUR IF THE MAF (MASS AIR FLOW) SENSOR ELECTRICAL SIGNAL IS INTERRUPTED AS A RESULT OF ENGINE VIBRATION TRANSMITTED TO THE MAF SENSOR CONNECTOR WIRING HARNESS.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy: DEALERS WILL RE-ROUTE THE MAF SENSOR CONNECTOR WIRING HARNESS.
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
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.