AFTER OWNING TWO '06 ELANTRAS, I'VE COME TO REALIZE A RECURRING ISSUE WITH THE DASHBOARD ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS. WHEN THE TURNER INDICATOR IS ENGAGED, THE REST OF THE DASHBOARD HAS A TENDENCY TO SHORT OUT FOR A SECOND OR TWO BEFORE RETURNING TO NORMAL.
2006 Hyundai Elantra
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2006 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
126 reports with mileage · 29 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.
- Air Bags. Review the 56 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Exterior Lighting. Review the 38 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Service Brakes. Review the 23 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Electrical System complaints
16 reportsPASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT IN THE CENTER HAS NEVER WORKED PROPERLY SINCE I'VE GOTTEN THE CAR, THE LIGHT NEVER USED TO GO OFF WHEN AN ADULT WAS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WHICH MEANS THE AIRBAGS WERE DISABLED. NOW THE DASHBOARD AIRBAG LIGHT HAS BEEN ILLUMINATED CONSTANTLY FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND DOES NOT EVER GO OFF, MEANING ALL AI…
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PASSENGER AIRBAG LIGHT IN THE CENTER HAS NEVER WORKED PROPERLY SINCE I'VE GOTTEN THE CAR, THE LIGHT NEVER USED TO GO OFF WHEN AN ADULT WAS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WHICH MEANS THE AIRBAGS WERE DISABLED. NOW THE DASHBOARD AIRBAG LIGHT HAS BEEN ILLUMINATED CONSTANTLY FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND DOES NOT EVER GO OFF, MEANING ALL AIRBAGS ARE DISABLED. IT CAME ON UPON STARTING UP MY VEHICLE AND HAS NOT GONE OFF SINCE. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS AND A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR, BUT IS NOT REPORTED PROPERLY VIA NHTSA, INSTEAD MANY COMPLAINTS ARE MADE VIA FORUMS. ALSO, WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT AND MY HEADLIGHTS ARE ON, TURNING THE WHEEL AND USING THE BLINKER CAUSES ALL DASH LIGHTS AS WELL AS MY HEADLIGHTS AND BRAKE LIGHTS TO FLICKER BRIEFLY. REAR WINDOWS ARE NOT ABLE TO BE ROLLED DOWN VIA THE MAIN CONTROL ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE, ONLY CAN BE ROLLED UP.
MY CAR HAS HAD ENGINE LIGHTS GO ON AND OFF FOR YEARS ON THEIR OWN, WINDOWS THAT YOU USE ONE SWITCH FOR THAT MAKE A DIFFERENT WINDOW GO DOWN AND THEN SOMETIMES THEY DON'T GO UP, MY BRAKES HAVEN'T RELEASED THE CRUISE CONTROL AT TIMES AND NOW MY PASSENGER AIR BAG LIGHT WON'T GO OFF SO I CAN'T PASS INSPECTION. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING …
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MY CAR HAS HAD ENGINE LIGHTS GO ON AND OFF FOR YEARS ON THEIR OWN, WINDOWS THAT YOU USE ONE SWITCH FOR THAT MAKE A DIFFERENT WINDOW GO DOWN AND THEN SOMETIMES THEY DON'T GO UP, MY BRAKES HAVEN'T RELEASED THE CRUISE CONTROL AT TIMES AND NOW MY PASSENGER AIR BAG LIGHT WON'T GO OFF SO I CAN'T PASS INSPECTION. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH AND WANT IT FIXED, IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE
I HAVE A BAD BRAKE SWITCH, AND NOTICED THAT THE ONLY RECALL IS IN PUERTO RICO. I BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT HYUNDAI AMERICA SHOULD BE RECALLING ON ALL AFFECTED VEHICLES. I HAVE NOTICED MANY COMPLAINTS ON THIS ISSUE. PLEASE REVIEW AND MAKE HYUNDAI FIX THIS "SAFETY "ISSUE. THANK YOU.
PRIOR TO THIS DATE HAD ISSUES WITH ELECTRICAL SUCH AS BACK LIGHTING OF STEREO AND ASH TRAY, CD PLAYER MALFUNCTIONING PAST FEW YEARS, MORE RECENTLY ODOMETER BACK LIGHT ALSO DOES NOT LIGHT. PREVIOUS REPORT OF PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG LIGHTING INTERMITTENTLY WHEN NOBODY WAS SITTING IN SEAT, OR IF PURSE ON SEAT, LESS THAN 10 LBS. THEN…
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PRIOR TO THIS DATE HAD ISSUES WITH ELECTRICAL SUCH AS BACK LIGHTING OF STEREO AND ASH TRAY, CD PLAYER MALFUNCTIONING PAST FEW YEARS, MORE RECENTLY ODOMETER BACK LIGHT ALSO DOES NOT LIGHT. PREVIOUS REPORT OF PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG LIGHTING INTERMITTENTLY WHEN NOBODY WAS SITTING IN SEAT, OR IF PURSE ON SEAT, LESS THAN 10 LBS. THEN AT ABOUT 206,000 MILES, MY ESTIMATE DRIVER INSTRUMENT PANEL AIR BAG LIGHT INDICATOR ON FIRST SOME TIMES, THEN SHORTLY AFTER ON ALL THE TIME. AFTER READING NUMEROUS OTHER COMPLAINTS AND SEEING YEARS PRIOR AND POST MY 2006 HAD RECALLS AS DID OTHER SIMILAR CARS AND THAT AIRBAGS FAILED, I AM VERY CONCERNED. HYUNDAI SEEMS TO HAVE EXCESSIVE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS REPORTED AND A SPONTANEOUS ELECTRICAL FIRE IS A MAIN CONCERN. I HAD MY STOP LAMP SWITCH REPLACED BY DEALERSHIP SEVERAL YEARS AGO AFTER A RECALL. THE REPLACEMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FREE HOWEVER, I WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS ONLY AND ADVISORY AND NOT A RECALL AND WAS MADE TO PAY $50 TO REPLACE THE $7.00 STOP LAMP SWITCH PART. I LATER WENT ONLINE AND DISCOVERED THAT INDEED IT WAS A RECALL AND THE DEALERSHIP HAD SCAMMED ME BY CHARGING LABOR TO REPLACE THE SWITCH. I BELIEVE THESE VEHICLES ARE A DANGER, ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE MAY ALSO BE ISSUES WITH CRUISE CONTROL BY STOP LAMP, AND I AM NOT CERTAIN WITH SEVERAL YEARS AND MILES DRIVING THAT THE REPLACEMENT PART IS STILL FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE RECALL OF 2006 & A DESIGN CHANGE WITH AMPLE TESTING TO PROVE THESE IMPORTS ARE NOT CUTTING CORNERS AGAIN. I WAS CONSIDERING ANOTHER, SUCH AS A TOYOTA, HOWEVER THE RECALLS ON TOYOTA AND DEATHS HAVE MADE ME CAUTIOUS OF THEIR QUALITY AS WELL. IF AIRBAGS ARE MANDATED BY YOU THEN THEIR REPAIR WHEN OBVIOUSLY DEFECTIVE SHOULD REST ON THE MANUFACTURERS. OWNED 2 2003 LANCERS 2.0L AND WERE TOTALED, ONE ROLLOVER ONE FRONT DEER COLLISION. VEHICLE BODY SAFE BUT NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED EITHER VEHICLE. *TR
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT A PASSENGER IS SEATED IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, THE 'AIR BAG' LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD GOES OFF - PROBLEM BEGAN UPON INITIALLY STARTING CAR, AND IS NOT LINKED TO ANY ACCIDENT EVER OCCURRED. A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE SAFETY OF PASSENGERS RIDING IN THESE VEHICLES.…
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REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT A PASSENGER IS SEATED IN THE PASSENGER SEAT, THE 'AIR BAG' LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD GOES OFF - PROBLEM BEGAN UPON INITIALLY STARTING CAR, AND IS NOT LINKED TO ANY ACCIDENT EVER OCCURRED. A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THE SAFETY OF PASSENGERS RIDING IN THESE VEHICLES. *TR
ALL OF THE BRAKE LIGHTS QUIT WORKING, I CALLED HYUNDAI, BECAUSE I HAD SEEN THERE WAS A RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM. THEY TOLD ME THAT MY CAR WAS NOT COVERED. HOPEFULLY THEY WILL COVER IT, SINCE THERE ARE SEVERAL CARS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR
BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH MALFUNCTION RESULTED IN BRAKE LIGHT FAILURE. PART NUMBER 93810-3K000. THIS PART HAS BEEN RECALLED IN PUERTO RICO ONLY, BUT FAILURE OF THIS PART MAY INDICATE A MORE GEOGRAPHICALLY WIDESPREAD PROBLEM. THIS VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED IN HAWAII. *TR
CRUISE CONTROL FAILED TO DISENGAGE WHEN BRAKE WAS APPLIED. THE CAUSE WAS A DEFECTIVE STOP LAMP SWITCH. VEHICLE WAS NOT COVERED BY TSB 09-01-018. *TR
BRAKE LIGHTS FAIL TO ILLUMINATE WHEN BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED. DEALERSHIP SAYS IT IS NOT PART OF RECALL 09V28000 BUT IT IS THE SAME ISSUE. HOW DOES THIS NOT FIT THE RECALL???? *TR
Official recalls
109V280000 · Exterior Lighting
Jul 21, 2009
HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 3,011 MODEL YEAR 2005-2007 ELANTRA, TUCSON, SONATA, AZERA AND ACCENT VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO FAIL TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A DEFECTIVE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFT OUT OF THE "PARK" POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.
Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON SEPTEMBER 2, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-787-999-4310.
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.
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