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2016 Hyundai Elantra

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2016 Hyundai Elantra do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 182.

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When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

123 reports with mileage · 169 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. Review the 111 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 31 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Air Bags. Review the 26 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

22 crash reports5 fire reports16 injury reports

What owners actually said

292 reports
Mileage unknown · Oct 5, 2022
Engine

My engine has almost completely burned through its oil twice. I have done routine oil changes and maintenance on the vehicle and the first time this happened, I had driven 3,000 miles since my last oil change (full synthetic, so it should be able to go up to 5,000 miles). The second time, it was out of oil at 1,200 miles. I took…

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My engine has almost completely burned through its oil twice. I have done routine oil changes and maintenance on the vehicle and the first time this happened, I had driven 3,000 miles since my last oil change (full synthetic, so it should be able to go up to 5,000 miles). The second time, it was out of oil at 1,200 miles. I took the car to Hyundai after the first incident and they said no error codes came up, so there was nothing they could do. This safety issue could cause my engine to stall mid drive, causing a potentially fatal accident. There are no warnings that the engine is low on oil, making this an even more alarming and dangerous defect. Hyundai will not help consumers with this issue, and there is a class action lawsuit against them right now for this problem. Many are saying the exact same thing happened when taking the vehicle into the dealer; they were turned away and charged for no help. I was told to just keep putting oil in my car, but it has gotten exponentially worse since this all began.

NHTSA ODI #11488051

80,000 miles · Oct 4, 2022
Electrical SystemLatches/locks/linkages

The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 35-40 MPH, he looked in the rearview mirror and noticed that the trunk of the vehicle was open. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he was unable to lock the trunk using the lever on the front seat, key fob, or the…

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The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 35-40 MPH, he looked in the rearview mirror and noticed that the trunk of the vehicle was open. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that he was unable to lock the trunk using the lever on the front seat, key fob, or the button on the trunk door. The contact continued driving. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the next availability would be in February 2023. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

NHTSA ODI #11487874

Mileage unknown · Sep 6, 2022
Engine

88,750 miles - Engine began profuse knocking suddenly when traveling down the road under 50mph. Stopped at a service center and they found no oil in the engine. Like THOUSANDS of others with the same complaint, the engine burned the oil which caused it to destroy itself LONG before the oil change interim had arrived.

NHTSA ODI #11483157

Mileage unknown · Aug 31, 2022
EnginePower TrainService Brakes

I believe it is the transmission/ power train that failed. It slides gears and the engine stalls. While driving, I was almost hit because I could not speed up. I had to decelerate in order for the gear to not stutter.

NHTSA ODI #11482326

51,000 miles · Aug 29, 2022
Latches/locks/linkages

The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 48 mph, the trunk door erroneously opened. The contact stopped the vehicle to investigate the cause of the failure. The contact discovered that the trunk latch had malfunctioned and the trunk would no longer remain securely closed. The contac…

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The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 48 mph, the trunk door erroneously opened. The contact stopped the vehicle to investigate the cause of the failure. The contact discovered that the trunk latch had malfunctioned and the trunk would no longer remain securely closed. The contact used a rope to secure the trunk. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 51,000.

NHTSA ODI #11481690

Mileage unknown · Aug 25, 2022
Visibility/wiper

The back windshield where the tinting is placed continuously peels or has bubbles in the tinting causing me not to be able to see safely or accurately.

NHTSA ODI #11481110

Mileage unknown · Aug 4, 2022
Engine

At 75,000 miles my engine randomly blew on the freeway, I rolled down the off-ramp where I lost all power and had to put it in neutral and put the emergency brake on so I didn’t roll through a red light at the bottom of the ramp. Absolutely no warning, nothing else was wrong with the car, mechanic said oil and everything else lo…

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At 75,000 miles my engine randomly blew on the freeway, I rolled down the off-ramp where I lost all power and had to put it in neutral and put the emergency brake on so I didn’t roll through a red light at the bottom of the ramp. Absolutely no warning, nothing else was wrong with the car, mechanic said oil and everything else looked perfect but that it was a manufacturer defect due to the pistons in the engine. Now I owe 8.5k on a car I can’t drive because neither insurance nor Hyundai will take responsibility. Great 👍🏻

NHTSA ODI #11477594

Mileage unknown · Jul 15, 2022
Engine

Going through oil like crazy, continuous engine knocking

NHTSA ODI #11474162

Mileage unknown · Jul 8, 2022
EnginePower Train

On 06/10/2022 Going down the road went to shift gears and it was stuck in 5th gear. Finally got it released and safely made it home. Ever since you can shift the gears and reverse while engine isn’t running but once I turn on the vehicle it refuses to shift into any gears including reverse. I have a FIXD OBD2 sensor and it showe…

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On 06/10/2022 Going down the road went to shift gears and it was stuck in 5th gear. Finally got it released and safely made it home. Ever since you can shift the gears and reverse while engine isn’t running but once I turn on the vehicle it refuses to shift into any gears including reverse. I have a FIXD OBD2 sensor and it showed no warning messages before, during, and now. No codes are showing up when plugged in. Matter of fact it says there’s no issues with my car ? I had a mechanic take a look since he was willing to come to my house considering I currently don’t have the funds to get it checked out & he said it’s probably my clutch has went out, but that can’t be the case considering it will turn on still. I have no messages appear on the dash & I have plenty of transmission oil. Today is 07/08/2022 and it has just been sitting there due to the fact I’ve lost my employment and can’t afford to have it looked at

NHTSA ODI #11472842

Mileage unknown · Jun 30, 2022
Structure

The paint is peeling off my Hyundai Elantra and I only have 28000 miles on it. It started peeling 2 years ago. I can supply pictures. I visited my local Hyundai dealership, where I bought the car, they made me wait for an hour then told me there was nothing they could do. I noticed someone scratched the paint with a fingernail f…

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The paint is peeling off my Hyundai Elantra and I only have 28000 miles on it. It started peeling 2 years ago. I can supply pictures. I visited my local Hyundai dealership, where I bought the car, they made me wait for an hour then told me there was nothing they could do. I noticed someone scratched the paint with a fingernail from their workshop. I also called the Hyundai corp and they said there was nothing they could do.

NHTSA ODI #11471841

Official recalls

2

26V307000 · Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module

May 14, 2026

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2015-2016 Elantra and 2016 Elantra GT vehicles. The driver's air bag inflator may rupture during deployment.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An air bag inflator that ruptures may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or passengers, increasing the risk of injury or death.

Remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the air bag inflator, as necessary, free of charge. Interim notification letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, were mailed July 3, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated August, 2026. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 300. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on May 16, 2026.

24V146000 · Latches/locks/linkages:trunk Lid:latch

Feb 23, 2024

Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2015-2016 Elantra vehicles. The trunk latch may become damaged, preventing the opening of the trunk from the inside. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 401, "Internal Trunk Release."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A person inside the trunk compartment may become trapped, increasing their risk of injury.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the trunk latch base sub-assembly, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed April 5, 2024. Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 256.

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

DP21003 · Throttle Control System Vulnerabilities

Opened Nov 12, 2021 · Closed Jun 20, 2023

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Vehicle Speed Control:throttle

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) received a petition letter dated October 10, 2021, requesting an investigation of possible defects in the electronic throttle control (ETC) system on certain Kia vehicles resulting in the opening of DP21-003. Accordingly, Model Year (MY) 2005-2016 Kia Optima/K5, MY 2006-2015 Kia Sorento, MY 2007-2016 Hyundai Elantra, MY 2007-2016 Hyundai Santa Fe, MY 2006-2015 Hyundai Sonatas are all part of the subject population. The petition was originally filed as a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire that can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under reference (ODI) number 11439675.On November 12, 2021, ODI opened Defect Petition DP21-003 to evaluate the petitioner?s request. ODI performed trend analyses of the VOQs related to vehicle speed control issues for all the subject vehicles and found that none of the 52 Model/Model Year Hyundai/Kia vehicles demonstrated any actionable trend that warranted an investigation.Petitioners submitted 1119 VOQs and non-VOQ cases in which sudden uncommanded acceleration (SUA) or loss of motive power (LOMP) incidents were alleged.For the 1119 reports, 220 were incidents involving crashes, from which 69 subject Hyundai-Kia vehicles were inspected by Hyundai/Kia dealer technicians, Hyundai/Kia engineers, and/or third-party representatives.ODI found the inspections identified no vehicle defects related to the ETC system.Of the 220 crash-involved reports, 13 Event Data Recorder (EDR) records were downloaded successfully and 11 of those indicated driver error: (i.e.) pedal misapplication.A condition where the accelerator pedal is mistakenly applied instead of the brake pedal when the driver wants to stop the vehicle.In addition, ODI reviewed a scientific journal paper published in Forensic Science International in 2016 by Mr. Park et al ., as well as related test videos. ODI does not believe there is any evidence of uncontrollable SUA occurrences in any of the tests reviewed. NHTSA's Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance (OVSC) reviewed the allegations regarding the potential noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 124.Based on the information provided, the Agency concludes there is insufficient information for us to determine if a possible non-compliance exists.Finally, both Hyundai and Kia informed ODI that all their vehicles manufactured after 2012 were equipped with an ETC management system, in which the engine speed will go to idle when the system sees signals from both the brake pedal and accelerator pedal at the same time; this is commonly known as the brake-throttle override system.After thoroughly assessing the material submitted by the petitioner, information already in NHTSA's possession, information submitted by Hyundai and Kia in response to an Information Request letter, and the potential risks to safety implicated by the petitioner's allegation, NHTSA does not believe that a formal investigation is warranted. After full consideration of appropriate factors, the petition is denied. A Federal Register Notice (FRN) further detailing NHTSA?s reasons for denial of the petition will be published.

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