Brake lights constantly have to be replace twice a month. Wheel bearing have to be replaced twice a year. Brakes don't stop if mash quickly when hitting small hole. Its just grinding sound. My safety and others are put at risk every day. No messages or symptoms of problem till it happens, no warning lamps.
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.
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
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.
What owners actually said
292 reportsThe contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space with her foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated and crashed into the tires of another vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuri…
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The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while pulling into a parking space with her foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated and crashed into the tires of another vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. A police report was filed. The contact and her husband drove the vehicle to her residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that they were not aware of such failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 62,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the engine failed to perform as needed. The contact stated she was able to safely pull off the road and proceeded to call a tow company. The contact stated at the time of failure several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle …
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The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving at 65 MPH, the engine failed to perform as needed. The contact stated she was able to safely pull off the road and proceeded to call a tow company. The contact stated at the time of failure several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to Towne Hyundai (3170 NJ-10, Denville, NJ 07834) where they were not able to diagnose the vehicle. The contact stated that she then had the vehicle towed to Riverhead Hyundai (1800 Old Country Rd, Riverhead, NY 11901) where the vehicle remained to await a diagnostic test and repair. The failure mileage was 85,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while her daughter was driving and approaching a stop sign, the vehicle loss motive power and stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The driver placed the vehicle in PARK and restarted the vehicle to drive to her residence; however, the failure recurre…
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The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while her daughter was driving and approaching a stop sign, the vehicle loss motive power and stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The driver placed the vehicle in PARK and restarted the vehicle to drive to her residence; however, the failure recurred sporadically several times thereafter. The contact took the vehicle to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle however, the dealer was not able to determine the cause of the failure. The contact then took the vehicle to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there were metal shavings found in the engine. The mechanic recommended that the engine be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 93,000.
Trunk will not open. Passenger side latch doesn’t open the trunk. Trunk is stuck. Rear seats do not have a button or latch to make them go down/fold. Cannot get into the trunk from inside of car. Car passenger door has no access to trunk latch. No smart key came with car, but if trunk latch is broken/damaged, there is still no w…
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Trunk will not open. Passenger side latch doesn’t open the trunk. Trunk is stuck. Rear seats do not have a button or latch to make them go down/fold. Cannot get into the trunk from inside of car. Car passenger door has no access to trunk latch. No smart key came with car, but if trunk latch is broken/damaged, there is still no way to get access to the trunk! Safety feature has no access from inside or outside the car! No key entry to the trunk! Nothing!!! A child gets stuck in this 2016 Hyundai Elantra they will die!!! No key entry to the trunk.
I was driving the car at 25 MPH, when suddenly there was a clicking noise and the car lost power. I made it to my local service shop, but they were already closed. The next morning they called to inform me that the engine had blown and that it was a common problem for Hyundai vehicles. When the engine blew, it enabled gasolin…
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I was driving the car at 25 MPH, when suddenly there was a clicking noise and the car lost power. I made it to my local service shop, but they were already closed. The next morning they called to inform me that the engine had blown and that it was a common problem for Hyundai vehicles. When the engine blew, it enabled gasoline to leak into the engine compartment. I feel that this is a serious fire hazard. Even though the care had high mileage, it was in good mechanical shape at the time of the incident. I had routine maintenance performed regularly. There were never any warning indicators that something might be wrong.
As I was driving for my job going the speed limit I heard a slight ticking/knocking sounds I pulled over right away and it sounds like the motor is knocking, the gdi in other Hyundai models have a recall for them due to faulty connection rods making the engine fail as this one is, it is going into the dealership Monday and I wil…
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As I was driving for my job going the speed limit I heard a slight ticking/knocking sounds I pulled over right away and it sounds like the motor is knocking, the gdi in other Hyundai models have a recall for them due to faulty connection rods making the engine fail as this one is, it is going into the dealership Monday and I will provide any documentation showing the car is stock and wasn’t abused in any way or form.
This cars engine has seized and stopped working. This is an unacceptable problem and it seems as though other years have a recall for this same issue. I would like my year and model added to the recall. I am furious about this situation.
The airbags did not deploy when the other driver did not comply with the stop sign, which led to him getting off the road in front of me and destroying the entire front of the car, knowing that the airbags did not deploy now. I suffer from a neck injury
The trunk latch just completely stopped working out of no where. I always use the button on the actual trunk and have never had issues before. The trunk shuts, but the latch does not lock causing the trunk to not stay closed. This happened while on vacation when I needed to use my trunk for all of my items. I had to use 3 diffe…
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The trunk latch just completely stopped working out of no where. I always use the button on the actual trunk and have never had issues before. The trunk shuts, but the latch does not lock causing the trunk to not stay closed. This happened while on vacation when I needed to use my trunk for all of my items. I had to use 3 different bungee ropes and a ratchet strap to keep it closed from the inside. I had to drive 12 hours on the highway with the trunk like this beyond scared the trunk would pop open with all of my items back there since I had no where else to put them. I think we all need to use our trunks especially when the car itself is smaller with not much room for suitcases.
Official recalls
226V307000 · 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
1DP21003 · 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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