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2018 Hyundai Elantra

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2018 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

91 reports with mileage · 190 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 140 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 43 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 24 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

12 crash reports7 fire reports6 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

54 reports
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Mileage unknown · Apr 21, 2022
Unknown Or Other

I'm really disappointed when I notice last Saturday that my car was stolen (Elentra SEL 2018). When I met the police officer he told me this is normal with Hyundai vehicles!! NORMAL!! Fortunately, the car has been recovered but it's undrivable. When I was with the truck driver who towed my car to my home, he told me "do you bel…

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I'm really disappointed when I notice last Saturday that my car was stolen (Elentra SEL 2018). When I met the police officer he told me this is normal with Hyundai vehicles!! NORMAL!! Fortunately, the car has been recovered but it's undrivable. When I was with the truck driver who towed my car to my home, he told me "do you believe that I towed 7 cars from Hyundai/Kia in the last 24 hours!!!". Also, another truck driver, who towed my car from my home to the repairing shop, told me he towed 5 stolen cars (Hyundai/Kia) on the day I met him. I search on the internet and I found this is really a big issue, and people and tv news said that how it is easy for kids to steal a Hyundai car in a couple of minutes! I feel that I own a toy for kids or a piece of jerk NOT a VEHICLE!!! And of course, there is no recall from Hyundai to fix this problem.

NHTSA ODI #11461585

Mileage unknown · Apr 15, 2022
Unknown Or Other

Vehicle was locked with the keys removed from the vehicle. A back window was smashed and the vehicle was stolen. They were able to start the vehicle without keys. The vehicle was recovered and deemed to be a total loss by the insurance adjuster.

NHTSA ODI #11460958

Mileage unknown · Mar 17, 2022
EngineUnknown Or Other

The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. While driving and turning the steering wheel was firm. Additionally, the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil. The driver added oil to the engine. There was an abnormal sound …

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The contact owns a 2018 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. While driving and turning the steering wheel was firm. Additionally, the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil. The driver added oil to the engine. There was an abnormal sound detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer and informed them to schedule an appointment. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no further assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI #11457159

Mileage unknown · Feb 17, 2022
Unknown Or Other

Whenever I come to a complete stop engine dies. At traffic light's, stop sign's, when I'm in reverse and stop to put it in drive, and when I park the car. This happened with a 2015 Sonata I had last year and it ended up being the motor had metal shavings from manufacturing. I thought Hyundai resolved this problem year's ago but,…

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Whenever I come to a complete stop engine dies. At traffic light's, stop sign's, when I'm in reverse and stop to put it in drive, and when I park the car. This happened with a 2015 Sonata I had last year and it ended up being the motor had metal shavings from manufacturing. I thought Hyundai resolved this problem year's ago but, I have a 2018 doing the same thing the 2015 did.

NHTSA ODI #11452483

Mileage unknown · Jan 13, 2022
Unknown Or Other

2018 White Hyundai Elantra. 9/21/2021 We first noticed the paint was peeling. The car had 39k miles on it. We proceeded to notify the dealership and they said it wasn’t covered. Over the last few months entire chunks of paint have been coming off of the hood and roof. We have multiple estimates and they all require the car to be…

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2018 White Hyundai Elantra. 9/21/2021 We first noticed the paint was peeling. The car had 39k miles on it. We proceeded to notify the dealership and they said it wasn’t covered. Over the last few months entire chunks of paint have been coming off of the hood and roof. We have multiple estimates and they all require the car to be fully repainted.

NHTSA ODI #11447395

Mileage unknown · Jan 10, 2022
Unknown Or Other

My door lock was busted and my car was broken into. Then my ignition was busted in an attempted theft. These cars are easily broken into yet nothing is being done to fix it! I have paid over $800 to fix something that should not have even been an issue. Hyundai and Kia have faulty locking mechanisms that make them easily broken…

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My door lock was busted and my car was broken into. Then my ignition was busted in an attempted theft. These cars are easily broken into yet nothing is being done to fix it! I have paid over $800 to fix something that should not have even been an issue. Hyundai and Kia have faulty locking mechanisms that make them easily broken into and stolen. This is ridiculous! They should have put out a recall and fixed this issue. This is a 2018 and I’m still making payments. I was never informed that this is an issue with these cars or I never would have bought it. It took over a month to get my car fixed and now I’m worried to death that someone will try and steal it again. I want some kind of fix to keep my car from being so easily stolen.

NHTSA ODI #11446963

Mileage unknown · Jan 8, 2022
Seat BeltsUnknown Or Other

Heater and defrost does not work. I was unable to see out windshield. I took it for repair at dealership under warranty. They replaced a thermostat and there was no heat or defrost after. It is dangerous to drive in winter. My passenger seatbelt alarm goes off when the seat is empty. I have to pull over to lock the seatbelt to m…

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Heater and defrost does not work. I was unable to see out windshield. I took it for repair at dealership under warranty. They replaced a thermostat and there was no heat or defrost after. It is dangerous to drive in winter. My passenger seatbelt alarm goes off when the seat is empty. I have to pull over to lock the seatbelt to make it stop. Dealership states cannot duplicate. I have several videos of it happening.

NHTSA ODI #11446738

Mileage unknown · Nov 1, 2021
Unknown Or Other

The vehicle would just randomly shut off while driving.

NHTSA ODI #11438970

Mileage unknown · Aug 16, 2021
Unknown Or OtherCrash

This vehicle was so easy to steal 4 kids stole it and crashed it in a 45 minute span.

NHTSA ODI #11429259

Mileage unknown · Jun 9, 2021
Unknown Or Other

My multifunction switch appears to be defective. I have taken it to 2 different dealerships to be looked at. They have been unable to replicate any issues either time. Occasionally at night time the headlights will randomly turn off. This happened in auto mode as well as when it was pouring down rain and the wipers were on. The …

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My multifunction switch appears to be defective. I have taken it to 2 different dealerships to be looked at. They have been unable to replicate any issues either time. Occasionally at night time the headlights will randomly turn off. This happened in auto mode as well as when it was pouring down rain and the wipers were on. The headlight indicator on the dash stays lit but the lights themselves turn off. This also happened driving to work in the early morning. When it is cold outside and also randomly the left signal indication doesn’t work in the lane changing function. I sometimes have to hit it 3-4 times before it decides to come on. Neither dealership I have used knows what is happening with the vehicle and I am not keen to spend $600 to have it fixed if it’s not going to 100% fix the issue.

NHTSA ODI #11420333

Official recalls

0

No recalls in this snapshot.

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

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.

Go deeper into Hyundai Elantra problems