1994 HYUNDAI ELANTRA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 76 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: AIR BAGS (27 complaints · 35.5%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 22
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 16
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1993 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution AIR BAGS appears in 27 of 76 owner complaints (35.5%) in this vehicle snapshot. AIR BAGS: 27 complaints, 35.5% of reports AIR BAGS 27 · 35.5% · 17 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 15 complaints, 19.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 · 19.7% · 1 fire reports ENGINE: 7 complaints, 9.2% of reports ENGINE 7 · 9.2% · 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 6 complaints, 7.9% of reports POWER TRAIN 6 · 7.9% STRUCTURE: 5 complaints, 6.6% of reports STRUCTURE 5 · 6.6% SERVICE BRAKES: 3 complaints, 4.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 4.0% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 3 complaints, 4.0% of reports STEERING 3 · 4.0% · 2 crash reports VISIBILITY: 3 complaints, 4.0% of reports VISIBILITY 3 · 4.0% SEAT BELTS: 2 complaints, 2.6% of reports SEAT BELTS 2 · 2.6% · 2 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 58 complaints, 76.3% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 58 · 76.3% · 22 crash reports 2 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
AIR BAGS 27 35.5% 17 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 15 19.7% 0 crashes · 1 fires
ENGINE 7 9.2% 0 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 6 7.9% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 5 6.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 3 4.0% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 3 4.0% 2 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 3 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 2 2.6% 2 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 58 76.3% 22 crashes · 2 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jan 1995; the first recall shown was reported in May 1994. 1995-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1995-Q2: 8 owner reports 8 1995-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 1995-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1996-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 1996-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1997-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 1998-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 1999-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2000-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2000-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2002-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports May 1994 Jul 2002 Recall campaign 94V090000 ◆ Recall campaign 94V090000 Recall campaign 95V101000 ◆ Recall campaign 95V101000 Investigation PE95060 ● Investigation PE95060 Investigation SQ96017 ● Investigation SQ96017
  • Campaign 95V101000 was reported 141 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1995-Q1 Owner reports 3
1995-Q2 Owner reports 8
1995-Q3 Owner reports 7
1995-Q4 Owner reports 2
1996-Q1 Owner reports 3
1996-Q2 Owner reports 2
1996-Q3 Owner reports 3
1996-Q4 Owner reports 3
1997-Q1 Owner reports 5
1997-Q2 Owner reports 5
1997-Q3 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q1 Owner reports 1
1998-Q2 Owner reports 1
1998-Q3 Owner reports 4
1998-Q4 Owner reports 3
1999-Q1 Owner reports 3
1999-Q2 Owner reports 2
1999-Q3 Owner reports 3
2000-Q1 Owner reports 1
2000-Q2 Owner reports 2
2000-Q3 Owner reports 1
2001-Q1 Owner reports 1
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 1
2002-Q3 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 94V090000
Recall campaign 1 95V101000
Defect investigation 1 PE95060
Defect investigation 1 SQ96017
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (2)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 94V090000

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    ENGINE STALLING HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH IF IT OCCURS WHILE THE VEHICLE IS MOVING.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE CRANK ANGLE SENSOR TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE SENSOR IS INVOLVED IN THE RECALL, AND REPLACE ANY SENSOR FOUND WITH THE DEFECTIVE INTERNAL COATING.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 95V101000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    Consequence:
    AN INCREASE IN THE ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE MIGHT PREVENT THE AIR BAG FROM ACTIVATING DURING A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE AIR BAG ASSEMBLY WIRING HARNESS CONNECTOR TO DETERMINE IF IT CONTAINS A TERMINAL HOLDER. IF IT DOES NOT, ONE WILL BE INSTALLED.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 76 complaints · page 1 of 4

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources