1999 HYUNDAI ELANTRA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 127 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (34 complaints · 26.8%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 22
  • Fires 2
  • Injuries 24
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 1998 →
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 POWER TRAIN appears in 34 of 127 owner complaints (26.8%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 34 complaints, 26.8% of reports POWER TRAIN 34 · 26.8% · 1 crash reports ENGINE: 21 complaints, 16.5% of reports ENGINE 21 · 16.5% · 1 crash reports 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 17 complaints, 13.4% of reports AIR BAGS 17 · 13.4% · 17 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 8.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 · 8.7% SEAT BELTS: 6 complaints, 4.7% of reports SEAT BELTS 6 · 4.7% · 2 crash reports SERVICE BRAKES: 6 complaints, 4.7% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 6 · 4.7% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 6 complaints, 4.7% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 · 4.7% FUEL SYSTEM: 4 complaints, 3.2% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 4 · 3.2% STRUCTURE: 3 complaints, 2.4% of reports STRUCTURE 3 · 2.4% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 94 complaints, 74.0% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 94 · 74.0% · 19 crash 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)
POWER TRAIN 34 26.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 21 16.5% 1 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 17 13.4% 17 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 11 8.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SEAT BELTS 6 4.7% 2 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 6 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 6 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 4 3.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 3 2.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 94 74.0% 19 crashes · 0 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 Jul 1999; the first recall shown was reported in Jul 1999. 1999-Q3: 12 owner reports 12 1999-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2000-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2000-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2001-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2001-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2001-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2002-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2002-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2004-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2004-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 2006-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2006-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2007-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2007-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2008-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2012-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2014-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2016-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2018-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 1999 Apr 2018 Recall campaign 99V178000 ◆ Recall campaign 99V178000 Recall campaign 00V259001 ◆ Recall campaign 00V259001
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1999-Q3 Owner reports 12
1999-Q4 Owner reports 8
2000-Q1 Owner reports 6
2000-Q2 Owner reports 2
2000-Q3 Owner reports 5
2000-Q4 Owner reports 3
2001-Q1 Owner reports 4
2001-Q2 Owner reports 9
2001-Q3 Owner reports 2
2001-Q4 Owner reports 3
2002-Q1 Owner reports 10
2002-Q2 Owner reports 5
2002-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q4 Owner reports 2
2003-Q1 Owner reports 1
2003-Q2 Owner reports 4
2003-Q3 Owner reports 2
2003-Q4 Owner reports 2
2004-Q1 Owner reports 3
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 4
2004-Q4 Owner reports 4
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 2
2006-Q2 Owner reports 1
2006-Q4 Owner reports 1
2007-Q1 Owner reports 1
2007-Q2 Owner reports 2
2007-Q3 Owner reports 1
2007-Q4 Owner reports 2
2008-Q3 Owner reports 1
2008-Q4 Owner reports 2
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2009-Q3 Owner reports 1
2010-Q2 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2012-Q2 Owner reports 3
2014-Q4 Owner reports 1
2015-Q1 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 1
2016-Q3 Owner reports 1
2016-Q4 Owner reports 3
2017-Q2 Owner reports 1
2018-Q2 Owner reports 1
Recall campaign 1 99V178000
Recall campaign 1 00V259001
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 00V259001

    Report date
    Component:
    ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
    Consequence:
    THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL, INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL RE-ROUTE THE MAF SENSOR CONNECTOR WIRING HARNESS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 99V178000

    Report date
    Component:
    POWER TRAIN
    Consequence:
    SUCH SLIPPAGE CAN CAUSE PREMATURE DETERIORATION OF THE FRICTION ELEMENT SURFACES AND COULD CAUSE THE VEHICLE NOT TO ACCELERATE, OR NOT ACCELERATE AS EXPECTED, WHEN THE DRIVER PRESSES THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE PRESSURE CONTROL SOLENOID VALVE.
    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 127 complaints · page 1 of 6

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