2016 HYUNDAI ELANTRA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 289 complaints · 2 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (82 complaints · 28.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 22
  • Fires 5
  • Injuries 17
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2015 →
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 ENGINE appears in 82 of 289 owner complaints (28.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 82 complaints, 28.4% of reports ENGINE 82 · 28.4% · 2 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 25 complaints, 8.7% of reports POWER TRAIN 25 · 8.7% AIR BAGS: 17 complaints, 5.9% of reports AIR BAGS 17 · 5.9% · 11 crash reports 1 fire reports STEERING: 15 complaints, 5.2% of reports STEERING 15 · 5.2% · 2 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 12 complaints, 4.2% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 12 · 4.2% STRUCTURE: 11 complaints, 3.8% of reports STRUCTURE 11 · 3.8% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 11 complaints, 3.8% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 · 3.8% · 4 crash reports WHEELS: 10 complaints, 3.5% of reports WHEELS 10 · 3.5% SERVICE BRAKES: 8 complaints, 2.8% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 8 · 2.8% · 1 crash reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 85 complaints, 29.4% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 85 · 29.4% · 1 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)
ENGINE 82 28.4% 0 crashes · 2 fires
POWER TRAIN 25 8.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 17 5.9% 11 crashes · 1 fires
STEERING 15 5.2% 2 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 12 4.2% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 11 3.8% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 3.8% 4 crashes · 0 fires
WHEELS 10 3.5% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 8 2.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 85 29.4% 1 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 2015; the first recall shown was reported in Feb 2024. 2015-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2016-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q2: 9 owner reports 9 2016-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2016-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2017-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2017-Q2: 3 owner reports 3 2017-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2017-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2018-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q2: 7 owner reports 7 2018-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q4: 10 owner reports 10 2019-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2019-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2019-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2019-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 2020-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2020-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 2020-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2021-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2021-Q2: 5 owner reports 5 2021-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2021-Q4: 14 owner reports 14 2022-Q1: 9 owner reports 9 2022-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2022-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2022-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2023-Q1: 12 owner reports 12 2023-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2023-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2023-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2024-Q2: 16 owner reports 16 2024-Q3: 9 owner reports 9 2024-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2025-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2025-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2025-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2026-Q1: 7 owner reports 7 2026-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2026-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 Owner reports Jul 2015 Jul 2026 Recall campaign 24V146000 ◆ Recall campaign 24V146000 Recall campaign 26V307000 ◆ Recall campaign 26V307000 Investigation DP21003 ● Investigation DP21003
  • Campaign 24V146000 was reported 3,072 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 26V307000 was reported 3,531 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2015-Q3 Owner reports 1
2015-Q4 Owner reports 4
2016-Q1 Owner reports 3
2016-Q2 Owner reports 9
2016-Q3 Owner reports 3
2016-Q4 Owner reports 2
2017-Q1 Owner reports 4
2017-Q2 Owner reports 3
2017-Q3 Owner reports 5
2017-Q4 Owner reports 2
2018-Q1 Owner reports 3
2018-Q2 Owner reports 7
2018-Q3 Owner reports 5
2018-Q4 Owner reports 10
2019-Q1 Owner reports 4
2019-Q2 Owner reports 6
2019-Q3 Owner reports 7
2019-Q4 Owner reports 6
2020-Q1 Owner reports 7
2020-Q2 Owner reports 5
2020-Q3 Owner reports 6
2020-Q4 Owner reports 7
2021-Q1 Owner reports 7
2021-Q2 Owner reports 5
2021-Q3 Owner reports 9
2021-Q4 Owner reports 14
2022-Q1 Owner reports 9
2022-Q2 Owner reports 10
2022-Q3 Owner reports 7
2022-Q4 Owner reports 11
2023-Q1 Owner reports 12
2023-Q2 Owner reports 11
2023-Q3 Owner reports 7
2023-Q4 Owner reports 8
2024-Q1 Owner reports 4
2024-Q2 Owner reports 16
2024-Q3 Owner reports 9
2024-Q4 Owner reports 4
2025-Q1 Owner reports 3
2025-Q3 Owner reports 5
2025-Q4 Owner reports 11
2026-Q1 Owner reports 7
2026-Q2 Owner reports 6
2026-Q3 Owner reports 5
Recall campaign 1 24V146000
Recall campaign 1 26V307000
Defect investigation 1 DP21003
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 24V146000

    Report date
    Component:
    LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
    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.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 26V307000

    Report date
    Component:
    AIR BAGS
    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.
    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 289 complaints · page 1 of 12

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