2018 HYUNDAI ELANTRA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 278 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: ENGINE (101 complaints · 36.3%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 12
  • Fires 7
  • Injuries 6
  • Deaths 1
Compare with 2017 →
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 101 of 278 owner complaints (36.3%) in this vehicle snapshot. ENGINE: 101 complaints, 36.3% of reports ENGINE 101 · 36.3% · 2 crash reports 7 fire reports FUEL SYSTEM: 16 complaints, 5.8% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 16 · 5.8% · 1 crash reports POWER TRAIN: 14 complaints, 5.0% of reports POWER TRAIN 14 · 5.0% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 13 complaints, 4.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 13 · 4.7% · 1 crash reports STEERING: 13 complaints, 4.7% of reports STEERING 13 · 4.7% EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 12 complaints, 4.3% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 · 4.3% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 11 complaints, 4.0% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 · 4.0% AIR BAGS: 10 complaints, 3.6% of reports AIR BAGS 10 · 3.6% · 6 crash reports STRUCTURE: 10 complaints, 3.6% of reports STRUCTURE 10 · 3.6% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 74 complaints, 26.6% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 74 · 26.6% · 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 101 36.3% 2 crashes · 7 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 16 5.8% 1 crashes · 0 fires
POWER TRAIN 14 5.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 13 4.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
STEERING 13 4.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 12 4.3% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 10 3.6% 6 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 10 3.6% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 74 26.6% 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 Jan 2018. 2018-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2018-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2018-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2018-Q4: 11 owner reports 11 2019-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2019-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2019-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2019-Q4: 3 owner reports 3 2020-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 2020-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 2020-Q4: 5 owner reports 5 2021-Q1: 4 owner reports 4 2021-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2021-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2021-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 2022-Q1: 10 owner reports 10 2022-Q2: 19 owner reports 19 2022-Q3: 14 owner reports 14 2022-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2023-Q1: 8 owner reports 8 2023-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2023-Q3: 16 owner reports 16 2023-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 2024-Q1: 14 owner reports 14 2024-Q2: 11 owner reports 11 2024-Q3: 8 owner reports 8 2024-Q4: 7 owner reports 7 2025-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2025-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2025-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2025-Q4: 13 owner reports 13 2026-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 2026-Q2: 10 owner reports 10 2026-Q3: 6 owner reports 6 Owner reports Jan 2018 Jul 2026
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2018-Q1 Owner reports 3
2018-Q2 Owner reports 6
2018-Q3 Owner reports 5
2018-Q4 Owner reports 11
2019-Q1 Owner reports 3
2019-Q2 Owner reports 10
2019-Q3 Owner reports 5
2019-Q4 Owner reports 3
2020-Q1 Owner reports 5
2020-Q2 Owner reports 4
2020-Q3 Owner reports 5
2020-Q4 Owner reports 5
2021-Q1 Owner reports 4
2021-Q2 Owner reports 10
2021-Q3 Owner reports 4
2021-Q4 Owner reports 8
2022-Q1 Owner reports 10
2022-Q2 Owner reports 19
2022-Q3 Owner reports 14
2022-Q4 Owner reports 7
2023-Q1 Owner reports 8
2023-Q2 Owner reports 11
2023-Q3 Owner reports 16
2023-Q4 Owner reports 4
2024-Q1 Owner reports 14
2024-Q2 Owner reports 11
2024-Q3 Owner reports 8
2024-Q4 Owner reports 7
2025-Q1 Owner reports 6
2025-Q2 Owner reports 10
2025-Q3 Owner reports 7
2025-Q4 Owner reports 13
2026-Q1 Owner reports 6
2026-Q2 Owner reports 10
2026-Q3 Owner reports 6
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA 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.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot Aug 21, 2026
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 278 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 Aug 21, 2026
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