2016 Hyundai Elantra Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: January 13, 2025 · Filed: October 1, 2026

I am reporting a recall remedy failure involving my 2016 Hyundai Elantra under Hyundai Recall 256 / NHTSA Recall 24V‑146 (trunk latch pawl defect). The McCarthy Olathe Hyundai dealership in Olathe, KS marked the recall as “completed,” but the trunk latch still does not open and the defect persists exactly as described in the recall notice. After the recall was marked complete, I returned to the dealership because the trunk still would not open. The dealership told me the issue was “trunk lid damage” from a prior accident and advised me to replace the trunk lid at my own expense. I paid for the trunk lid replacement, but the trunk still did not function. When I returned again, the dealership changed their explanation and said the problem was actually “rear frame damage,” and that they had been wrong to tell me to replace the trunk lid. Which I have audio recordings of but am unable to upload due to format restrictions. Despite these conflicting explanations, the recall defect remains unresolved, and I have been without trunk access for over a year. I contacted Hyundai Corporate (MyHyundai USA), but they responded that this was “not a part issue covered under warranty.” This appears to be a misunderstanding, because this is not a warranty claim — it is a recall remedy failure. The recall was marked complete even though the defect persists, and the dealership’s misdiagnosis led me to pay for repairs that did not address the recall defect. This situation has caused financial loss, safety concerns, and prolonged inability to access the trunk, spare tire, emergency equipment, and cargo space. I am requesting NHTSA to document this recall remedy failure and dealership misdiagnosis.

Incident: May 1, 2026 · Filed: August 29, 2026

The motor started to make a ticking noise 5 months earlier. 5 months later at 180,000 miles a borascope finding, reveled all 4 cylinder walls were worn related to cylinder slap. Called Hyundai dealership and was told ithe car is too old and the milage too high for a warranty coverage.

Incident: April 6, 2026 · Filed: August 29, 2026

Vehicle stalls while driving which is very dangerous. All dashboard lights go on prior to stalling. No engine light is on. Knocking sound coming from engine. Dealer states engine needs to be replaced. Car has been serviced regularly despite that Hyundai denies engine replacement. The knocking sound that engine does is common between this model and year but mysteriously there has not been engine recalls.

Incident: March 3, 2025 · Filed: July 25, 2026

P0420 P0441 P0014 P1326 C1260 C1688 C2130 These are the codes that's affecting my car

Incident: June 25, 2026 · Filed: July 16, 2026

Engine burned oil and had knocking sound, despite having regular oil changes. Stalked out while driving took to dealer initial said it was covered by the exerted coverage but ultimately denied. It had 111,000 miles on it. I believe this engine has the same issues as the others.

Incident: July 11, 2026 · Filed: July 14, 2026

The oil light & check engine started flashing. Took it to the auto shop. The mechanic stated that the oil level is very low and the engine has a bad lower-end knock. Removed the oil filter and found metal debris in the oil. No oil leaks were found under the vehicle at all. Oil is being burned out through the exhaust. The vehicle needs an the ngine replacement.

Incident: June 10, 2026 · Filed: July 10, 2026

Transmission P0731 code. Vehicle will not shift into 1st gear when idle but will stay in 3 or 4 gear. Speedometer would indicate high speed when pressing on accelerator. At traffic light when light turn green car rev but would not shift into gear. Has only 130K miles. Car was towed to dealer and required a new transmission.

Incident: July 7, 2026 · Filed: July 8, 2026

2016 Hyundai Elantra (75k miles) experiences severe, un-commanded Loss of Propulsive Power and a Severe Drivetrain Instability Hazard. At steady highway speeds, the automatic transmission completely loses hydraulic pressure, slips out of gear, and unexpectedly drops into a temporary "neutral." The engine suddenly revs up to high RPM on its own while losing all forward acceleration. After coasting helplessly, it violently slams back into gear, causing the vehicle to lurch forward. This also happens from a complete stop.The vehicle's OBD-II system fails to illuminate the Check Engine Light or store fault codes during these flares, providing zero warning before a loss of propulsion.This dangerous transmission slipping has occurred intermittently for several years. I repeatedly took it to an authorized Hyundai dealership to address this crash hazard. Because there was no active Check Engine Light, the dealership dismissed my concerns, refused to document it, and sent me away without a diagnosis. Recently, the service department acted in bad faith by misrepresenting my warranty terms (falsely claiming it was only 7 years) and refusing a live-data diagnostic scan. The bad faith dealership was Murdock Hyundai of Murray in [XXX], specifically the service manager Tyler as well as Krateton. The car is a verified vehicle under the Hyundai Nu 1.8L Piston Slap Class Action Settlement (TXXK Campaign). An official safety escalation case is open with Hyundai Motor America under my corporate case number XXX. I request a federal safety investigation into premature transmission pressure failure in 2016 Elantras, as this vehicle is entirely unsafe to operate. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident: March 1, 2023 · Filed: June 25, 2026

My driver side window has not been working for almost 3 years now. I have taken it to 4 mechanics and they fix it but only last a couple days. They have all say they can’t really do anything about it since they need an original piece. My AC is another issue I have that I have tried fixing 3 times now. The same issue happens they fix it and it last about a week or so. The longest it has lasted was 2 weeks. The mechanics each say it needs a new compressor and I’ve bought 3 new compressor already. I’m not sure what to do anymore.

Incident: June 8, 2025 · Filed: June 14, 2026

The car turns off while driving it without warning or anything. Place where I got it don’t want to fix it