2009 Hyundai Elantra
This year drew an ordinary 282 complaints for a Hyundai Elantra — the model's median is 260. What they were about is the unusual part: 47.5% of them mention steering, against 17.1% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Hyundai Elantra, which began in 2007 and ran to 2010. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 282 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 260 |
| Involving a crash | 28 |
| Involving a fire | 11 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 27.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- steering — 47.5% of this year's complaints, against 17.1% across the other years of this generation (2.8×).
- eps — 29.4% of this year's complaints, against 11.1% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: eps, eps light, eps warning, update.
- wheel — 20.9% of this year's complaints, against 6.7% across the other years of this generation (3.1×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE THE POWER STEERING SUDDENLY TURNS AND STAYS OFF UNTIL THE CAR IS TURNED OFF AND IS ALLOWED TO SIT FOR A WHILE (HOUR OR MORE). THIS MAY PUT ME IN DANGER. IT HAS HAPPENED A NUMBER OF TIMES. IF I AM TURNING OR DRIVING ON A CURVE (HIGHWAY…
On several occasions, starting in the Fall of 2023 and occurring most recently on 8/9/24, I observed my Elantra's red EPS warning light turn on, and the steering wheel became very "stiff" while driving. Power steering was instantly disabled, resulting in momen…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 20V061000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 15V100000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 13V113000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 11V143000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Elantra was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2009 Hyundai Elantra? What happened to yours?
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