2004 Hyundai Elantra problems
Owners have filed 209 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Hyundai Elantra. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 56% of complaints. After that come engine (7%) and seat belts (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 209 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 56% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 32 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 34 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 31,000 miles 131 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 58 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 18 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 12 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 131 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 31,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 17,000 miles (69 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 32 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 34 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 85% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 20th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Hyundai Elantra with enough data (145 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Tl* the contact owned a 2004 hyundai elantra. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and seized without warning and the steering wheel seized. As a result, the vehicle crashed into another vehicle, sideswiped a tree, and crashed into a small ditch. The driver sustained lacerations to the liver. The front seat passenger suffered severe injuries to the left leg and sustained a fractured collar bone.
2004 hyundai elantra seat belts broke. The vehicle was hit by another vehicle and the air bags failed to deploy. The seat belts broke and tore out. Another vehicle hit the consumer head on. The drivers side passenger front bumper sensor was inoperative.
The air bag seat sensor kept showing no passenger in the seat, which indicated the air bag will not deploy in an accident. Manufacturer stated the consumer should make contact to have the bag deactivated. Consumer did not wish to have this done.
Sudden acceleration incident I am the son of the car owner. I was driving the car. The incident occurred about 8:30 am on june 17, 2010, in bethesda, md. I was exiting the giant food parking lot and stopped for traffic along old georgetown road. The car stopped but then all of a sudden inched ahead. I pushed down harder on the brake; heard the engine racing; saw the tachometer go past 6000 rpms. I immediately put the transmission in neutral. The engine was still racing. I turned off the car.