2008 Hyundai Elantra problems
Owners have filed 424 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 Hyundai Elantra. Steering is the most reported problem area, at 13% of complaints. After that come brakes (12%) and fuel system (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 424 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 13% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 57 and 39
- Injuries and deaths
- 66 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 55,000 miles 344 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 | 97 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 48 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 34 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 40 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 33 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 21 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 28 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 18 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 7 |
| 200k+ miles | 8 |
What the data shows
Among the 344 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 55,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 71,000 miles (48 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 57 complaints mention a crash; 39 complaints mention a fire; 66 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 92% 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 2008 ranks 10th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Hyundai Elantra with enough data (227 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 7 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.
Leaving the parking lot at walgreen in tonawanda,ny. I was backing out with my foot on the brake. Putting the car in drive.the car leaped into a very high accelerated speed like a jet with the engine racing. The brake did not help. The car hit the barrier between the sidewalk and the store and the engine burst into flames.the distance was only a matter of yards.the airbags and seat belt kept me from going thru the windshield the force of the crash totaled the car.
The vehicle was in an accident where the auto cartwheeled, hit a telephone pole, and landed upside down. Not a single airbag deployed.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 hyundai elantra. While driving 65 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle began to jump when the cruise control was deactivated. The contact did not apply any pressure to the brake pedal. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and the contact shut it off. The vehicle was able to be restarted, but when he released the clutch to place the vehicle in first gear, it would stall.
Recall for undercoating done jan. 2016 (tt1). On 11/1/17, while driving on a town road, the rear right trailing arm fell off causing the car to swerve abruptly off the road due to extreme rust on the sub frame. This also happened with my 2002 santa fe and was covered under the salt belt corrosion class action settlement. Hyundai is aware there is still a problem, but the undercoating recall does not work and this is still a safety hazard. My car was towed to a repair facility on nov.