2009 Hyundai Elantra problems
Owners have filed 324 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Hyundai Elantra. Steering is the most reported problem area, at 42% of complaints. After that come air bags (13%) and brakes (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 324 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 42% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 39 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 29 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 78,000 miles 236 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 | 22 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 32 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 30 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 41 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 47 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 29 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 11 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 8 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Among the 236 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 78,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 79,000 miles (108 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 39 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 29 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 82% 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 2009 ranks 25th most-complained-about out of 34 model years of the Hyundai Elantra with enough data (103 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 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.
Couldn't stop in time to avoid rearend collision my hyundai elantra 09 airbag did not deploy ,the front clip was totaled. Hyundi should be held liable for my injuries which is severe neck and back pain. I need some advice on how to proceed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 hyundai elantra. While driving 55 MPH, the steering wheel became loose and the contact lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle spun around and crashed into a median on the driver side and struck a guardrail. A police report was filed. The driver sustained injuries to the head and ribs. The front passenger sustained chest pains. The driver and the passenger both received medical treatment. The vehicle was towed to a collision center. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed.
While driving on the freeway, I tried to steer off to the left to avoid a car from hitting me from the right. This LED to the steering wheel locking and the car spinning out. I tried to get control of the wheel but could not. The car continued to spin until it crashed into the guard railing, smashing the right side and right front. The right front wheel was dented into the car making it undriveable.
Airbag warning light on the dash came on, was reset, and came back on constantly and reported to likely not work properly. It's expected to cost almost $2000 to replace. This began to happen only when I was driving and now is constant. Now it's essentially unsafe for anyone to sit in my front passenger seat. In addition, my tire pressure monitoring light has also come on constantly and the dealer has reportedly attempted to replace and reset and switch out the monitors in all of the tires and that indicator light…