1998 Hyundai Elantra — Known Issues & Recalls

While driving on the highway at 65 mph, your Elantra's engine suddenly died and the car came to a complete stop. You believe the shifter accidentally moved into Neutral when you reached for the radio, causing the engine to rev very high, which then caused the vacuum system to fail and your power brakes to lose effectiveness. The shifter lacks a lock mechanism between Neutral and Drive, making it easy to bump into Neutral unintentionally. Fixing this would likely involve installing a shifter lock mechanism or having the transmission and vacuum system inspected and repaired.

Your car suddenly jerks to almost a complete stop without warning at random times and speeds, even when the check engine light isn't on — as if the emergency brake was pulled. This happens unpredictably during driving and has made the vehicle unsafe to drive above 20 mph. The transmission or related drivetrain components may need inspection or replacement to resolve the sudden braking issue.

Your transmission is failing and needs complete replacement at 77,000 miles. You may experience hesitation or the car getting stuck in gear during heavy traffic, which creates a safety risk, especially with children in the vehicle. The dealership misrepresented the warranty coverage to you. A complete transmission replacement will be necessary to resolve this issue.

Your transmission is downshifting and causing the engine to rev up unexpectedly. When you shift into Reverse, you're then usually able to select Forward gear again. Sometimes when you press the gas pedal, the engine and transmission will just idle and rev without properly engaging. The transmission may need internal inspection or fluid service to address the shifting issues.

Your transmission has failed at 74,000 miles. You've lost reverse gear and the transmission slips out of first gear while driving. This is a serious drivability issue that will require professional transmission service or replacement.

Your automatic transmission failed completely at 72,000 miles and needed to be replaced. This is a major breakdown that would leave your car unable to drive. The transmission likely needs to be rebuilt or replaced with a new or remanufactured unit.

Your transmission was replaced during service. This typically indicates a significant transmission failure or malfunction occurred that required complete replacement rather than repair.

Your car's overdrive function stopped working completely. Even after the dealer rebuilt the transmission four separate times, the overdrive problem keeps coming back. This suggests a persistent issue that may require further diagnosis beyond standard transmission rebuild procedures.

Your car's interior door latch has broken multiple times, forcing you to roll down the window to exit the vehicle. When the weather is cold and windows freeze, you become trapped inside with no way to get out. This creates a serious safety concern in an emergency situation.

Your car's interior door latches are breaking easily and may prevent you from being able to open the doors to exit the vehicle. This is a safety concern since you need to be able to get out of your car reliably. The latches may need to be replaced, as yours have already required replacement once before.

Your door locks won't open from inside the vehicle, forcing you to roll down the window and open the door from outside instead. This makes it difficult to exit your car normally and could be a safety concern in an emergency. The fix will likely involve inspecting and repairing or replacing the internal door lock mechanism or linkage.

You purchased Firestone Supreme tires and experienced tread separation on all eight tires across two vehicles at different times. The eighth tire failure resulted in a crash that injured your child and totaled the vehicle. The manufacturer initially denied your warranty claim on the eighth tire, claiming it was due to under-inflation rather than a defect, even though the tire had been previously repaired by their authorized service center. Resolving this will likely require pursuing the warranty claim through the manufacturer or seeking legal counsel regarding the injury claim.

While driving at about 63 mph, the rubber on your left front tire started peeling away from the tire structure. The tire didn't go flat, but the peeling rubber caused damage to your left front fender and side molding. This issue may require replacing the tire and repairing the damaged body panels.

Your rear view mirror unexpectedly popped out of its mounting, struck you, and contributed to a collision. You should contact your dealer to have the mirror bracket and mounting hardware inspected and repaired to prevent this from happening again.

When you applied the brakes, your vehicle continued moving forward and hit another car. Additionally, the airbags did not deploy during the collision. This indicates potential failures in both your brake system and airbag safety system that require immediate inspection.

Your car was in a front-end collision at 15-20 mph, but neither the driver nor passenger airbags deployed when they should have. This is a serious safety issue since airbags are designed to protect you in exactly this type of crash. The dealer and manufacturer have not been notified yet. Resolving this will likely require a diagnostic scan of the airbag system and possible replacement of the airbag control module or sensors.

Your car's gas tank won't fill properly — gasoline immediately spills out when you try to pump fuel into it. You've taken the vehicle to multiple mechanics, but each one identified a different cause and none of their repairs have fixed the problem.

Your car has stalled (shut off completely) seven times while driving at 20-40 mph, and each time it felt like the brakes were being applied very hard. This hasn't been diagnosed by a dealer yet. The stalling could be caused by a fuel delivery issue, ignition system problem, or engine sensor malfunction that needs professional diagnosis and repair.

Your car's brakes were replaced. No additional details about the nature of the brake problem were provided in this report.

Your driver's side door handle broke, and you had to roll down the window to get out of the vehicle. This makes it difficult to open the door normally from inside.