CarComplaints.com Notes: So far the 2011 Elantra doesn't have the same volume of transmission problems that 2010 owners are fighting with. It also doesn't have the same pattern of steering and braking complaints that are piling up with the 2013 model year.
We're not saying the 2011 is perfect -- I mean, what were they thinking advertising their MPGs -- but there are worse choices.
I bought my Elantra late February 2011, they were first shipped over in December 2010 in the launched new model. I loved my car but in the second month I started noticing when I braked on occassion it would push back more than any other car I had an experience with, and it would produce a grinding noise shaking etc. I would ease on the break at a stop light or sign or have to stop quicker (but not slamming it) in work traffic and it would a second delay then sound like an anchor was dropped underneath bouncing off the pavement, I would have less control and I would lose a car length or more in stopping time when it was bad. The strangest part was this would happen on even flat dry roads in sunny spring weather at 10-40 mph speeds.
I was told this was normal abs. So I stayed silent another month. I later got a recall postcard in the mail that said to call the dealer but didn't say what was recalled, so I immediately called asking if it was the breaks. They said no, no recall on the breaks or abs this is a computer glitch, a quick fix in the shop and no urgency.
Not a month went by when I wasn't inquiring with someone about the brakes/abs. Each oil change I asked for it checked thinking maybe its the rotors or brake pads though strange with a new car. It was near impossible to get used to it kicking on but I managed to avoid many many close calls as the car would slip into an intersection or half a car length into a street (luckily not in front of a passing car).
It seemed to be getting worse and more frequent, but yet I couldn't make it happen. The closest I could get I found in the winter of 2011-2012 was when I was in snow and the abs was supposed to come on. A few passengers had been in the car when it acted up but never when I had anyone else try driving it including the dealership.
In 2012 it was happening not just a handful of times in a month but about that many per week. I could not figure out a connection other than braking, it was not road conditions (even sand or bumps) or weather/temperature or aggressive sudden stops. It happened year round. In late 2012 a tire blew out on the highway, I had it towed and asked for it to be replaced and I needed an inspection. I got a phone call that all four tires and rims needed to be replaced to pass inspection. Now my car was about a year old and I had a flat a few months prior and had replaced the tire so that was nuts, the rims were each a little scratched from parallel parking but that should have nothing to do with inspection. The woman on the phone repeated that I couldn't get a sticker without that and quotes $1200+. I went to the dealership with my father and inquired upset. The man said that the tread on two tires was a bit low, so they would need to be replaced also and that the firestone tire should be though new because allignment will be off if the tires are not all the same and I shouldn't do that to a new car. He apologized about the rims comment, said it was miscommunication, they do not need to be replaced for inspection but each was cosmetically not good as new so it was meant to be a recommendation.
Long story short, one rim was ruined by the shop in the attempt to get the tire out. So they replaced it with one that had only a tiny light scratch. I kept the firestone as a spare (since hyundai only give you foam). I got my inspection elsewhere because of hours, even though a tire light had come on after the tires were replaced but wasn't one when I left it there. It was a bit before I could get back to the dealership regarding the tire light.
It was actually battery failure that had me using 3 hyundai roadside assistance in the same weekend. And I had had to have my roommate jump it a week before that and a coworker did earlier that week. The respondant couldn't get it to jump after an extended effort, so I had it towed to the dealer since the battery couldn't be replaced in my driveway. The dealership gave it back to me and said the battery was tested and fine so wasn't replaced (friday) I missed most of my work day. Saturday I had a work event, but again my car wouldn't start so I called and said it needed to be towed because last time jumping failed. They said I used up my free roadside assistance. I argued that two of those times were Friday for the same issue which was obviously not corrected. Note: no lights were on when it died. The dealership found a problem with the ground wires and better secrued them so the battery issue was corrected. There was a failed attempt both times to correct get the tire light to stay off, I let them know on the phone that I would bring it back for the tire light that had now been on for months. And each time it was in the shop I mentioned the brakes/rotors/abs. Each time I was told they were fine. Yet it would even grind up parking in my driveway.
On a sunny summer day early evening on a straight dry back road going around 25 mph a pickup truck came to a stop due to traffic and I eased on my brake since I had more than enough space to stop, however the brakes violently repeatively pushed back at me, my foot had no effect on the pedal, and it grided it was slowing but barely more than it would just from taking your foot off the gas. I had maybe 4 car lengths to start. I could not reclaim control on the pedal and it did not stop. The tow on the truck pushed my head light through and the hood crunched up. The truck was fine but my car was badly banged up. Luckily there were no major injuries and I had gotten to under 10 when I made impact. It was tramatizing, I didn't even want the autobody work performed unless the brakes could be corrected. So I first had it go to the dealership which told me they couldn't touch it until the rest of the damage was corrected. So I reluctantly did that and brought it back.
The computer control steering column had produced an error code so that was replaced but nothing further connected to abs. The tire light was still on and they found that it was due to a problem with a wheel sensor that occured with the tire replacement there on the same wheel as the rim that was damaged during the removal. They also losen the plates connected with the braking to hopefully stop the grinding. But again they could not make the abs kick on while they had it. And suggested maybe it was a water bottle rolling under the seat making a griding noise. I said nooo, I have not had a water bottle under the seat since I bought it and you can feel it in the pedal and its very loud like metal against metal on pavement.
After this the overly violent push back never came back, though the abs still kicked on and the grinding still happened. I hit another car this time in rush hour traffic in the exit lane, when it came to a sudden stop it kicked up and luckily I just barely made contact with the car and it was fine just scuffed. I explained what happened with the breaks and my efforts to have it corrected but being told there wasn't a problem.
I called again and said I'd bring in the car but there wasn't a loaner available and the only plan was to keep it there a while and let them drive it until it did it. I had to wait until I could do with out a car.
The next week I got in another accident, this one initiated due to the temperature and intense sunlight at that angle hitting the windshield so I made an effort to stop. The brakes did the grinding so all at the same time, I got firm on the peddle desperately wanting it to stop since I couldn't see, hit the hazard light, and leaned forward trying to see around the whited out windshield in a panic with the delay. Stimutaneously the moving traffic infront of me got a crosswalk stop light and the long line of cars stopped very suddenly I bounced off the car infront of me hitting my chin on the steering wheel and immediately the whole bottom of my face swelled and felt numb. In park I first flipped the mirror down to see and blood rushed up and backwards over my teeth. I was terrified if I touched them it would fold over. There was so much pain and numbness. I hoped out holding my face the other driver was fine the back had damage and mine wasn't that bad. She came with me in the ambulance to be checked. It turned out it torn the tissue that crossed from the gums to the chin so there was a good sized hole straight down, I've had a bump still healing on my face since and my smile is still lopsided.
This time I needed to talk to corporate, not fixing it because it looks fine wasn't ok anymore. This was a 3rd accident in 45 days. When I was off pain killers and drove to the hospital to remove stitches I was in tears feeling like I was going to die before I got there as the brakes did it twice once at a stop sign and once into an intersection at a light. I got a claim number from Hyundai, then a car hit me (with no relation to the brakes) the next week. Before it went in the shop for light bumper damage I wanted the dealership to take the car back, they only had a loaner the following week so I made an appointment. However it happened to snow the next day and I was not able to stop at any point the abs, seemed to significantly handicap my ability at every street end so I took it to a parking lot and tried it with my phone turned on in video mode to record the very loud sound. It was not a feeling of sliding, it was the same delayed anchor brake feeling which seemed to double the stopping time it almost seemed like my car would get a brake cramp. I had to miss work knowing it was too risky. I made an appointment to have someone drive it with me in these conditions to at least see what it does on dry roads also. Unfortunately it was raining by appointment time and slush or snow was hard to find. We found one lot that did it at a lesser degree. But was still noisy just less so. I was told that is what is supposed to do, that all the hyundai cars make that really loud grinding nose with the abs. In the lot there was not significant braking delay. They agreed that regardless that should not happen on normal dry roads with out bumps. But after reviewing that there was no error codes they said there was nothing they could do, even if they witnessed it do it on a dry road with the failure.
I was fighting tears and asked so what do I do now. This is dangerous I don't want to lose my life trying to sort this problem with the car out, its a liability to me also, so I'm doing all I can to get help with it and no one can do anything.
He told me to call corporate and see what they suggest and they were happy to help if they were instructed how to.
I left and got a rental, I was not going to drive that car. Them saying there's no error code didn't mean the car was safe, the error code was the bump in my chin and my crooked smile. And the fact that I had complained since I bought it and it was obviously getting worse.
I fully believe I got a lemon, there was too many failures in the first 22 months of the car. My guess is that they rushed the orders because it was already December 2010 and the 2011's hadn't been released and maybe mine slipped by. But I don't think it is fair that now when financing is harder and I can't get into another car easily I'm stuck playing hyundai elantra newer models test dummy each time they tell me it looks fine. If they can't find or fix this they need to replace it. But if they stand by that their abs is supposed to do that like it does on the snow even, I want nothing to do with it. I've never driven a car with such awful abs responses. Nothing even close. I am tramatized (feeling like anytime I stop it may or may not work right), literally hurt, my work has been affected, and am frustrated.
Please beware if you have one of the elantras 2011 or after. If you experience violent push backs (abnormal to other abs) on dry roads particularly. Trying to leave extra room to stop will not always be enough if it keeps getting worse and inconsistent, if you live in or near a city or drive in traffic cars will fill in that extra space and if it fails it can get back. I avoided soooo many accidents some per my response to gain control, leave more space, drive 10 and 2. And often by luck that cars were not heading towards me when the front end of my car would have been in its path, or that there wasn't traffic when it happened.
There were many things I liked about the car, none of them matter when its that much work to survive driving it!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I bought my Elantra late February 2011, they were first shipped over in December 2010 in the launched new model. I loved my car but in the second month I started noticing when I braked on occassion it would push back more than any other car I had an experience with, and it would produce a grinding noise shaking etc. I would ease on the break at a stop light or sign or have to stop quicker (but not slamming it) in work traffic and it would a second delay then sound like an anchor was dropped underneath bouncing off the pavement, I would have less control and I would lose a car length or more in stopping time when it was bad. The strangest part was this would happen on even flat dry roads in sunny spring weather at 10-40 mph speeds.
I was told this was normal abs. So I stayed silent another month. I later got a recall postcard in the mail that said to call the dealer but didn't say what was recalled, so I immediately called asking if it was the breaks. They said no, no recall on the breaks or abs this is a computer glitch, a quick fix in the shop and no urgency.
Not a month went by when I wasn't inquiring with someone about the brakes/abs. Each oil change I asked for it checked thinking maybe its the rotors or brake pads though strange with a new car. It was near impossible to get used to it kicking on but I managed to avoid many many close calls as the car would slip into an intersection or half a car length into a street (luckily not in front of a passing car).
It seemed to be getting worse and more frequent, but yet I couldn't make it happen. The closest I could get I found in the winter of 2011-2012 was when I was in snow and the abs was supposed to come on. A few passengers had been in the car when it acted up but never when I had anyone else try driving it including the dealership.
In 2012 it was happening not just a handful of times in a month but about that many per week. I could not figure out a connection other than braking, it was not road conditions (even sand or bumps) or weather/temperature or aggressive sudden stops. It happened year round. In late 2012 a tire blew out on the highway, I had it towed and asked for it to be replaced and I needed an inspection. I got a phone call that all four tires and rims needed to be replaced to pass inspection. Now my car was about a year old and I had a flat a few months prior and had replaced the tire so that was nuts, the rims were each a little scratched from parallel parking but that should have nothing to do with inspection. The woman on the phone repeated that I couldn't get a sticker without that and quotes $1200+. I went to the dealership with my father and inquired upset. The man said that the tread on two tires was a bit low, so they would need to be replaced also and that the firestone tire should be though new because allignment will be off if the tires are not all the same and I shouldn't do that to a new car. He apologized about the rims comment, said it was miscommunication, they do not need to be replaced for inspection but each was cosmetically not good as new so it was meant to be a recommendation.
Long story short, one rim was ruined by the shop in the attempt to get the tire out. So they replaced it with one that had only a tiny light scratch. I kept the firestone as a spare (since hyundai only give you foam). I got my inspection elsewhere because of hours, even though a tire light had come on after the tires were replaced but wasn't one when I left it there. It was a bit before I could get back to the dealership regarding the tire light.
It was actually battery failure that had me using 3 hyundai roadside assistance in the same weekend. And I had had to have my roommate jump it a week before that and a coworker did earlier that week. The respondant couldn't get it to jump after an extended effort, so I had it towed to the dealer since the battery couldn't be replaced in my driveway. The dealership gave it back to me and said the battery was tested and fine so wasn't replaced (friday) I missed most of my work day. Saturday I had a work event, but again my car wouldn't start so I called and said it needed to be towed because last time jumping failed. They said I used up my free roadside assistance. I argued that two of those times were Friday for the same issue which was obviously not corrected. Note: no lights were on when it died. The dealership found a problem with the ground wires and better secrued them so the battery issue was corrected. There was a failed attempt both times to correct get the tire light to stay off, I let them know on the phone that I would bring it back for the tire light that had now been on for months. And each time it was in the shop I mentioned the brakes/rotors/abs. Each time I was told they were fine. Yet it would even grind up parking in my driveway.
On a sunny summer day early evening on a straight dry back road going around 25 mph a pickup truck came to a stop due to traffic and I eased on my brake since I had more than enough space to stop, however the brakes violently repeatively pushed back at me, my foot had no effect on the pedal, and it grided it was slowing but barely more than it would just from taking your foot off the gas. I had maybe 4 car lengths to start. I could not reclaim control on the pedal and it did not stop. The tow on the truck pushed my head light through and the hood crunched up. The truck was fine but my car was badly banged up. Luckily there were no major injuries and I had gotten to under 10 when I made impact. It was tramatizing, I didn't even want the autobody work performed unless the brakes could be corrected. So I first had it go to the dealership which told me they couldn't touch it until the rest of the damage was corrected. So I reluctantly did that and brought it back.
The computer control steering column had produced an error code so that was replaced but nothing further connected to abs. The tire light was still on and they found that it was due to a problem with a wheel sensor that occured with the tire replacement there on the same wheel as the rim that was damaged during the removal. They also losen the plates connected with the braking to hopefully stop the grinding. But again they could not make the abs kick on while they had it. And suggested maybe it was a water bottle rolling under the seat making a griding noise. I said nooo, I have not had a water bottle under the seat since I bought it and you can feel it in the pedal and its very loud like metal against metal on pavement.
After this the overly violent push back never came back, though the abs still kicked on and the grinding still happened. I hit another car this time in rush hour traffic in the exit lane, when it came to a sudden stop it kicked up and luckily I just barely made contact with the car and it was fine just scuffed. I explained what happened with the breaks and my efforts to have it corrected but being told there wasn't a problem.
I called again and said I'd bring in the car but there wasn't a loaner available and the only plan was to keep it there a while and let them drive it until it did it. I had to wait until I could do with out a car.
The next week I got in another accident, this one initiated due to the temperature and intense sunlight at that angle hitting the windshield so I made an effort to stop. The brakes did the grinding so all at the same time, I got firm on the peddle desperately wanting it to stop since I couldn't see, hit the hazard light, and leaned forward trying to see around the whited out windshield in a panic with the delay. Stimutaneously the moving traffic infront of me got a crosswalk stop light and the long line of cars stopped very suddenly I bounced off the car infront of me hitting my chin on the steering wheel and immediately the whole bottom of my face swelled and felt numb. In park I first flipped the mirror down to see and blood rushed up and backwards over my teeth. I was terrified if I touched them it would fold over. There was so much pain and numbness. I hoped out holding my face the other driver was fine the back had damage and mine wasn't that bad. She came with me in the ambulance to be checked. It turned out it torn the tissue that crossed from the gums to the chin so there was a good sized hole straight down, I've had a bump still healing on my face since and my smile is still lopsided.
This time I needed to talk to corporate, not fixing it because it looks fine wasn't ok anymore. This was a 3rd accident in 45 days. When I was off pain killers and drove to the hospital to remove stitches I was in tears feeling like I was going to die before I got there as the brakes did it twice once at a stop sign and once into an intersection at a light. I got a claim number from Hyundai, then a car hit me (with no relation to the brakes) the next week. Before it went in the shop for light bumper damage I wanted the dealership to take the car back, they only had a loaner the following week so I made an appointment. However it happened to snow the next day and I was not able to stop at any point the abs, seemed to significantly handicap my ability at every street end so I took it to a parking lot and tried it with my phone turned on in video mode to record the very loud sound. It was not a feeling of sliding, it was the same delayed anchor brake feeling which seemed to double the stopping time it almost seemed like my car would get a brake cramp. I had to miss work knowing it was too risky. I made an appointment to have someone drive it with me in these conditions to at least see what it does on dry roads also. Unfortunately it was raining by appointment time and slush or snow was hard to find. We found one lot that did it at a lesser degree. But was still noisy just less so. I was told that is what is supposed to do, that all the hyundai cars make that really loud grinding nose with the abs. In the lot there was not significant braking delay. They agreed that regardless that should not happen on normal dry roads with out bumps. But after reviewing that there was no error codes they said there was nothing they could do, even if they witnessed it do it on a dry road with the failure.
I was fighting tears and asked so what do I do now. This is dangerous I don't want to lose my life trying to sort this problem with the car out, its a liability to me also, so I'm doing all I can to get help with it and no one can do anything.
He told me to call corporate and see what they suggest and they were happy to help if they were instructed how to.
I left and got a rental, I was not going to drive that car. Them saying there's no error code didn't mean the car was safe, the error code was the bump in my chin and my crooked smile. And the fact that I had complained since I bought it and it was obviously getting worse.
I fully believe I got a lemon, there was too many failures in the first 22 months of the car. My guess is that they rushed the orders because it was already December 2010 and the 2011's hadn't been released and maybe mine slipped by. But I don't think it is fair that now when financing is harder and I can't get into another car easily I'm stuck playing hyundai elantra newer models test dummy each time they tell me it looks fine. If they can't find or fix this they need to replace it. But if they stand by that their abs is supposed to do that like it does on the snow even, I want nothing to do with it. I've never driven a car with such awful abs responses. Nothing even close. I am tramatized (feeling like anytime I stop it may or may not work right), literally hurt, my work has been affected, and am frustrated.
Please beware if you have one of the elantras 2011 or after. If you experience violent push backs (abnormal to other abs) on dry roads particularly. Trying to leave extra room to stop will not always be enough if it keeps getting worse and inconsistent, if you live in or near a city or drive in traffic cars will fill in that extra space and if it fails it can get back. I avoided soooo many accidents some per my response to gain control, leave more space, drive 10 and 2. And often by luck that cars were not heading towards me when the front end of my car would have been in its path, or that there wasn't traffic when it happened.
There were many things I liked about the car, none of them matter when its that much work to survive driving it!
- Nicole D., Quincy, MA, US