Purchased the Elantra on June 16, 2012 at Colonial Hyundai in Downingtown, PA. The buying experience went great. Whatever we asked for the response was always positive. We left with a nice vehicle and in good spirits about the vehicle. Around June 26, I had to brake hard when someone cut me off and I heard a loud 'grinding' sound coming from the front brakes. Mostly on the passenger side. I have been driving police cars for 31 years and I know the sound of metal on metal and that is the sound I heard. Thinking it was just an anomaly, I let it go until I had time to test the vehicle properly. That weekend, I took the car to the back roads and went through a series of braking maneuvers. During normal braking, there was no sound but at any 'hard' braking situation I presented, that loud grinding could be heard. I scheduled a visit to my dealer to have the problem checked.

On July 9, 2012, the car was checked. the techs notes follow:

"Lub brake linings. No problem found."

I took the car and the noise did seem to be not as loud as before but was still present. As time progressed, the grinding returned and even got louder. On August 15, 2012, I took the vehicle back to the dealer and insisted that a tech ride with me so I could demonstrate how the brake sound manifests itself. I conducted one hard brake and the tech was surprised at the intensity of the sound. He said the car would need to be checked to see what was causing the sound in more detail. I did not have time to leave the car that day.

Between that day and the day I took it back, August 25, I had been in contact with my salesman expressing my concerns with the brakes. I had an idea and heard that they were planning on resurfacing the rotors as an attempted 'fix'. I expressed my thoughts at this possibility due to the fact that the car was new and therefore should be receiving new parts. To resurface the rotors cuts at least 25,000 miles of usage from those rotors and I will be, in a sense, have 'used; rotors on my new car. He said he would check on what the Service Department planned and get back with me. He called later in the day and said they were not planning on resurfacing the rotors but he was unsure as to what they were actually going to do.

On August 25, 2012, I took the car in and left it for the day so they could take their time and do what they needed to do to fix the brakes. When I picked the car up, I read on the service invoice where they had 'resurfaced' both front rotors. I asked to speak to the Service manager. He explained that the 'fix' that had been done was approved and that 'new rotors' was not at this time. I asked him if the rotor life was now diminished due to resurfacing and he said, reluctantly, yes they were. I told him I wished to speak to the General Manager because I bought the car new and the defect was in the part and therefore a 'New' part should have been placed on the car and not a 'resurfaced' part. He stated the GM was not in and would not be in until Monday. I informed that I would not sign the invoice nor take the car until this issue was resolved.

On Monday, August 27, 2012 I received a call from the GM. He stated that they had contacted Hyundai Motor America and the 'fix' they had used was approved by them and that nothing else, including replacement of the rotors would be done. I stated that that was not satisfactory and wished to pursue the matter with Hyundai America. He gave me the following number: 1-800-633-5151.

On that same day, I called that number and spoke to a representative of Hyundai Motor America and filed a complaint against the dealership for the service. I was later called by a Case Manager who stated he would be looking into the case.

On August 28, my Case Manager called and informed me that the dealer was correct in what they had done to 'fix' the problem since it had been approved by Hyundai Motor America and that the case was closed. He informed me that my next step would be to follow the instructions in the back of the owners manual to file for arbitration in the matter.

That is my next step. Since then I have checked with three independent auto mechanics who have all been shocked at the 'fix' Hyundai used on a new vehicle. They all stated the rotors should have been replaced and the pads changed since the rotors would have obviously affected the pads.

My stance on the matter has always been the same. I bought a new car with a defective part. The part should be replaced with one that is not defective. Resurfacing the rotors has cut their life by 25,000 miles or less and I essentially have a 'used' part on my car now. When the rotor wears down now there may not be enough surface left to resurface next time and I will end up having to purchase NEW ones!

In my opinion, Hyundai sees that this is a problem that will be getting worse as more 2013 Elantras get out in the market and they are attempting to conduct this quick fix to save money instead of replacing rotors.

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK YOUR SERVICE DEPARTMENT INVOICE IF YOU TAKE YOUR CAR IN TO HAVE THE BRAKES FIXED. THEY MAY RESURFACE YOUR BRAKES AS WELL. DEMAND NEW ROTORS!

I bought my new Elantra one week before the problem started. Someone cut in front of me while driving and I had to brake quickly. As the car had to come to a near stop, the right (passenger) brake made a metal to metal grinding type noise near the end of the braking time. The roads were dry. I was able to recreate the sound several times over the next 2 days so took it back to the dealer for a check up. They said the brakes were fine and had a bit of glaze on them from sitting in the lot. They removed it and said there should be no more noise. Yesterday, the noise was back and today it was even worse. Now it is there even when doing regular braking from normal speeds coming up to stop signs. I am disturbed by all of the reports from others with this exact same car and exact same problem. Has anyone had a fix done that actually solved the issue? It sounds exactly like the bad brakes on my last car did when the brakes 'stuck' after a repair and ended up wearing down very quickly so the pads were worn right through. This car doesn't even have a thousand miles on it yet!

Update from Aug 19, 2012: Today, the grinding was really bad even when light braking. I decided to look and see if I could see anything unusual with the brakes, comparing them to the other 3 wheels. There is a whole section of the rotor visibly missing! 3/8" deep by at least 6 to 7 inches long completely gone off of the top outside edge of the rotor! I have left a message at the dealership service department and the car is going in tomorrow. The rotors are obviously bad. I am not a heavy-footed braker and there has been nothing that has happened that could cause this damage except poor quality rotors that are not even up to regular easy driving day to day use. I will update again after the service work.

When braking there is a heavy grinding noise from the front of the car. Sounds like metal rubbing metal on the brakes. If braking heavy there is some vibration through the steering wheel or body frame but not the same vibration feel if one had ABS installed. I loved the 2010 Elantra. The quality of the car and service of Hyundai made me a believer to buy the 2013 model but I can't see keeping this car for the long term with this issue that even the service department doesn't know what to do with.

I have had problems since day one of buying this car. First, tire had a nail but wasn't noticed until we drove it off the lot. We didn't have tire insurance so there was nothing we could do about that. Now, the brakes have a horrible grinding noise every time I make a sudden brake or need to brake hard. Took to the dealership guy told me they were booked all week. I have never had any issues with any of my new vehicles. Why am I having problems now??? I'll be taking it to the dealership to get it checked out next week.