CarComplaints.com Notes: We're not used to seeing any major problems with Hyundai, which makes the early signs of trouble with the 2013 Elantra very surprising, in a bad way.

Early trends show problems with the steering wandering / pulling to one side along with premature tire wear. Elantra owners have tried sensor adjustments, wheel alignments, even replacing axles, most with no luck. Hyundai has made vehicle buybacks through arbitration, but that rarely works out well financially for owners in the end.

Also there is a pattern of complaints about the 2013 Elantra brakes grinding at very low mileage. It seems there was a bad batch of OEM pads & rotors, but so far Hyundai is not doing a recall. Instead Hyundai issued a TSB & dealers have been replacing pads & rotors on a per-complaint basis.

The final straw is that for several years in a row, Elantra owners report significantly lower gas mileage than the EPA estimates, & there's a small trend of engine problems.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
55,105 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2013 Hyundai Elantra drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2013 Hyundai Elantra Owner Comments (Page 1 of 3)

problem #50

Jun 012023

Elantra

  • 200,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated upon the depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that the vehicle would shut off while idling with the check engine warning light illuminated. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

- West Harrison, IN, USA

problem #49

Oct 032023

Elantra

  • 155,000 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, she heard an abnormal knocking sound coming from the engine compartment, and the vehicle lost all motive power. The driver was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle then stalled and failed to restart. Several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a general engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 155,000.

- Florence, AL, USA

problem #48

Jan 062023

Elantra

  • miles
TRANSMISSION stopped running at 100,000 miles

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #47

Jun 152022

Elantra

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Well not even at 100,000 miles yet suspension noise all four engine not good as its not work well with the way they have set up with no dip stick suspension clink clack crazy not even at 100.00

- South Bend, IN, USA

problem #46

Mar 072022

Elantra

  • miles
In March of 2022 I took my car to have its regularly scheduled oil change at Mellow Motors and while I was there the service technician recommended I make a follow up appointment with the Hyundai dealership due to irregularities he noticed in the engine. I took my car to the dealership and dropped it off hoping this would be a minor concern that would be resolved quickly. When Hyundai initially contacted me that they would need to do a more thorough evaluation/diagnosis, I was surprised and concerned that something more significant may be wrong with the engine as the car was relatively new (previously garaged and serviced every 6 months), had low miles (54,000 miles), and had been taken care of extremely well since it was purchased new off the lot by my grandparents. When I started gresearching engine concerns in Hyundai Elantra-??s 2013, I was even more surprised to find that engine issues were actually not uncommon in this year of Hyundai Elantras, and the issue known as "piston slap" not only lead to total engine failure, but could develop for no discernible reason, and was so common Hyudai had settled a class action lawsuit related to the matter instead of facing a recall on these vehicles. I found out I missed the date to file a claim by 8 months. Despite learning this, given the circumstances of the engine diagnosis (-??Started vehicle found piston slap noise. Found scuffing on all four cylinder walls. As per TSN replacement of block assembly and necessary component required-??) and learning that my car was included in the settlement, I figured Hyundai would offer to fix my engine under the settlements extended warranty clause to ensure their cars to ensure safety, or at the very least, offer to partially pay for the engine replacement, but I have been denied coverage for this engine concern. I think this is a very significant safety concern and that this year of Hyundai Elantra's should be recalled and replaced.

- Fairfax, CA, USA

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problem #45

Jun 042022

Elantra

  • miles
I was stopped at a traffic light, when my car stalled out and shut off, completely random, no warning signs whatsoever. No warning lights, no weird unusual sounds from the vehicle, just all of a sudden it shuts off! So I had to hurry and put it into park, turn the key back to off, and try to turn it back on. It BARELY started, once it was started we had a green light plus it sounded like it was going to stall out on me again. BUT when I pressed down on the gas peddle, there wasn't any normal acceleration. The car was in 5th gear and wouldn't shift down to allow it to accelerate at all like it should. So I am trying to get out of the middle of the intersection, had the peddle to the floor, and it's barely moving. While I'm trying not to die, I also noticed that there was NO RPMS being shown on the dashboard. Like absolutely 0 RPMS. This isn't the only time this has done this to me!! It seems like it's becoming more frequent, although still without warning indicating that it was going to act this way. And of course it's been at a busy intersection, basically playing chicken with my life. My husband hooked up a code reader to see if anything pops up and nothing indicates any sort of problem. It will be going to the shop for them to look at asap, but I haven't been able to successfully replicate the issue on command, it just does it whenever it wants to, conveniently when it's just myself and my 9 year old son in the car, no one else that may be mechanically inclined along. This has happened twice now, 1st time last week, and the latest time was today. It gets serviced regularly like it's supposed to, and it will be up for inspection in July 2022.

- Denver, PA, USA

problem #44

Apr 122021

Elantra

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The car experienced (1) poor acceleration, (2) check engine light come on, (3) engine stalling, (4) Tachometer drops to zero. It was first found the MAP sensor was faulty. After the sensor was replaced, the car ran but stalled again intermittently. It was found the problem was caused by crank shaft position sensor (fault code P0335). After the senor was replaced about three weeks ago, the car has been running fine.

- Bellevue, WA, USA

problem #43

Apr 242021

Elantra

  • miles
My car was repaired for noise in engine a year and half later making same noise why is that? the computer was updated when I got the recall on it now I have nothing but problems with the same sound of engine

- Mahanoy City, PA, USA

problem #42

Jan 152021

Elantra

  • 75,000 miles
A ticking/knocking noise is going on in the engine, powertrain. It's been happening since I bought the vehicle and is worse in cold weather. It is believed to be a valve train issue. The knocking gets worse when I accelerate, also. This appears to be a known problem with 2013 Hyundai Elantras, but there isn't a recall for the engine. I contacted Hyundai and they've been slow to respond. My vehicle is currently with the business that I bought it from. They're using the quick, temporary warranty to get a new used engine, but I'm concerned that the same ticking/knocking noise will occur with the new used engine, because they refuse to use a different brand engine. I'd prefer that Hyundai do a straight up recall for the engines that consistently perform this way - with a knocking noise that hinders the performance of the vehicle.

- Apple Valley, MN, USA

problem #41

Aug 202020

Elantra

  • 130,000 miles
Motor blown when vehicle had 130000 miles after regular oil changes.

- Kings Mountain, NC, USA

problem #40

Mar 032020

Elantra

  • 100,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The car feels like it can't get power shakes slow to accelerate for half a block then acceleration. It's happened 5 times today. Other days it sounds like it's not running smoothly and then does ok after awhile. This happened with car in park, backing up, going forward, 2 different stops at lights and 2 more stops til I got home.

- Camarillo, CA, USA

problem #39

Nov 272019

Elantra

  • 217,500 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. While driving approximately 35 mph, the battery indicator and headlights flickered. Other unknown indicators on the instrument panel were also illuminated. The vehicle lost power and decelerated. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided case number: 16408283. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 217,500.

- Cordova, TN, USA

problem #38

May 012019

Elantra

  • 39,555 miles
Takata recall the engine surging, knocking, RPM was going up, and down, then would cause the car to take off from the light like a jet in which almost caused me to get into car wrecks, it would go below 40mph, while RPM would be up at 5 while on the highway then not go forward. The car shakes so bad due to the surging of the transmission

- Albq, NM, USA

problem #37

Apr 252019

Elantra

  • 160,000 miles
About 3 months ago my 2013 Hyundai Elantra became sluggish in accelerating. It has gradually gotten worse. I tried fuel cleaners, premium gas, and now a tune up replacing coil packs and plugs. The vehicle crawls and does not accelerte as quick as it should. It cuts off or refuses to move when given gas at all stops. I switch off then on at red lights as it seems to want to take off when the engine is started. When I reach about 50mph the RPM hand guns and the bottoms out to stay at zero with no change in acceleration. There is now a whirring noise sporadically coming from the engine. After the ti E up the issues continue with cutting off, rough idling, extremely slow snail accelleration with the engine light on.

- Mccormick, SC, USA

problem #36

Mar 232019

Elantra

  • 39,600 miles
The contact owns a 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that the stabilitrak and traction control warning indicators flashed, the steering wheel made an abnormal noise when turned in either direction, and the vehicle accelerated slowly when the accelerator pedal was depressed. Rancho grande motors (1404 auto park way, san luis obispo, ca 93405, (805) 543-4745) was notified of the failures. The vehicle was currently at the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 39,600.

- Morro Bay, CA, USA

problem #35

Feb 122016

Elantra

  • 75,000 miles
My engine started making ticking noises around 75000, took car in for 75000 mile maintenance and asked service department to check for noise and car acceleration problems. Tech later told me its normal and nothing they can find wrong with car. Now I see from looking on the internet its a common problem but now my car is out of warranty. I also went in before my warranty ended to have the 100000 mile maintenance service and complained about the same issue, they still said it normal. Today I just contact my local Hyundai service department to see what options I have.

- Milpitas, CA, USA

problem #34

Oct 202017

Elantra

  • miles
While driving on beltway doing 55 mph the vehicle won't accelerate and also makes sounds when pushing on gas the RPM will be moving back and front even when car not moving. Car smells like something is burning. The car will start to slow down and shut it self off.all lights will turn on then I shut car off completely then turn back on and it starts up like nothing happened this has happened multiple times. Then when sitting still at a light the car shut off.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

problem #33

Sep 052018

Elantra

  • 118,000 miles
Timing chain is damaged and car is only 5 years old and have kept up with the maintenance

- Katy, TX, USA

problem #32

Mar 162018

Elantra

  • 57,041 miles
When driving vehicle would take to awhile to get to speed city street/highway and making a clicking sound while driving. I took the vehicle to the dealership to diagnosis the problem 3/16/18 found that bottom end of engine making a knocking noise that engine and deteriorated into multiple pieces.at 57041 miles. It took at least two weeks for all the parts for the new engine to arrive, . four months later 6/5/18 vehicle motion driving around with a cracked transmission and no check lights came on to reveal there was problems. It was brought to my attention when servicing my vehicle for an oil change, the transmission was cracked with fluid leaking from it at 60922 miles. The transmission had to be replaced with a new one..

- Portsmouth, VA, USA

problem #31

Jun 202018

Elantra

  • 63,210 miles
My car has 63,300 miles on it. I bought it used in December 2017, six months and my mechanic is telling me it is the engine and it needs to be replaced. When I bought the car it had a ticking sound, very low. I thought once it idled and I start driving it would go away. I was driving on the freeway recently and my car would not go over 60 mph. The RPM would not go past 2.5. when I exited the freeway, and stopped at the light I had whit smoke coming from my car. When I use my air, I can't accelerate over 40 mph. Everyday it's driven it, get's worse.

- Livonia, MI, USA

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