10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
33,511 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.

2016 Hyundai Elantra engine problems

engine problem

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2016 Hyundai Elantra Owner Comments (Page 2 of 5)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #74

Apr 242023

Elantra

  • miles

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

My 2016 Hyundai Elantra had an oil change and mechanical check up on April 14, 2023. Everything was considered to be working correctly. 2 days ago, upon turning the car on to return home, the motor completely dies without warning. This car was purchased 5 years ago and has been properly maintained. In addition, while there hasnt been an official recall with Hyundai, many people like myself have experienced this same issue in one way or another.

- Hialeah, FL, USA

problem #73

Apr 172023

Elantra

  • miles
My Elantra stalled while driving twice the other day. The first time I occurred on a Highway inter belt and the second occurred in slow moving traffic. I had the car evaluated by 2 different repair shops. Both said they could not reduplicate the problem or find any malfunctioning codes. No warning lights appeared when the car stalled. I had this happen before last fall. I had it repaired. They changed spark plugs, performed engine oil system purge, serviced fuel injector and air induction and realigned tires. Until the day before yesterday, the car performed well. In researching my car issue, I have learned that this is a top complaint of many 2016 Elantra owners.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

problem #72

Mar 192023

Elantra

  • miles
I purchased my car 10 months ago. It has rebuilt title without any structural damage. The accident was in the body only and no one touched the engine. It was in perfect condition and it was driven without any problems for the last 10 months. Two weeks ago, I noticed a ticking noise come from the engine whenever the car accelerates. The noise wasn-??t exist before, it just happen. I took the car to firestone and they stated that it is common problem in the engine appears in this model. I took it to the dealer (Hyundai of Cookeville) and they state that engine require replacement and it is a harmful issue. I looked over the internet and I found that it is common problem between owners of Hyundai Elantra especially 2012 to 2016. It is worth noting to mention that there is no any warning lamp turned on to warn me that there is an issue. My car has a low mileage 90700. It is weird to breakdown its engine especially I change the engine oil before the due date. Please help me and other owners to get a recall on the engine because as stated by the dealer it is a harmful problem and requires engine replacement. I appreciate any help you can provide to save my family and other families of Elantra owners.

- Cookeville, TN, USA

problem #71

Nov 242022

Elantra

  • miles

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

No mechanical issues. Left work one morning driving to work. Made it home turned the car off.and the car never cranked back up. Sent to shop for assessment says the motor. I have routine maintenance done. No check engine light appeared. Car had been jerking on and off

- Memphis , TN, USA

problem #70

Feb 202023

Elantra

  • miles
my transmission failed while driving, car stopped being able to accelerate, i was luckily in my neighborhood but if this happened on a major road I could-??ve been seriously injured or even killed. i had to tow it to a local shop and they said they have to completely replace the transmission. no prior warnings on the dashboard or any indications my car was about to fail. I only had slight issues a week beforehand. this vehicle is unsafe and costs thousands to repair

- Morganville, NJ, USA

problem #69

Feb 032023

Elantra

  • miles
Car stutters at low speed.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #68

Jan 242023

Elantra

  • miles

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

Leaving work on 1/24/23 my car failed on the 4 lane, on the ramp coming into the town I live in, and again in the middle of a 4 way intersection. I only live 2 miles from where I work. My engine light was flashing, lost all power/acceleration, transmission would not switch and kept my RPM's really high, took multiple times to get it re-started, and engine was knocking/surging/sputtering. I got it taken to my local shop the next day and they told me my engine needs to be replaced. It was throwing 6 different timing codes and my oil was very shiney (filled with metal shavings). My car was not leaking oil, all services were kept up to date, any mechanical issues were always taken care of, and my car only had 92k miles on it. If the engine failure wasn't from the bottom of the engine, warranty won't cover it (mine was stated that failure was from the top). How is this not considered with the recalls of other Hyundai's that hold the same engine?

- Madelia, MN, USA

problem #67

Dec 262022

Elantra

  • miles
The engine stalled after fluctuating power from the throttle and accelerator. The engine began making a knocking sound as I tried to bring the vehicle off to the side of the road with a loss of engine power. No warning lights or indicators displayed on the dashboard the indicated the engine was malfunctioning. This malfunction or engine defect caused a serious decrease in speed which impeded the flow of traffic leading to to the chances of being in an accident or having the engine explode without warning. This vehicles malfunction jeopardized my safety, my passengers, and the other drivers on the road.

- Garrison , NY, USA

problem #66

Jan 012023

Elantra

  • miles
Driving then while stopped at a red light out of no where the engine starts shaking like crazy, once it turned green and I took off the engine light came on then immediately turned off after accelerating. Add oil Was working perfectly fine until a week later it did the same thing the. Engine light came on but seemed faulty as it would blink, shut off then be solid, and then fluctuating like crazy then all that stopped after the car was turned off. Later that day I drove it and it wasn-??t accelerating properly. Next day when getting it looked at the second we started it white smoke everywhere

- Tucson, AZ, USA

problem #65

Dec 232022

Elantra

  • miles
Car suddenly started to jolts while decelerating from 25mphs -20mins. Car -??stall & jolts-?? from park to drive. Stuck in park for a couple seconds. Dangerous, unable to go from park to drive is a safe timely manner No check engine light or trouble codes, car is maintained

- San Gabriel, CA, USA

problem #64

Oct 112022

Elantra

  • 125,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that there was a hole in the engine block. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the starter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The manufacturer offered to cover a percent of the cost of the repair. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.

- Brookfield, CT, USA

problem #63

Oct 082022

Elantra

  • miles
Fuel Injector went bad in engine with 77k miles & they won-??t honor the repair. The car had a knock sensor recall that I never received a letter on & received no warning that the engine was failing.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #62

Oct 172022

Elantra

  • miles
idle was rough when car was at the stop light, etc. Took car in to the dealership and they confirmed the issue. Car engine replacement has been approved by Hyundai Motors. I think that the NTSB should be looking in to this as there are currently 71 cars ahead of mine, with the same issue, at this one dealership. Other Hyundai dealership must be having the same issue, this cannot be happening only at this dealership. My engine will not be replaced until April, 2023. It is now October, 2022. That is the reason why the dealership has no cars to loan, the wait list for their car loaners is four months. I am the only owner of this car. I purchased it brand new from this dealership, and have followed the advised maintenance for this car. The "Customer Care" (big joke) told me that I have to pay for my own rental and that they would reimburse only a portion of the rental. I seriously think that this is a recall issue.

- Santa Rosa, CA, USA

problem #61

Aug 152022

Elantra

  • miles
My engine has almost completely burned through its oil twice. I have done routine oil changes and maintenance on the vehicle and the first time this happened, I had driven 3,000 miles since my last oil change (full synthetic, so it should be able to go up to 5,000 miles). The second time, it was out of oil at 1,200 miles. I took the car to Hyundai after the first incident and they said no error codes came up, so there was nothing they could do. This safety issue could cause my engine to stall mid drive, causing a potentially fatal accident. There are no warnings that the engine is low on oil, making this an even more alarming and dangerous defect. Hyundai will not help consumers with this issue, and there is a class action lawsuit against them right now for this problem. Many are saying the exact same thing happened when taking the vehicle into the dealer; they were turned away and charged for no help. I was told to just keep putting oil in my car, but it has gotten exponentially worse since this all began.

- Peoria, IL, USA

problem #60

Sep 052022

Elantra

  • miles
88,750 miles - Engine began profuse knocking suddenly when traveling down the road under 50mph. Stopped at a service center and they found no oil in the engine. Like THOUSANDS of others with the same complaint, the engine burned the oil which caused it to destroy itself LONG before the oil change interim had arrived.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #59

Aug 292022

Elantra

  • miles
I believe it is the transmission/ power train that failed. It slides gears and the engine stalls. While driving, I was almost hit because I could not speed up. I had to decelerate in order for the gear to not stutter.

- Apple Valley, CA, USA

problem #58

Jun 042022

Elantra

  • miles
At 75,000 miles my engine randomly blew on the freeway, I rolled down the off-ramp where I lost all power and had to put it in neutral and put the emergency brake on so I didn-??t roll through a red light at the bottom of the ramp. Absolutely no warning, nothing else was wrong with the car, mechanic said oil and everything else looked perfect but that it was a manufacturer defect due to the pistons in the engine. Now I owe 8.5k on a car I can-??t drive because neither insurance nor Hyundai will take responsibility. Great ??'??

- Everett, WA, USA

problem #57

Jul 142022

Elantra

  • miles
Going through oil like crazy, continuous engine knocking

- St. Charles, MO, USA

problem #56

Jun 102022

Elantra

  • miles
On 06/10/2022 Going down the road went to shift gears and it was stuck in 5th gear. Finally got it released and safely made it home. Ever since you can shift the gears and reverse while engine isn-??t running but once I turn on the vehicle it refuses to shift into any gears including reverse. I have a FIXD OBD2 sensor and it showed no warning messages before, during, and now. No codes are showing up when plugged in. Matter of fact it says there-??s no issues with my car ? I had a mechanic take a look since he was willing to come to my house considering I currently don-??t have the funds to get it checked out & he said it-??s probably my clutch has went out, but that can-??t be the case considering it will turn on still. I have no messages appear on the dash & I have plenty of transmission oil. Today is 07/08/2022 and it has just been sitting there due to the fact I-??ve lost my employment and can-??t afford to have it looked

- Monterey, TN, USA

problem #55

Jun 102022

Elantra

  • 67,000 miles
The contact owns a 2016 Hyundai Elantra. The contact's wife was driving approximately 12 MPH smelled a burning odor, as she parked at the residence she saw smoke emitting from under the hood and the vehicle ignited and began to burn. The contact stated that the engine caught on fire. The contact stated his wife did not notice any warning light was illuminated. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire with water. The fire department wrote an incident report. The police department was also on scene but did not issue a report. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The front of the vehicle was severely damaged. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.

- La Quinta, CA, USA

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