2017 Hyundai Elantra
Complaints about this year name door far more often than the other years of this generation — 22% of them, about 26× the usual rate of 0.8%.
First year of a new generation. The Hyundai Elantra was redesigned for 2017. A first year carries problems nobody has found yet, and they are found by the people who buy it — which is worth knowing before you become one of them.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 762 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 260 |
| Involving a crash | 37 |
| Involving a fire | 6 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 30.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- open — 32% of this year's complaints, against 11.6% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: open, door, inside, outside.
- paint — 9.2% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the other years of this generation (4.4×). Owners wrote it as: paint, hood, peeling, white.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- open — 22% of complaints, 5× usual
- doors — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
- outside — 14% of complaints, 10× usual
What owners wrote
3 OF 4 DOORS WILL NOT OPEN FROM INSIDE AND/OR OUTSIDE. ONLY DRIVER SIDE DOOR NOW OPENS.
While unlocked 3 doors do not open from outside and one of the 3 occasionally won't open from the inside as well.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V213000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 16V956000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V063000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 16V232000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Hyundai Elantra was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2017 Hyundai Elantra? What happened to yours?
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