2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring Owner Complaints

On XXX, my 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring experienced a severe fire in the engine compartment. I observed burning material/flames dripping from underneath the engine compartment before the fire spread upward. The fire caused extensive damage to the engine compartment and the vehicle is no longer drivable. After the incident, I checked the vehicle's VIN ([XXX]) on Hyundai's recall website and found that Hyundai Safety Recall Campaign 188 / NHTSA Recall 20V061000 is listed as INCOMPLETE. The recall concerns the ABS module electrical circuit and a potential engine-compartment fire risk. I am reporting this incident to NHTSA because an actual engine-compartment fire occurred while this safety recall remained incomplete. The vehicle has been preserved and is available for inspection. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11755815

Incident

Aug 9, 2026

I have gone to multiple Hyundai dealerships to remedy the open recall on my vehicle. None of them are able to accomplish it due to lack of equipment. My electronic power steering recently failed after multiple attempts to accomplish the recall. The most recent attempt was at the Hundai dealership at Doug's Hyundai, 22130 Hwy 99, Edmonds, WA 98026, in 2026. Previous attempts were at Hyundai dealership at 641 Orange Dr, Vacaville, CA 95687 in 2023, United States and the hyundai dealership near Macon Georgia in 2017.

NHTSA ID

11748683

Incident

Apr 1, 2026

I own a 2010 Hyundai Elantra that has experienced a sudden loss of power steering assist on multiple occasions. When this happens, the steering wheel becomes very difficult to turn, especially when maneuvering at low speeds or parking. The EPS light comes on and stays illuminated. This creates a serious safety hazard, particularly when driving with children or in traffic. I am aware of Hyundai Recall 127 (NHTSA Campaign 15V100000), which addresses the same issue, but my VIN is not included. I am requesting that Hyundai investigate and provide the same repair remedy for vehicles outside the initial recall VIN range that are experiencing identical failures.

NHTSA ID

11666509

Incident

Apr 27, 2025

ABS Module short circuit, I am aware of the current recall in effect for 2011 Hyundai Elantra's but it should be noted that my vehicle also has the same issue, short circuit causing the ABS motor to run constantly. Issue was discovered by mechanic, I opted to disconnect the ABS module, as replacement is unaffordable. Is there any plan to expand the recall to include my vehicle?

NHTSA ID

11555175

Incident

Jul 17, 2023

MY DEALER ALLEDGELY FIXED THE RECALL IN 2021 ALONG WITH 2 OTHER RECALLS. AT THAT TIME I HAD NO PROBLEM WITH MY STEERING. NOW 2 YEARS LATER MY POWER STEERING WENT OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF A TURN IN A VERY BUSY INTERSECTION AND HASN'T WORKED SINCE. THE DEALER WOULD NOT FIX BECAUSE THEY SAID MY CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. HYUNDAI USA ALSO REVIEWED AND DENIED ME. ON THEIR WEBPAGE, IT DOES NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A TIME LIMIT ON THEIR RECALL. IT IS A RECALL AND NOT A WARRANTY CONCERN. BELOW I SEND 2 PICS TAKEN OFF THEIR WEBPAGE. PLEASE HELP ME. THANK YOU.

NHTSA ID

11540993

Incident

Jul 7, 2023

My power steering just stopped working. There was a safety recall on my car. i did not receive a warning notice. On Hyundai's website i entered my vin # and it said my car was affected and would be fixed free of charge or if I had already paid I would be reimbursed. The dealership refused to honor the recall. I called several times to HyundaiUSA and finally they said my car was out of warranty. No where online did it say the recall had to be fixed before the warranty ended. They just refused me and told me to take it up to someone else. I have a 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring. I did not cause this problem, they admit in the recall that there is a problem but are looking for a loop hole to get out of fixing it. Please help. Thank you. vin # [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11539900

Incident

Jul 7, 2023

The contact owns a 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the Engine Control Unit (ECU) warning light illuminated, and the power steering assist failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that after restarting the vehicle, the power steering assist functionality returned. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V100000 (Steering). The contact notified the manufacturer of the failure and was initially informed that the VIN was under recall; however, later the contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 136,000.

NHTSA ID

11537869

Incident

Jul 1, 2021

Mileage

136,000 mi

I have a 2010 Hyundai Elantra. On Saturday, July 22, 2023, after the car was put into park in my fathers driveway and the emergency brake put on, the front driver and passenger bags deployed. The force of it's deployment cracked the windshield in several places on the passenger side. There were no warning lights or indications that this would occur. The car was in park. The seatbelts are in a locked (not able to retract) form, so the car is not drivable. The two individuals in the front seat were disoriented for a short time. All 4 passengers in the car experienced ringing in the ears for approximately 3 hours, but are ultimately, physically alright, however, not mentally. If this had occurred in another setting, the risk of accident or other safety measures would have been grand, but luckily it happened at the home of a family member. The airbag malfunction needs to be eligible to be fixed and not at the expense of me the owner. The car has a camera located in it and it captured all items listed above. The video may be provided. The Hyundai corporate office has been contacted and an incident file opened. The insurance company has been contacted, as well. Nothing has been done with the car, as the corporate office noted that they may need to see it in it's original state.

NHTSA ID

11534596

Incident

Jul 22, 2023

Turning onto my street and continued two hundred feet to my driveway I had to turn the steering wheel one quarter to the left to keep the car straight on the road. On inspection of the vehicle I noticed the left rear wheel was at an angle. Further inspection showed the suspension had departed.

NHTSA ID

11492666

Incident

Nov 7, 2022

I received a letter from Hyundai telling me to have the work done, but there are no dealerships in my area willing to schedule me for an appointment. I attempted to use the www.hyundaiUSA.com/Campaign188 website to schedule an appointment based on my zip code. Five dealerships came up. Of those five, two had scheduling greyed out and the other three went to an error screen.

NHTSA ID

11481520

Incident

Aug 27, 2022

I pulled up to my house, turned the ignition off, and the airbag deployed in my face.

NHTSA ID

11470767

Incident

Jun 20, 2022

I bought this vehicle used, just three years ago. It had a little over 100k miles on it. Since purchase date, the car has died at least eight times and I've had to take it in for inspection four times. It has had three different batteries. The service techs have not been able to find anything technically wring with the car: alternator fine, engine fine, batteries fine, no reported power draws... yet I am still continuously finding myself stuck with a dead car. There was a bluetooth system in the vehicle when I bought it, but the second time it died, the service tech removed it in case that was what was drawing out power. However, it had died six times since.

NHTSA ID

11452698

Incident

Feb 16, 2022

While driving uphill, I let my foot off the gas pedal to make an upcoming turn. The car continued to accelerate, the brake pedal wouldn’t stop the car. Neutral made engine race to red-line. Turned ignition off and used hand brake, damaging handbrake shoes. Had car towed to dealership in Debuque, Iowa. After a few days was told that the floor mat had come loose and wedged accelerator down. Removed mat. 24 months later car accelerated the same way, unwanted, with brake pedal not stopping the car. There is no car mat to get stuck. Turned ignition off and used handbrake. Will be bringing car to a mechanic.

NHTSA ID

11446746

Incident

Dec 1, 2019

Traveling 25-30 MPH on a gravel road, car shuddered and seemed to tilt sightly to the left. At the same time a loud grinding noise was heard and steering felt funny. On stopping and exiting the car, I saw the left rear wheel was toed to the left, and leaning so that the top of the tire was extended beyond the fender arch. Looking beneath the car, I could see the left rear control arm had torn loose from it's pivot point near the center of the uni-body, due to corrosion. The wheel hub was attached to the car solely by the torsion bar, brake line, and strut. The car had passed a state safety inspection exactly one year previous, and has approximately 115K miles, primarily in Maine. There was NO warning before the failure, such as sloppy steering or unstable handling. The gravel road where the failure occurred leads to my vacation cabin. To get there and return home I must cross a mountain pass which is steep and winding both ways, with a speed limit of 50MPH. One side has sheer drop offs, and the other has solid rock ledge. If the failure had happened in this 10 mile stretch, the results could very well have been deadly. Someone may have offered to repair the corrosion damage to the uni-body, but I could never feel comfortable driving the car again. There was no damage to anything but the vehicle itself, so no police report was made. The extremely rural area where the failure occurred made it impractical to get the car to a Hyundai dealer. I junked the car with Dubois Towing and Salvage, 438 River Rd, Mexico, Maine, 04257 (207-364-7273).

NHTSA ID

11438519

Incident

Oct 15, 2021

I was driving this car and the esc light came on and then off again but i feel the steering became hard and still the steering is hard there is a recall for this car for steering problem please let me know is it safe to drive it or not. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ID

11434351

Incident

Sep 4, 2021

THE EPS LIGHT CAME ON WHEN I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AND THE STEERING WHEEL GOT HARD, IT WAS NOT TURNING, RISKING TO HAVE A FATAL ACCIDENT

NHTSA ID

11375112

Incident

Nov 16, 2020

Mileage

158,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 HYUNDAI ELANTRA TOURING. THE CONTACT STATED THAT POWER STEERING FAILED TO OPERATED AS DESIGNED WHILE HIS SON WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED. THE CONTACT HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO ALEXANDRIA HYUNDAI (1707 MT VERNON AVE, ALEXANDRIA, VA 22301) WHERE HE WAS INFORMED THAT THE ALTERNATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CONTACT DISAGREED WITH THE DIAGNOSTIC AND HE INFORMED THE DEALER THAT THE FAILURE WAS RELATED TO A DEFECTIVE FUSE. THE CONTACT HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED BACK TO HIS RESIDENCE WHERE HE PERFORMED A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND HAD DETERMINED THAT THE FAILURE WAS INDEED RELATED TO A DEFECTIVE FUSE. THE CONTACT THEN HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED BACK TO THE SAME DEALER AFTER DISCOVERING THAT THE VEHICLE WAS INCLUDED IN NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V100000 (STEERING) AND HAD THE RECALL REPAIR PERFORMED. UPON RETURN OF THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 45 MPH, THE EPS WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AND THE VEHICLE STARTED JERKING TO THE RIGHT. THE CONTACT DROVE THE VEHICLE TO HIS RESIDENCE AND LATER DISCOVERED THAT THE BRAKES AND ROTORS WERE DEFECTIVE. THE CONTACT HAD THE BRAKES AND ROTORS REPLACED HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 126,000.

NHTSA ID

11374014

Incident

Mar 1, 2020

Mileage

126,000 mi

POWER STEERING STOPPED WORKING. I HAD SQEAKING NOISES WHEN TURNING THE WHEEL.ALSO SHIMMERING OVER SLIGHTEST BUMPS. DEALER ESTIMATE FOR NEW STEERING COLUMNS WAS ABOUT $2000.00 . I WAS PULLING OUT OF A PARKING SPACE WHEN IT FROZE. AFTER I TUNED OF THE CAR IT WORKED. HOWEVER I HAVE READ MANY COMPLAINTS THAT THIS PROBLEM CONTINUES UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS INCLUDING HIGHWAYS. I FEEL THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS PROBLEM.

NHTSA ID

11365908

Incident

Oct 17, 2020

Mileage

94,000 mi

I HAVE A 2010 HYUNDAI ELANTRA TOURING WITH 16,605 MILES. IT HAS HAD STEERING PROBLEMS THAT HAVE BEEN FIXED BY THE DEALERSHIP AT NO COST TO ME TWICE BEFORE. HOWEVER NOW IT NEEDS ANOTHER STEERING REPAIR AND THE PARTS ALONE COST ME $1,446.89 AND LABOR WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL $300. THE PART IS COMING FROM KOREA AND MAY TAKE ONE TO TWO MONTHS TO GET TO THE DEALERSHIP. IN THE MEAN TIME I HAVE NO CAR TO DO MY ERRANDS. I AM ASKING FOR REIMBURSEMENT AND RESTITUTION FOR MYSELF AND A GUARANTEE THAT THIS STEERING PROBLEM WILL NOT REOCCUR .

NHTSA ID

11342845

Incident

Jul 1, 2020

Mileage

16,605 mi

WHILE DRIVING THE CAR BECAME DIFFICULT TO STEER ALMOST RESULTING IN MY GOING OFF THE ROAD, WHEN I GO TO A PLACE THAT WAS SAFE TO STOP, I NOTICED THAT THE EPS LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED RED, AND THE ESC OFF LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED YELLOW. I SHUT OFF THE CAR AND IT THE LIGHTS WENT OFF AND REMAINED OFF DURING MY COMMUNTE HOME. WHEN I DROVE THE CARE YESTERDAY THE LIGHTS CAME ON AT START UP AND STAYED ON MY COMMUTE HOME. THIS VEHICLE IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO STEER TO STEER WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE ILLUMINATED, AND UNSAFE WHEN THE POWER STEERING CUTS OFF UNEXPECTEDLY WHILE DRIVING. THERE ARE MANY REPORTS OF THIS PROBLEM ON THE INTERNET, AND A RECALL NUMBER #127 HAS BEEN ASSIGNED, BUT NO OFFICIAL RECALL TO DATE FOR MY VIN #.

NHTSA ID

11265684

Incident

Oct 1, 2019

Mileage

116,000 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 HYUNDAI ELANTRA TOURING. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 55 MPH, THE EPS INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT SEARCHED THE VIN AND FOUND NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 15V100000 (STEERING). THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO FITZGERALDS LAKEFOREST HYUNDAI (301-670-4800, LOCATED AT 905 NORTH FREDERICK AVE, GAITHERSBURG, MD 20879) WHERE THE EPS SOFTWARE WAS UPDATED, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED THE FOLLOWING DAY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE SAME DEALER AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT BE REPAIRED FOR FREE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND DID NOT ASSIST. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 104,000.

NHTSA ID

11240676

Incident

Jul 18, 2019

Mileage

104,000 mi

RECALL 127.EPS SYSTEM NOT WORK PROPERLY. BUT THEY WANT TO CHARGE FOR FIND IT.($131.00) I CALLED HYUNDAI COMPANY .THEY DONT GIVE ME POSITIVE ANSWER DEALERSHIP ONLY UPDATE SOFTWARE.WHICH IS NOT SOLVE PROBLEM.THEY TOLD THEY ARE NOT REPLACE ANY PARTS TO FIX THE PROBLEM.HYUNDAI DOEST GIVE ME ANY POSITIVE ANSWER.

NHTSA ID

11234646

Incident

Jul 21, 2019

POWER STEER ASSIST FAILED PULLING OUT OF DRIVEWAY, EPS LIGHT WAS ON, STEERING DIFFICULT

NHTSA ID

11210776

Incident

May 28, 2019

Mileage

176,000 mi

THE ESC LIGHT COMES ON INTERMITTENTLY AND STAYS ON FOR LONGER PERIODS OF TIME. THE DEALER HAS REPLACED THE STEERING RACK, REPROGRAMMED THE SYSTEM AND THE LIGHT CONTINUES TO COME ON.

NHTSA ID

11119310

Incident

Aug 1, 2018

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 HYUNDAI ELANTRA TOURING. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH, THE DRIVER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND CRASHED INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE AND A UTILITY POLE. THE AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE DRIVER AND THE FRONT PASSENGER SUSTAINED INJURIES THAT REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE DEALER AND MANUFACTURER WERE NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 11,000.

NHTSA ID

11115343

Incident

Jul 31, 2018

Mileage

11,000 mi