2012 Hyundai Elantra Exterior lighting Problems

The brake pedal stopper pad broke and fell off which resulted in the brake lights remaining illuminated the entire time the car was driving, which is very hazardous. I am not sure how long it had been broken for before I realized that this dangerous condition was occurring. The brake lights remained on even after the car was turned off. I had to tape a piece of cardboard to the brake arm where it hits the brake light switch to get the brake lights to appropriately go off and on and to be able to relatively safely drive the car to a mechanic. The mechanic was able to determine that the broken brake pedal stopper was causing the problem. 2013 elantras were recalled for this problem but not the 2012 models. This recall may need to be expanded to 2012s.

NHTSA ID

11674664

Incident

Jul 17, 2025

The same issue that caused recall of these vehicles for several models years, such as this campaign: 2013-2014 Hyundai Elantra (MD/UD, JK, GD) Brake Pedal Stopper Replacement (Recall Campaign 170), is occurring in this 2012 vehicle, which does NOT yet have this recall. The Brake Pedal stopper Pad has deteriorated. I am reprinting the language of the above referenced recall as it exactly explains the safety issue with this vehicle. "The brake pedal stopper pad can deteriorate allowing the brake light switch plunger to remain extended when the brake pedal is released. This will allow the brake lights to remain illuminated continuously. It can also allow the shift lever to be moved without depressing the brake pedal, or activate the engine management brake pedal override feature."

NHTSA ID

11482119

Incident

Aug 30, 2022

THE DASH CONSOLE CONTINUES TO GO GO OUT TO THE POINT THE ODOMETER, SPEED , MILEAGE AND OTHER INSTRUMENT PANEL INFORMATION IS NOT VISIBLE. WHEN I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE THEY REPLACED THE DASH CONSOLE AND 2 YRS LATER IS NEEDING REPLACEMENT AGAIN.

NHTSA ID

11350040

Incident

Aug 18, 2020

CLICKING/THUMBING NOISE WHEN YOU TURN STEERING WHEEL EITHER WAY. WAS TOLD STEERING COUPLING ISSUE, COST APPROX. $600 TO REPAIR. IT LOOKS LIKE NUMEROUS PEOPLE HAVE REPORTED. SHOULD BE RECALLED BY NOW, ESPECIALLY SINCE THE DEALERSHIP STATES IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE!! NUMEROUS LIGHTS KEEP GOING OUT, WAS TOLD IT WAS A WIRING ISSUE! AIRBAG LIGHT ON DASH ON.

NHTSA ID

11312007

Incident

Mar 9, 2017

THIS VEHICLE I HAVE TO THE MECHANIC SEVERAL TIMES THIS YEAR AND IT FIXED THE YELLOW LIGHT GOES OFF FOR TWO MONTHS OR SO AND COMES BACK ON AGAIN. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THE PAST YEAR.

NHTSA ID

11278494

Incident

Aug 1, 2019

AFTER ABOUT 60,000 MILES ALL OF MY EXTERIOR LIGHTS ARE CONSTANTLY GOING OUT COMPLETELY. WITHIN THE LAST SIX MONTHS I HAVE CHANGED MY BRAKE LIGHTS AT LEAST 8 TIMES. MY HEAD LIGHTS HAVE BEEN CHANGED ABOUT FOUR TIMES AND MY HIGH BEAMS BOTH WENT OUT AT THE SAME TIME. ONE DAY I WAS DRIVING ON THE INNER STATE AND ALL MY BACK EXTERIOR LIGHTS WENT OUT. SOME DAYS THEY MAY WORK IF I HAVE THE LIGHTS POSITION IN THE ON POSITION INSTEAD OF AUTOMATIC DAYLIGHT POSITION AND VICE VERSA. THIS STARTED HAPPENING ROUGHLY AROUND THE END OF 2017 AND OVER TIME IT HAS GOTTEN WORSE.THIS IS VERY UNSAFE TO OPERATE A VEHICLE AND ALL YOUR LIGHTS GO OUT NOT TO MENTION ITS EXPENSIVE TO CONTINUE TO REPLACE BULBS THAT WON'T WORK BEYOND A MONTH.

NHTSA ID

11267533

Incident

Nov 15, 2017

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. WHILE DRIVING AT UNKNOWN SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE JERKED AND THE AIR BAG INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. ALSO, THE BRAKE LIGHTS FAILED TO WORK. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A LOCAL DEALER (HENDERSON HYUNDAI, 46 N BOULDER HWY, HENDERSON, NC 89015) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE FUEL INJECTOR WAS CLOGGED AND THE VEHICLE HAD AN OIL LEAK. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,000.

NHTSA ID

11034363

Incident

Apr 1, 2017

Mileage

60,000 mi

YES , I HAVE BEEN BUYING LIGHT BULLS FOR MY CAR OVER THE LAST YEAR'S AND THEY GO OUT LESS THAN A MONTH TIME, I HAVE BROUGHT MORE THEN 10 AND THE PEOPLE AT THE PART STORE SAID IT'S A ELECTRIC PROBLEM, BUT THE PEOPLE AT DEALERSHIP WANT ME TO PAY 125 TO PUT IT ON THERE MACHINE. I DON'T THINK THAT'S FAIR.

NHTSA ID

10969566

Incident

Mar 20, 2017

I HAD MY CAR FOR A YEAR AND 3MONTHS AND HAVEN'T HAD THIS PROBLEM TILL NOW I WAS DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY I HIT A SMALL BUMP AND I'VE HIT BIGGER BUMPS AND NEVER EVER HAVE MY AIR BAG LIGHT COME ON, OR BREAK LIGHT MAY GO OUT IF I HIT A BUMP THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED ASAP AND IT SHOULDN'T BE A FEE THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND I'M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE

NHTSA ID

10966004

Incident

Mar 14, 2017

Mileage

62,998 mi

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. WHEN THE TURN SIGNALS WERE ENGAGED, THE OPPOSITE SIGNAL WOULD ACTIVATE INDEPENDENTLY AFTER THE TURN WAS COMPLETED WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE RECURRED INTERMITTENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, BUT THE FAILURE WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 57,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ID

10937990

Incident

Dec 10, 2016

Mileage

57,000 mi

NO BRAKE LIGHTS WERE WORKING. STOP LAMP SWITCH STOPPED WORKING...FUSES WERE FINE. STOP LAMP SWITCH TO BE REPLACED. PRIOR YEAR MODELS HAVE A RECALL FOR THIS PROBLEM BUT NOT THE 2012.

NHTSA ID

10852546

Incident

Mar 5, 2016

Mileage

126,000 mi

LEFT TAIL/BRAKE LIGHT IS MALFUNCTIONING. WHEN THE HEADLIGHTS ARE ON, THE TAIL LIGHT IS ON; HOWEVER, THAT SAME LIGHT IS ALSO THE BRAKE LIGHT, AND WHEN THE BRAKE IS APPLIED, THE LIGHT WILL NOT ILLUMINATE.

NHTSA ID

10717833

Incident

May 15, 2015

Mileage

49,000 mi

MY HYUNDAI ELANTRA 2012 GLS SEDAN WAS SOLD AS HAVING DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (DRLS) ACCORDING TO MONRONEY STICKER. NHTSA AND IIHS DICTATE THAT "DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (DRLS) ARE HEADLIGHTS THAT ARE LIT WHENEVER A VEHICLE IS RUNNING. A LOW-COST METHOD TO REDUCE CRASHES, THEY ARE ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING DAYTIME HEAD-ON AND FRONT-CORNER COLLISIONS BY MAKING IT EASIER TO SEE VEHICLES, PARTICULARLY AS THEY APPROACH FROM FAR AWAY." HOWEVER, DRLS DO NOT ENGAGE AUTOMATICALLY WHEN MY VEHICLE IS STARTED, AGAINST TO NHTSA AND IIHS DRLS DEFINITION. IN ORDER TO OPERATE DRLS IN MY HYUNDAI ELANTRA 2012, PARKING LIGHTS HAVE TO BE ENGAGED. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN DRLS ARE OPERATIONAL, AMBER SIDE PARKING LIGHTS AND THE REAR TAIL LIGHTS ARE ALSO ON, WHICH OBVIOUSLY MASKS TURN AND STOP SIGNALS AND IN MY OPINION COULD REPRESENT A VERY REAL ROAD SAFETY ISSUE. IN ADDITION, WHEN DRLS ARE ENGAGED, THE INTERIOR GAUGE LIGHTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY DIMMED TO A NIGHT DRIVING LEVEL, WHICH MAKES IT MUCH HARDER TO READ THE GAUGE DURING DAYTIME AND REPRESENTS A POTENTIAL SAFETY ISSUE AS WELL. CONTACTING MULTIPLE LOCAL HYUNDAI DEALERSHIPS AND HYUNDAI EASTERN REGION HQS WAS FUTILE, SINCE THE ONLY ANSWER I WAS GETTING IS THAT THIS IS "A NEW DESIGN DRLS" AND NOTHING WILL BE DONE TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE. IRONICALLY, IT LOOKS TO ME THE END RESULT OF THIS "NEW DESIGN" REPRESENTS NOT AN INCREASED SAFETY FOR MY VEHICLE (ACCORDING TO PUBLICATIONS DOT HS 809 760 AND DOT HS 811 029 DRLS ARE AN IMPORTANT SAFETY FEATURE), BUT RATHER AN INCREASED RISK OF A COLLISION DUE TO MASKING TURN AND STOP SIGNALS, AND SUBSTANTIAL DIMMING OF THE CABIN. I NOTICED THERE ARE MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS OF THIS NATURE ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE BOTH FOR 2012 AND 2013 HYUNDAI ELANTRA. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO READ MY COMPLAINT, AND I WOULD ASK NHTSA TEAM TO LOOK INTO THE SITUATION PROMPTLY AND TO ADDRESS THIS SAFETY ISSUE. *TR

NHTSA ID

10664412

Incident

Nov 12, 2014

I BELIEVE THAT DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT ARE A GREAT SAFETY FEATURE. THE LIST OF STANDARD EQUIPMENT ON THE WINDOW STICKER SHOWS "DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS" (DRL). I HAVE FOUND THAT THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE THE DRL ON IS TO TURN ON THE PARKING LIGHTS. THE PARKING LIGHTS, LIGHT THE PARKING LIGHTS AND THE TAIL LIGHTS. I HAD DRL ON A 2003 CHEVY S-10 AND THEY ONLY LIGHTED THE HIGHBEAM AT A LOW VOLTAGE, WITH NO OTHER LIGHTS. THEY WERE ON ANY TIME THE CAR WAS RUNNING. HYUNDAI CANNOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM. I HAVE CONTACTED THE DEALER AND THE HYUNDAI WEBSITE. THEY SHOULD NOT LIST THE LIGHTING SYSTEM, THEY HAVE, AS "DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS". I KNOW THIS IS A MINOR ITEM BUT IT SURE DOES BUG ME. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

NHTSA ID

10452877

Incident

Feb 28, 2012