2002 Hyundai Elantra GLS from North America - Comments

The clutch failed at 21,466 miles.

I received a recall for the rear brake tube and went to the dealership for them to inspect. At the same time I requested that they look for the cause of an intermittent noise coming from the left rear brake. The tech took the car for a drive and the engine quit. The car was towed back to the dealer to determine the problem. Much to my surprise I was told that the clutch was destroyed and that there was no warranty coverage after 12k miles. Having driven standard shift cars for 30 plus years I insisted that there was something wrong. I requested that the factory rep be contacted. He was and said it was probably my driving habits. Hyundai would not cover any of the cost. We're heading for arbitration. Has anyone experienced clutch failure at low mileage? Hyundai seems to think this is normal wear. I should have kept my 86 Mazda 626. It had 256k, got great mileage and had the original clutch. Guess I knew how to drive that one.

I was recently advised by the dealer service shop that my son's Elantra GT needed a clutch replacement although the car has only 40k miles and he drives conservatively. I was amazed when the service rep said it was not covered under the "bumper to bumper" and power-train warranties. I am currently waiting to hear back from Hyundai regarding my request that they cover it as a defective part since clutch plates don't normally wear out that quickly, something the service rep admitted. If they decline coverage, as I suspect will be the case after reading your comment, I will probably litigate the issue. The warranty representations we received through advertising and sales pitches may be misleading, and warranty exclusions are not necessarily applicable to defective parts.

I'd be interested to hear where your situation ended up?

We have a two-year-old Elantra GLS with 24K miles and standard shift that very suddenly and without warning developed clutch failure. Literally, the car was being driven and the engine just began to rev.

The diagnosis by a Hyundai dealer was a worn clutch plate attributed to driver usage. The repair cost was $960. This seemed extraordinary. A clutch plate should last in the range of 100K miles (in fact, this was stated by the Hyundai serviceman). It would require blatant and persistent abuse of the clutch in order to shorten its life expectancy to such an extent. In all honesty, the clutch was used in a normal fashion. Besides, a clutch plate is designed to withstand the forces of friction for more than 24K miles. A trained chimp could probably get more mileage out of a quality clutch.

I strongly suspected an inferior product, and my suspicion was validated by the testimonies at this website. I will seek financial reparation by any and all means. Hyundai needs to stand behind its product if it ever hopes to survive the market. BEWARE.

Only 24000k and you let them charge you for the clutch? Doesn't the car have a 100 000 km warranty. You should have refused to pay, especially with a sudden failure of the clutch. If you do drive it properly it shouldn't do this. I suspect a little resilience on your part and it would have been done for free.

I have 2001 Elantra with 84,000 miles on it. I suspected something was wrong with the clutch at around 60,000 and took it to the dealer to have it looked at it. They said it was fine. Well, it just went out yesterday, luckily only a few miles from home. I thought it was the clutch cable when I heard a clunk as I depressed the clutch to shift. I just found out from the service department at the dealership that Elantra’s don’t have clutch cables. They have a hydraulic link to the clutch and that they would have to pull the transmission ($650) to see what the problem is. He said the clutch is not covered under the warranty and that it was going to about $950 if that was the cause. That’s $1600 for a new clutch!

At 84,000 miles I guess I‘m more fortunate then some others, but it seems like a lot of money to replace a clutch. I’m going to get a second opinion on this before I have the work done and if it’s not covered under warranty, I doubt I’ll have the service department at the dealership do the work. I just spent $460 two weeks ago on parts and labor to replace thermostat, radiator hoses and evaporation valve after the water pump died. The water pump was under warranty, but not the rest. They quoted $560 originally, but when I questioned the high cost of labor, they took $100 off like it was nothing. I’m used to the games Salesmen play, but I should not have to deal with the same stuff from the service department. BTW, they also forgot to replace the missing brake fluid cap I was charged $10 for.

This is a follow-up on my earlier response above regarding the clutch going out at 84,000 miles on my 2001 Elantra. After further investigation I found that 2001-2003 Elantras have a squeak or squawk when applying or releasing the clutch (as we all know). Supposedly this is fixed by installing revised bushings for the release shaft (release bearing). Another search on www.alldata.com confirmed this and refers to TSB (technical service bulletin) 02-04-024, issued October, 2002. You have to subscribe to their service for $25 to get the full details and fix on the TSB, but at least you can go to the dealership and have them look at this. Pointing out the TSB number may make them think twice about charging you for something you may not need.

Also, let's not forget that the Elantra is for the most part an economy car. IMHO, dealerships generally can get away with charging more for lower quality work. Being that this is the case, it may be wise to take a problem like this to a reputable mechanic who has transmission experience. For the money the dealership charges, you might be able to get a more durable clutch installed.

At 12,000 miles my car began to shake, the clutch was jumping up and down when pressed on. the car stalled in the middle of the highway.. While I was going 40 mph. after taking it into the dealership they said the problem didn't exist. Its now at 32,000 miles and again came the same problem the clutch bounced up and down and car stalled out at 40 mph. Car was towed to another hyundai dealer where I was charged $100 for them to just look at the problem! Some warranty. I would never buy or recommend any hyundai vehichle to anyone!!! Not to mention the recent recall on my brakes.

This may aid you in your struggle with Hyundai. I like the others here had a problem with the Clutch on my 2002 Hyundai Elantra. At approximately 24,000 or so miles, we noticed a problem with the clutch slipping severely. We had the automobile towed to the local Hyundai dealership and was told that the car need a new clutch, throwout bearing, pressure plate, etc., and that the repairs would cost in the neighborhood of $1000. I like the others thought that the repairs would be covered by the bumper-to-bumper warranty. WRONG... I was told that the clutch plate was like a brake shoe/pad. That it was subject to normal wear and tear and that the wear was caused by whomever the person was that drove the vehicle and their driving habits. Needless to say I was shocked!

Good news was that later, the service writer looked into the problem for me and found out that the real cause of the problem was due to a defective Thrust Bearing. From what I understand, the Thrust Bearing keeps the crankshaft from having a Front to Rear Horizontal movement. Well as you can imagine, this sort of motion would cause lots of problems for the drivetrain, especially the clutch and clutch assembly.

Once this was discovered by the dealership, they then repaired not only the clutch and all parts in that assembly, they put in a new engine in the automobile. Hyundai covered the cost of the entire problem!

Maybe this can be your problem too. Good Luck and I hope that this information will help some.

I am currently going through this Clutch issue, at 24,000 miles. Dealer says nothing in car has caused the wearing of the clutch plate, dealer says no signs of mis-use by me and dealer says clutch plate is only warrant-able to 12,000 miles. Any more news on this issue? Anyone else have better luck with Hyundai?

Also, noticed unusual wear on both rear tires, to the outside of each tire. Yet again, alignment warrantied for 12,000 miles. I could see if one tire was wearing, maybe a curb was hit, but both sides? highly unlikely, again as I have had only needed 1 alignment in 15 years of driving.

Hyundai motors has made a "Good Will" offer to cover the parts, $360 dollars of $950 dollar repair. I have driven a manual transmission 80% of my life and have never burned out a clutch. Needless to say I am very disappointed with this and will be selling the car after the repairs are done. I cannot afford to spend $950 dollars every 2 years/24,000 miles on a car that is warrantied for 5 years/60,000 miles bumper to bumper. The warranty was a major point in me buying this car, but if the limited warranty items consistently go out just outside of warranty time then whats the point.

Car has been in the shop twice now and both times the issue was out of warranty by less than 1 year.

I cannot believe your clutch went that early- that's not right. I had a '94 Saturn SL2 and the clutch lasted till 130k. Maybe it was just a glitch in the manufacturing/ assembling. It happens, but ugh! Good luck!

I have a 99 Hyundai Elantra, I think it is a GLS. It is a 5 speed. During my normal driving I believe I am very easy on the clutch, however I roadrace motorcycles and have quite a few crazy friends. They encourage me to do tricks that are very abusive to the car and clutch. I have owned the car since 100,000 miles and it had the original clutch when I bought it. The car now has 167,000 miles on it. It is fair to say on a so called weekend basis I HEAVILY abuse the clutch and it is still holding up. Just seems a little softer, but I am in awe of how it has lasted so long with all my abuse. I think that guy who had the mechanic figure out there was a defective thrust bearing probably hit the ball on this one... Because if the newer Hyundai clutches are anywhere near as good as the 99 Hyundai clutches you could give the car to the dummest most abusive driver around and still get at least 100,000 miles out of the original clutch.

Buy the Lemonade book; it has all the known defects in all cars. Yes the problems listed are listed in the book. Also another problem with the 2002 Elantra is the manifold sometimes may crack. Secret warranty here in Canada; they will cover it up to 160 000 km or 8 years..