Comments: 1-15, 16-30
Recently my Hyundai Elantra has a strange problem. One day, I could not start the car. I thought the battery was bad. I called Hyundai Road Service. The Service man came and tried to jump start the car. it did not work. He suggested that the starter might be broken. Next day before I planed to have the car towed to the dealer. I tried to start the car. The car was OK Now. However, My nightmare about the car has started. I can start the car in one day, but cannot start the car the other day. It is dragging on like this for two weeks. Then I asked dealer to find the problem. The dealer checked everything from battery to starter. They cannot find anything wrong. I had to pay the inspection fee and drove the car home. However, I know the problem will not go away. Next day the problem happened again. Now I was really afraid to take the car to the dealer because if they cannot find anything wrong I will still pay the inspection fee and drive the car home. Is there anyone who can give a suggestion about what is wrong and end the vicious cycle.
I really do not know this kind of car is worth buying.
I've been researching this car as a possible used car purchase and have noted most people have complained about start or stall problems. There is is a NHTSA recall #00V259001 out for the 1999 and 2000 models MAF sensor which would seem to be the cause of these problems and I've noticed that the used cars on the market I've seen still have an open manufacturer's recall on the car.
Has any one tried replacing this part?
If so, how did it run well after the fix?
If not, are the mechanics not trained to be Hyundai specialists & are not aware of the recall?
My wife drives a 2001 Elantra. It recently began having the problems described above (not starting). The dealer we took it to here in Colorado was familiar with the problem - a faulty fuel pump. This problem is common with the 2001 model.
Any dealer service technician worth his beans should know about this.
I have a 2001 Hyundai Elantra, and tell everyone I know to NEVER buy a Hyundai. I have had the radio replaced 4 times, the clock 5 times, back doors jammed, the headlights and tail lights must be replaced every month because they burn out, the recent problem is like the above people have, it starts sometimes, but not other times. I just received 2 recall notices, 1 is for brakes, I guess they were put on backwards so it states the brakes might just stop working, that would explain why they wouldn't work when I tried to stop and ended up rear ending the car in front of me, 6 months after I bought the car. I also got a recall for the exhaust being faulty, of course I just got these 1 week ago, and this car is 4 years old.
I'm taking my car in Monday, if it will start, or having it towed in there, and they are keeping it until everything is fixed to my satisfaction, and I told them I'm not paying a dime since this year of car is an obvious lemon.
I purchased my 2001 Elantra used in 2004. Within the first week of owning the car I had the same problem as many others, the car just would not start. It was towed to a dealership in Halifax, and after a few days one of their staff decided that the problem was a "loose wire," and said he had fixed it. A few months later, I had the same problem, and I was getting very annoyed! My dad (who is not a mechanic!) checked the car over, and found a very loose wire... since he "fixed" it, I have not had a problem!
Today, I found a new problem... in the middle of a rain storm, my wipers stopped working! The fuses are fine, any ideas what else it could be (and about how much $$ it'll end up costing me to fix)?
I had a problem like the one originally described, and another described in the comment above this about the wipers not working. As for the car not starting, it was because of the ground wire from the battery had actually fallen off, this is not a good thing I would suspect. As for the wipers, I was driving down from our mountain at about 10 at night after a day of snowboarding when what do you know? the wipers stop, in a snow storm of course. well I checked it our when I got down, and noticed that the bolt that holds the arm on was just about off. this has to be very tight for it to be effective, if this happens to you, make it extremely tight, a simple socket wrench is the key. Also a few months back, I had my transmission start to shift down randomly. This is a problem, and when I took it in, the speed sensor was really messed up.
I still like the car, overall it has been reliable, no major mechanical defects, just small problems. I don't plan on getting another one.
To the guy who had the transmission start to shift down: When it would randomly downshift, did the "check engine" light also turn on? And did you get that repaired, and if so, how much did it cost? I just started having the same problem (or a very similar problem, anyway) about a week ago and I haven't brought it in for inspection yet.
I just got a Hyundai Elantra VE 2001 with around 112000 km. on it. I liked it better than a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla of the same year as far as the room inside the car goes, and what I got in this price.
The car had a leaking radiator, which I got replaced.
Got the timing belt, water pump, drive belt, timing tensioners replaced, which probably was required at this mileage.
Left tie rod is replaced and both rear stabilizer links (kit) have been replaced.
Engine light would come on occasionally, so the dealer ran some tests and asked me if I wanted to get the pulse generator replaced. Not knowing what to do, I asked them to do what is required and they replaced it.
Although all this was required, and I got it done, the company replaced the exhaust manifold, which was cracked, without any cost to me, because there is an extended warranty on that.
I like this car, but am just concerned if this many problems come normally on this old a car, or if it is Hyundai.
Hello. I have a 1999 Hyundai Elantra that I am also doing some major work to myself. It has 184,000 miles on it now and I can tell you the cracked manifold problem you are facing is a very common one with the Elantra. We had one replaced during the warranty period, but a crack formed in the second one after the warranty expired. I have been using it this way for thousands of miles now without any problems in performance. I don’t have mandatory emissions testing here, but if you do, it might not pass. Not sure though. Also, for the guy with the shifting problem: You might want to check the crankshaft position sensor wires to see if any are broken. The wires for it are vulnerable for being broken. If they’re okay, take it to a shop and have them test it. I may be bad. The onboard computer (if the check engine light came on) will have the code stored “in pending” and can be retrieved with an OBD scanner. Anyone interested in working on this car on their own should DEFINITELY have a Haynes repair manual for it. VERY helpful. ISBN 156392451X. Great car if driven gently!
2001 Hyundai Elantra. I'm having problems with the O2 sensor. Have replaced it three time because of slow reading. After about a month I'm having the same issue. Anyone else?
I have a 2003 Hyundai Elantra. This car has been in and out of the dealership so many times. Now I come to find out that it doesn't start some days and other startes right up. I had it taken to the dealership and they said that it was working perfectly fine... I just don't get it.. its like my car is cursed... anyone know what this is?
When you gotta internmittent starting problem this is what you do = hope that you can get a mobile mechanic to come to your place and check it out while the problem is happening. I had good luck doing it that way. he can isolate the problem easily then.
Don't buy a hyundai it isn't worth it. Stick with a toyota camry or honda accord.
I have a Hyundai Elantra wagon 2000 and have essentially been trouble free for the life of the car. I have not had any start/stop problems. I had the driver side rear window regulator break (under warranty), clutch replaced (under warranty), and the horn replaced (under warranty). Now at 110,000, my check engine light has been on for a bit, but I haven't noticed any real problem with performance. The Autozone computer check mentions that there is something wrong with the evaporative emission system. I plan to have it checked out, but I have driven several long trips and never not been able to rely on my Hyundai. I would recommend Hyundai.
I see I am not the only one with issues with my 2001 Hyundai Elantra. I had seat belts and the exhaust manifold whatever recall stuff fixed. The light in the shifter display panel went out and was replaced under warranty (faulty wiring). 4 years later it's out again. I've spent thousands on headlight bulbs (only under warranty until 60K miles). The headlights themselves are virtually worthless as the glass over them has fogged so badly I can barely see 4 ft in front of my car on a dark night. No warranty covers that and it's $500/each to replace those. The right front wheel bearing went out in June 2005. The battery had to be replaced in September 2005. Got stranded on I-95 in Virginia with "bad spark plugs" later in the fall of 2005. Most recently my radiator developed a leak and that had to be replaced. I'm sensing a trend here and it's not a good one.
I bought my car in October 2001 and today it turned 133,000 miles. I suppose this is all routine stuff, but when added up over the course of the last 5.5 years, it seems excessive to me. Perhaps I won't buy another Hyundai.
We bought a brand new 2003 Elantra GT (even paid extra for the extended bumper to bumper warranty for 10 years or 100K miles) and have not had any major problems with it at all (knock wood). It is currently at 62,000 miles.
We HAVE had both high beam headlights go out and I replaced both bulbs myself and both were VERY had to get to with the battery blocking the driver side one and the water reservoir in the way of getting to the passenger side one. The latter one, had the metal clip that holds the bulb stationery, break off the plastic and now the headlight won't pass the new "improved" computer inspection process.
Also, when I took it in for what I thought would be a simple front end alignment, I was told 3 of the four cambers were bent inward and would need to be replaced in addition to the four wheel alignment. He said that is common with these "cheap" cars. I spent $400 that day including the rotation and balancing before a long road trip, and the whole car STILL vibrated when I got up to 70 and beyond on the interstate.
Like I said, so far we have been spared any big problems, but I have a bad feeling that once our warranty expires in less than 40K miles, they will start appearing. I got this because I read where Car and Driver said it was a good alternative to higher priced Toyota and Honda small cars, but I hope I wasn't just pennywise and pound foolish.