There are 6 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2012 Hyundai Elantrain NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Car accelerated/surged when foot released from the gas pedal. Happened three separate instances. Last instance smashed into wall and damaged front bumper. Car so scary to drive we towed it to dealer. Replaced throttle sensor for $400. Related to NTSA OID 11439675
WHILE DRIVING ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND CAR STARTED RUNNING VERY ROUGH. TOOK CAR TO DEALER AND THEY FOUND MULTIPLE CYLINDERS INJECTORS LEAKING DOWN FOULING PLUGS. NEEDED FUEL INDUCTION KIT AND A FUEL INJECTOR KIT. TOTAL COST $548.85. *TR
CAR WOULD NOT START AT ALL FROM OVERNIGHT REST IN OUR DRIVEWAY. CALLED THE HYUNDAI ASSURANCE LINE, THEY SENT A TOW TRUCK FOR A BATTERY JUMP, TOW TRUCK DRIVER STARTED THE CAR WITHOUT A JUMP BY REPEATEDLY PRESSING THE GAS PEDAL AS HE TURNED THE KEY. HE SAID IT LOOKED LIKE THE CAR WAS NOT GETTING ENOUGH GAS AND THAT HE'D SEEN THIS MANY TIMES BEFORE ON RUNS FOR ELANTRAS. RESEARCH SUGGESTS THIS IS THE 2ND LEADING CAUSE OF COMPLAINTS FOR THIS MODEL / YEAR. THANK YOU. *TR
I WAS ACCELERATING TO ENTER FLOWING TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY 14 IN WASHOUGAL ,WASHINGTON WHEN THE ELANTRA BLOWS A CLOUD OF BLUE SMOKE OUT OF THE EXHAUST (BURNT ENGINE OIL). THE INCIDENT CAUSED THE VEHICLE BEHIND ME TO SLOW DOWN UNTIL THE CLOUD CLEARED. THIS INCIDENT COULD HAVE CAUSED A ACCIDENT IF I WAS ON A BUSY HIGHWAY.THIS PROBLEM HAS HAPPEN TO ME TWICE BEFORE.I TOOK THE CAR INTO THE DEALER AND THEY COULD NOT FIND THE PROBLEM. THERE ARE FORUMS ON THIS PROBLEM @ FORUMS.EDMUNDS.COM/DISCUSSION/13025/HYUNDAI/ELANTRA....UPDATED 10-13-15 *BF. THE DEALER RECOMMENED THE CONSUMER USE A HIGHER GRADE OF FUEL. UPDATED 12/31/15. *JB UPDATED 01/04/16.*JB
AFTER SITTING OVERNIGHT, VEHICLE FAILED TO START FOLLOWING MORNING. ALTHOUGH ALL COMPONENTS REQUIRING POWER (WINDOWS, HEADLIGHTS, RADIO, INTERIOR LIGHTS, ETC.) SEEMED TO BE FUNCTIONING OK, JUMP STARTED VEHICLE, AND IT STARTED IMMEDIATELY. A FEW DAYS LATER PROBLEM RECURRED; LET VEHICLE SIT FOR SOME TIME, AND VEHICLE THEN STARTED IMMEDIATELY (NO JUMP START). TODAY PROBLEM OCCURRED YET AGAIN (WAITING TO SEE IF VEHICLE WILL EVENTUALLY START). A QUICK REVIEW OF ONLINE FORUMS INDICATES A POSSIBLE ISSUE WITH THE SHIFT INTERLOCK, OR PERHAPS A FAULTY RAIN SENSOR. AS AN ASIDE, A LONGER-TERM SPORADIC, PRESUMABLY ELECTRICAL, ISSUE ALSO EXISTS WITH THE PASSENGER SIDE FRONT WINDOW. THE WINDOW WILL GO DOWN WITHOUT ISSUE, BUT IT OFTEN TAKES MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS FROM EITHER THE PASSENGER SIDE OR DRIVER'S SIDE WINDOW CONTROL TO GET THE WINDOW BACK UP. *TR
MY 2012 HYUNDAI ELANTRA WOULD NOT START THIS MORNING AND THIS WAS THE THIRD TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED STARTING IN MAY 2014. I HIT MY DOOR UNLOCK ON MY KEY FAB AND THE DOORS UNLOCKED FROM HERE I PROCEEDED START MY CAR. EVERYTHING STARTED BUT THE CAR. I TURNED BACK TO THE STARTING POSITION AND TRIED AGAIN SAME RESULTS. I WAITED A FEW MINUTES AND TRIED AGAIN AMAZINGLY IT STARTED. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY CAR? THIS HAS HAPPEN BEFORE THE FIRST TIME CALLED A TOW TRUCK DRIVER AND BY THE TIME HE ARRIVED IT STARTED . THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A VISIT TO NORTH COUNTY HYUNDAI IN CARLSBAD,CA. OF COURSE THE DEALERSHIP FOUND NOTHING WRONG . AGAIN WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY CAR? *TR
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026