242 NHTSA owner complaints · 3 recalls · data-computed verdict. No opinions — public data only.
Complaints per year on the road: 40.33
Verbatim reports filed with the United States safety regulator (NHTSA) by owners of this exact model year. Public record.
At 105,000 MI. My car stalled out and the engine stopped. It needs a new cam shaft, timing chain set, cam phaser and timing cover. We also had to replace the Variable valve timing solenoids as the metal melted.
Reporting on 2020 Hyundai Elantra. I have owned since 2023, my car is currently at a Hyundai certified dealership for it's 3rd transmission in the three years I have owned it. All 3 transmission were inspected and then replaced by Hyundai certified technicians. The Safety aspect is the inability to get you vehicle off the highway.
Around 9 p.m., I was driving home on the XXX highway at about 60 mph. The road was clear, with no obstacles ahead, and it was lightly drizzling in the [XXX] area. Suddenly, the car's emergency braking system activated, then returned to normal. Although it startled me, thankfully there were no cars behind me to avoid a collision. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(…
What the community is saying right now.
| Campaign | Component | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 19V720000 | Wheels:Lugs/Nuts/Bolts/Studs | Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2019 Ioniq Hybrid and 2020 Elantra vehicles. The right-side rear wheel lug nuts may ha… |
| 19V721000 | Suspension:Front:Control Arm:Lower Ball | Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2020 Elantra vehicles. The lower control arm ball joint fasteners may have been insuff… |
| 21V301000 | Engine | Hyundai Motor America (Hyundai) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Elantra, 2019-2021 Kona and Veloster vehicles equipped with 2.0L Nu MPI engin… |
EPA combined 36 MPG · estimated annual fuel cost $1,700
Re-priced automatically from your country's retail fuel, electricity and parts indices — change country in the bar at the top. Estimates; see methodology.
The most-reported issue in NHTSA complaint data is Engine (102 complaints in our indexed sample).
Our data verdict is AVOID with a reliability score of 36/100, computed from 242 NHTSA complaints and 3 recall campaigns. See the verdict card for the top reasons.
Yes — NHTSA lists 3 recall campaign(s) for the 2020 Hyundai Elantra, 0 of them touching fire, crash or stall risk, the most recent recorded 09/10/2019. Check this car's VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before you buy.
Fuel, maintenance band and depreciation — computed from public data in 10 seconds.
Open the true-cost calculatorComplaints & recalls: NHTSA ·
Fuel economy: EPA fueleconomy.gov ·
Scoring: our published methodology.
Maintenance bands are industry-average estimates (AAA Your Driving Costs, CarMD index) — labeled estimates, not measurements.
Last updated: 2026-08-20.