Ford Focus vs Hyundai Elantra GT: which is more reliable?
The Hyundai Elantra GT is clearly ahead of the Ford Focus on the federal record: 76/100 against 57/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Ford Focus
- 8 model years scored
- 12,618 owner complaints on record
- about 133 complaints per year on the road
- 68 recall campaigns, 36 safety-critical
- best year 2011 (94/100) · worst 2012 (32/100)
Hyundai Elantra GT
- 8 model years scored
- 3,356 owner complaints on record
- about 41 complaints per year on the road
- 2 recall campaigns, 2 safety-critical
- best year 2018 (91/100) · worst 2013 (46/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Focus against Elantra GT
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Ford Focus
- Power Train — 6,179 complaints
- Engine — 2,149 complaints
- Steering — 1,539 complaints
Hyundai Elantra GT
- Engine — 1,058 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 423 complaints
- Service Brakes — 420 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Focus's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Elantra GT's in Engine. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Ford Focus — avoid: 2012, 2013, 2014.
Hyundai Elantra GT — avoid: 2013, 2017.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Ford Focus prices at about $13,000 and a Hyundai Elantra GT at about $15,700 — the Ford Focus is roughly $2,700 less, and they return 28.0 against 28.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Ford Focus or the Hyundai Elantra GT more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Hyundai Elantra GT scores 76/100 against the Ford Focus's 57/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Hyundai Elantra GT carries about 41 complaints per year on the road against 133 for the Ford Focus.
Which Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra GT years should I avoid?
Ford Focus: 2012, 2013, 2014. Hyundai Elantra GT: 2013, 2017. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Ford Focus and the Hyundai Elantra GT?
The largest complaint group on the Ford Focus is Power Train (6,179 complaints); on the Hyundai Elantra GT it is Engine (1,058).
Is the Ford Focus or the Hyundai Elantra GT cheaper to own?
A recent used Ford Focus prices at about $13,000 and a Hyundai Elantra GT at about $15,700, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.