Avg. Price Paid:$7,798 - $9,191
Original MSRP: $13,395 - $17,895
MPG: 28 City / 36 Hwy
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Hyundai Elantra Recalls & Reliability

These scores and this review are from when the car was new.

Scorecard

Overall: 2007 Hyundai Elantra U.S. News Best Cars 8.0
Critics' Rating: 8.1
Performance: 7.5
Interior: 8.1
Safety: 9.0
Reliability:
How we calculate scores
Research analyzed for this review

Pros & Cons

  • Comfortable and supportive seats
  • Loaded with standard safety features and excellent scores in crash tests
  • Good value
  • Some find the interior and exterior styling too conservative
  • Mixed response from the reviewers on the light steering
  • Shifting on the manual transmission can be tricky

Research Other Years

Review Last Updated: 5/2/08

Recalls

There have been 2 safety recalls issued from NHTSA.

EXTERIOR LIGHTINGRecall Date: 07/15/2009
  • Consequence: ANY OF THESE MALFUNCTIONS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH.
  • NHTSA Campaign ID: 09V280000
  • Potential Number of Units Affected: 3011
  • Summary: HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 3,011 MODEL YEAR 2005-2007 ELANTRA, TUCSON, SONATA, AZERA AND ACCENT VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO FAIL TO ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A DEFECTIVE STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY ALSO AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFT OUT OF THE "PARK" POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.
  • Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING AUGUST 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 787-999-4310.
  • Notes: HYUNDAI OF PUERTO RICO RECALL NO. 91B026. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:SWITCHES:BRAKE LIGHTRecall Date: 04/14/2009
  • Consequence: THESE MALFUNCTIONS MY LEAD TO A CRASH.
  • NHTSA Campaign ID: 09V122000
  • Potential Number of Units Affected: 531894
  • Summary: HYUNDAI IS RECALLING 531,894 MY 2006-2007 ACCENT, ENTOURAGE, SONATA, MY 2007 AZERA, ELANTRA AND SANTA FE, MY 2005-2007 TUCSON AND MY 2007-2008 VERACRUZ VEHICLES. THE STOP LAMP SWITCH IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES MAY MALFUNCTION. A MALFUNCTIONING STOP LAMP SWITCH MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED OR MAY CAUSE THE BRAKE LIGHTS TO REMAIN ILLUMINATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS RELEASED. A STOP LAMP SWITCH MALFUNCTION MAY AFFECT THE OPERATION OF THE BRAKE-TRANSMISSION SHIFT INTERLOCK FEATURE SO THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTER WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE SHIFTED OUT OF PARK POSITION. IT MAY ALSO CAUSE THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) MALFUNCTION LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE, AND IT MAY NOT DEACTIVATE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL IS DEPRESSED.
  • Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE STOP LAMP SWITCH FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING APRIL 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HYUNDAI CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CENTER AT 1-800-633-5151.
  • Notes: HYUNDAI RECALL NO. 092. OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

Reliability

Our reliability score is based on the J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) rating or, if unavailable, the J.D. Power Predicted Reliability rating.

Dependability Ratings1 2007
Overall Dependability
Powertrain Dependability
Feature & Accessory Dependability
Body & Interior Dependability

1These scores come from consumer ratings of their vehicles after three years of ownership.

  • Key:
  • Among The Best
  • Better Than Most
  • About Average
  • The Rest

J.D. Power and Associates Power Circle Ratings do not include all information used to determine J.D. Power and Associates awards. See JDPower.com for more information on Power Circle Ratings. Your experience may vary.

All information provided by J.D. Power and Associates is proprietary information owned by J.D. Power and Associates and is protected by U.S. and international copyright law and conventions. Reproduction of this information, in whole or in part, by any means is prohibited without the express written consent of J.D. Power and Associates, other than printing copies of the J.D. Power and Associates content by site visitors for their personal use. J.D. Power and Associates® is a registered trademark of J.D. Power and Associates.

Warranty

The Elantra comes equipped with a stellar five-year/60,000-mile limited warranty. In addition, the Elantra's lengthy powertrain coverage receives praise. The Car Connection says it "stands out as one of the best in the business, with ... ten years or 100,000 miles on powertrain components, and seven years on rust."

Though the reliability and build quality of previous Elantra models was "notorious for being sloppy" (according to Edmunds), much has changed.
Kelley Blue Book says the 2007 Hyundai Elantra "feels secure and reliable," while MSN says, "With greater structural rigidity, the new Elantra has a more solid feel."

Also see J.D. Power's assessment of the Hyundai Elantra's quality and reliability.

Next Steps: Hyundai Elantra