29th Dec 2005, 18:18

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)?

12th May 2006, 16:17

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.

25th May 2006, 06:53

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.

4th Jun 2006, 19:58

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.

11th Jun 2006, 22:43

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!

16th Oct 2006, 09:47

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?

30th Jan 2007, 09:01

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?

9th Apr 2007, 23:39

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.

12th Apr 2007, 10:29

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.