1998 Hyundai Elantra — reported problems

CarFaultIQ holds 106 evidence records for the 1998 Hyundai Elantra, drawn from official sources and owner complaints.

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 68 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

  • Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)13 (19.1%)Official recall records for this system: 10, covering model years 1999–2023.
  • Engine11 (16.2%)Official recall records for this system: 12, covering model years 1999–2024.
  • Air bags (restraint system)7 (10.3%)Official recall records for this system: 23, covering model years 1995–2026.
  • Brakes5 (7.4%)Official recall records for this system: 19, covering model years 2001–2017.
  • Fuel system4 (5.9%)Official recall records for this system: 15, covering model years 1996–2023.
  • Doors, latches & locks3 (4.4%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2015–2016.

Other / uncategorized: 7 classifications (10.3%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

  • Owner complaints (17,190 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, air bags (restraint system) and steering.
  • Safety recalls (162 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), fuel system and brakes.
  • Transport Canada recalls (163 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: brakes, engine and air bags (restraint system).
  • Manufacturer communications (3,110 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and equipment & accessories.
  • Investigations (58 records, model years 1995–2022) are most frequently classified under: fuel system, air bags (restraint system) and body & structure.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

  1. 1995 133 records for 1995
  2. 1996 167 records for 1996
  3. 1997 186 records for 1997
  4. 1998 106 records for 1998
  5. 1999 193 records for 1999
  6. 2000 247 records for 2000
  7. 2001 430 records for 2001
  8. 2002 432 records for 2002
  9. 2003 313 records for 2003
  10. 2004 245 records for 2004
  11. 2005 186 records for 2005
  12. 2006 192 records for 2006
  13. 2007 333 records for 2007
  14. 2008 372 records for 2008
  15. 2009 308 records for 2009
  16. 2010 431 records for 2010
  17. 2011 576 records for 2011
  18. 2012 781 records for 2012
  19. 2013 1,476 records for 2013
  20. 2014 538 records for 2014
  21. 2015 419 records for 2015
  22. 2016 433 records for 2016
  23. 2017 928 records for 2017
  24. 2018 401 records for 2018
  25. 2019 365 records for 2019
  26. 2020 349 records for 2020
  27. 2021 220 records for 2021
  28. 2022 219 records for 2022
  29. 2023 174 records for 2023
  30. 2024 86 records for 2024
  31. 2025 55 records for 2025
  32. 2026 8 records for 2026

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

  • 9mention a crash
  • 6mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

  • Manufacturer communications NHTSA 51
  • Owner complaints NHTSA 55

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.

Symptoms and warning lights in these systems

Where to go next