2021 HYUNDAI ELANTRA Electrical System Problems

26 complaints about Electrical System

26
Complaints
0
Crashes
1
Fires
0
Deaths

High Severity Issue

This component has been associated with crashes, fires, or deaths.

This Problem Across All Years

All Electrical System Complaints (26)

Dec 4, 2025

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2021 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was 51,192 and at the time of receiving the vehicle from the dealer it was discovered that the mileage was 50,310.

Mileage: 51,192

Aug 28, 2025

The Horn never worked since I bought it in August 2023, i’ve been in a countless near accident situations where I was rendered helpless. I’ve had several instances where I get locked out of my car because the vehicle would not read the key. I tried fix the issue because I assumed it was a dead car or key battery but the same problems kept happening shortly after. I became aware of the issue with the horn not working, when I recently purchased the vehicle. I tried to contact the ALM dealership salesman to report the issue and they told me he had recently quit. They mentioned bringing it back to the shop but it wasn’t guaranteed that the issue would be fixed.

Aug 4, 2025

Engine shots off while on the automatic stop and go idle . It is being doing it for a while but it is happening more often even with the auto idle off and it even happened at the freeway. It gives me a message to put it in park or neutral and turn the engine on manually. Making this a very dangerous situation because cars behind me don’t know that my engine suddenly shots off. Thanks

May 20, 2025

Unintended acceleration is happening. After about 15-30 minutes of driving, accelerating from a stopped position becomes very difficult in the sense that the vehicle does NOT accelerate when gas pedal is pressed. This can be extremely dangerous as you do not know when the vehicle will no longer accelerate and could get hit when crossing an intersection or turning onto any road at all. ESC warning light came on today and vehicle will no longer start but goes into auxiliary mode. This is not the first time, second, third, nor even 5th time a report on this vehicle has been made and with each report more issues are arising with seemingly NO fix in sight.

Mar 7, 2025

My back up camera fails to work consistently. This issue appears to only worsen with every use. Sometimes to screen will appear half on and half off. I have yet to receive any notice of a recall and would like to get this fixed if at all possible. Thank you!

Jan 10, 2025

Constant sound of flowing water throughout the front of the vehicle. Several service appointments later and there is still no solution to the issue that has been going on for over a year. Thia can be heard like a stream of water flowing. Engine ticking, loud rattling from engine. You can hear in from inside of the car.

Dec 25, 2024

The reverse camera does not work

Oct 22, 2024

Back up Camera. When reversing cannot see out back window do to incline of glass making hard to reverse. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There was not any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear.

Oct 21, 2024

I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding a significant safety issue with my vehicle’s backup camera system. The backup camera consistently malfunctions, displaying glitchy images with distorted lines across the screen. This issue renders the camera essentially unusable, as it fails to provide a clear view of the area behind the vehicle, posing a serious safety hazard. This malfunction directly impacts my ability to safely reverse, especially in crowded areas where visibility is crucial. The camera’s unreliability puts pedestrians and other drivers at risk, as I am unable to fully ensure that my path is clear when reversing. I strongly believe this defect poses a significant safety concern that needs to be addressed by the manufacturer. I request that the NHTSA investigate this issue and take appropriate action to ensure that this problem is resolved for myself and the many other affected vehicle owners. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Jul 24, 2024

Rear backup camera suddenly stopped working and when in reverse the sensors kick in and breaks the vehicle when there's no object or vehicle behind. Also the code for the backup sensor came up but dealer didn't do anything.

Jun 24, 2024

My car has two warning lights on my dashboard. First one is Check Foward Safety system. Second one is Check Smart Cruise Control System. Both of them turned on when I was driving in the middle of a highway. These warning lights activated out of the blue, without any unusual circumstances.I cannot use my smart cruise control system and the car is not able to alert me about forward collision. This issue has already been addressed through a recall for my vehicle's model and year in Korea. My vehicle was produced in Korea and was imported to the United States; however, Hyundai has not issued a recall regarding the same problem in the United States. This is a safety concern, and Hyundai should repair it free of charge, and the company should compensate customers who have already undergone repairs for the repair costs.

Jun 10, 2024

Since last year around 55k miles, my backup camera has stoped working. The first incident happened as I was about to back out of my garage. I opened the garage door and put my car into reverse. As I looked down at the screen and began to back up, I realized the screen showed me an image of a closed garage door ever though the door was open. Almost as if it had taken a screenshot or froze. The second occurrence was similar except it was when I was parking in a job site parking lot. When I put my car in reverse to park, what came on my screen was the image of the highway about 15 minutes prior. I’ve had several experiences like this where the backup camera freezes, has static-like lines all over the screen, discoloration, or delayed effects. This is dangerous because if someone is looking down at the screen and doesn’t realize the backup camera is giving an incorrect output, this can result in an accident (whether it be a single car or multiple car accident). This is because you can end up hitting something/someone if you get delayed feedback on the camera and don’t realize.

Jun 10, 2024

Back up camera doesn’t work. When put in reverse the screen is static and when you press the back up camera button it won’t turn on

Feb 6, 2024 Fire

The contact owned a 2021 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked unattended. Approximately thirteen hours later, he was notified by the fire department that the vehicle had caught fire. A police report was filed. There were no reported injuries. The vehicle was parked where the fire occurred. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot and later the contact's insurance provider declared the vehicle a total loss, the cause was assumed to be electrical. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 24,000.

Mileage: 24,000

Feb 5, 2024

I have had to get the horn replaced on my ELANTRA six times the horn goes out and this can be a very big safety hazard as it has caused people to almost hit me because they didn’t see me and my horn wasn’t working to alert them this needs to be addressed as soon as possible as this could cause someone to lose their life in the wrong instance

Dec 5, 2023

When driving at 55MPH with cruise control on, the car suddenly accelerated to 75MPH, this happened on the open road and was able to keep under control. Auto has less than 10,000 miles. I will be contacting Hyundai customer service for a case number on this incident. First indication of a problem was cruise control, auto braking failed iin June of 2023. This follows a replacement of defective front radar unit by Hyundai which was replaced at 8295 miles on July 26, 2023. This problem first occurred in late June/early July of 2023. There was no warning.

Oct 7, 2023

The horn stops working. It is not a fuse related issue. It is the horn itself. There are multiple reports of horn failure in this model, 2021 and 2022, on the internet and social media. There are people reporting that dealerships are also seeing a lot of cars with horn failure. This is a serious safety issue. Someone could go off the road into the woods and crash, unable to signal with a horn that they’re there. Unable to beep their horn to get the attention of a child or animal that is about to run into the road. There are countless scenarios where the horn is important. Cellphones don’t work everywhere… a horn should always work. There are far too many reports of the horn issue for it to not be a manufacture related issue. Please look into this. This could have pretty tragic implications that could otherwise be avoided. I will attach a screenshot from a social media Hyundai group of the 2022 model. I need to get into the dealership to have mine repaired and will do so asap. I’m just very concerned about the safety of everyone. Some are reporting dealerships are not clear about if the horn issue, which involves replacement of the steering assembly, is covered, while others are saying it is.

Oct 2, 2023

My car has 76,000 miles on it fully maintained and recorded at hyundai dealerships. One day I’m driving and a check engine light pops up the same day I get it taken in to have it diagnosed, few hours go by I get a call they tell me that the Integrated thermal management module on my car has burnt out. I was surprised because my car is fairly new I asked them how could it prematurely fail they could not give me answer and they told me I would have to pay out of pocket for it and I did. They advised me that I should not drive the car as it could pose severe risk to engine failure as coolant is connected to the part in question. So I left my car there and they ordered a new part and it got fixed the very next day, it was ready for me to pick up. I’m frustrated because I’m not the only one who had this problem and warranty did not cover Hyundai did not want to work with me to resolve my issue and as a result it costed me money and time. I’m not the only one who has this problem but is it really safe for my car to have this part if it could cause engine damage worse fire in that area due to a design flaw.

Aug 29, 2023

On three occasions while turning out into an intersection my steering wheel will lock up and my forward collision warning system will engage and my just stop in the road. Out of those three times, my car has been towed to the dealership twice. The dealer has been working very hard to identify the issue while working with Hyundai tech services. They have poured countless hours and money into this car and still have not been able to identify and correct it. My vehicle has become a deathtrap waiting to happen.

Jun 15, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle decelerated and lost motive power. The contact stated that the vehicle went into LIMP Mode. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on three occasions; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

Mileage: 61,000

Feb 10, 2023

Horn stopped working.

Oct 26, 2022

car problems started with back up camera not working, it has caused dash lights to go out, headlights to go out while driving safety sensors to sound for no reason. I have also started having problems with radio flashing and going blank. The vehicle has been checked by Hyundai dealer they did say back up camera bad but no answers for rest of issues.there were no warning lights prior to any of these problems. I still do not know what is really wrong and cannot drive vehicle at night or bad weather for fear of losing headlights. Vehicle is 2021 hyundai elantra with 10,500 miles on it.

May 12, 2022

Twice now when starting the car all the driver safety systems will show a warning that they are not working and the message is that the car is not save to drive. A bunch of warning signs will go off and the wheel locks. The brake system has also locked up. I captured it on video, but it won’t let me upload it here.

May 9, 2022

While driving on the freeway around 70 mph the car seems to reboot, it slows down and coast and the dash computers shutdown and restarts.

May 2, 2022

A squirrel chewed my wiring into the temperature coolant sensor. I had to have two different rental cars for six weeks before I received my car back. Nothing happened to those vehicles during those six weeks. Within a week of having my car (2021 Elantra) back, a squirrel chewed more wiring. My car is now needing another repair. This is a known issue with Hyundai as well as other makers. I feel it’s pretty compelling evidence that there is a problem as two vehicles were not bothered by squirrels for six weeks and then my car comes back and it gets chewed up again right away. All cars were parked on my driveway.

Oct 12, 2021

On August 17, my new Elantra lost power steering, and most safety related features. Most all instrument warning lights came on. Was able to get car to dealer service where they kept car overnight, and reset the error lights. They told me, they recorded the computer codes, but could not find the cause of the problem. On August 26, again the instrument warning lights suddenly came on AGAIN. Took car to dealer service, where they kept car almost 2 weeks, but could not find the cause. They recorded computer codes. I contacted Hyundai, and a case number was established, but no fix has been found. Case worker has been difficult to reach. My wife refuses to drive this car. New electrical problems: 1.Driver's door handle light not working at night when approaching door. 2. Receiving false emails that car doors are not locked, but they are locked. 3. Using myhundai, shows door are not locked, but they are. When using application to lock doors, false message back that a door is open. 4. Navigation cuts off intermittently. 6. Gasoline consumption computer resets sometimes, other times it does not. 7. Remote start application does not work, says my door is open. 8. Items missing from center display menus. (Door light, reset gas mileage etc) Car has to go back to dealer service for needed repairs.