[Justin Hall]

Are they that bad? I have a Sonata with the 2.4 and that engine made me nervous until it was replaced and supposedly they fixed them... but I keep reading people having issues with the 1.8 engines in the Elantra... I was looking at a fully loaded 13 Elantra Limited and it has the 1.8 with 55,000 miles on it.
So what is it? The engines are junk or the people with issues are the minority/vocal about it and the majority don’t have issues and don’t talk about how great they are?
Didn’t Hyundai do an ad highlighting an Elantra with this engine going 1 million miles?

 

[jeffbud]

2013 was a bad year for that engine, but that's not saying that ALL engines from 2013 have issues. Check the maintenance records. I personally would never buy a used vehicle without a detailed maintenance history.

 

[bkeitaylor]

Are they that bad? I have a Sonata with the 2.4 and that engine made me nervous until it was replaced and supposedly they fixed them... but I keep reading people having issues with the 1.8 engines in the Elantra... I was looking at a fully loaded 13 Elantra Limited and it has the 1.8 with 55,000 miles on it.
So what is it? The engines are junk or the people with issues are the minority/vocal about it and the majority don’t have issues and don’t talk about how great they are?
Didn’t Hyundai do an ad highlighting an Elantra with this engine going 1 million miles?

I have a 2013 bought new, built late in 2013 in the U.S. I have 60000 miles, 100000 km on it and have had no problems with the engine. Changed the oil and all fluids according to the manual. The engine has always sounded like a diesel engine at start up when cold.

 

[Justin Hall]

2013 was a bad year for that engine, but that's not saying that ALL engines from 2013 have issues. Check the maintenance records. I personally would never buy a used vehicle without a detailed maintenance history.

Maintenance records look solid on this particular vehicle, but it seems even when taken care of that these motors blow up or have major issues and in a lot of cases Hyundai isn't fixing them under warranty. Although as a second owner I wouldn't get the 10/100k warranty anyways...

 

[jeffbud]

If maintenance records look good, and you can get it for a good price then it may be a decent car. Friend of mine had a 2013 with over 200K km and he had no issues. The resale on these is not great so if you can get it cheap then it might be worth it.

 

[Myke212]

90,000 on our 2013, and no issues.

 

[burtstwins]

2012, 190,000 miles, no problems

 

[Teddybear1234]

Are they that bad? I have a Sonata with the 2.4 and that engine made me nervous until it was replaced and supposedly they fixed them... but I keep reading people having issues with the 1.8 engines in the Elantra... I was looking at a fully loaded 13 Elantra Limited and it has the 1.8 with 55,000 miles on it.
So what is it? The engines are junk or the people with issues are the minority/vocal about it and the majority don’t have issues and don’t talk about how great they are?
Didn’t Hyundai do an ad highlighting an Elantra with this engine going 1 million miles?

That ad was a woman who delivered parts alll highway milage no city driving what so ever

 

[Woketman]

2012, with 153,000 miles, no major issues. Just the crankshaft sensor replaced once, same for the gear position sensor and the tranny temp sensor. Running great!

 

[Propflux01]

What symptoms for the gear position sensor?

 

[Woketman]

I can imagine, depending on how said switch fails, that there can be a variety of symptoms. But in my case, it manifested like this: one time you get in the car and no nothing as you turn the key. After running the automatic tranny gear selector thru it's range and back to P or N, it starts just fine. This repeats in coming weeks until the switch gets worse and worse, ultimately resulting in no more starting. Good news is replacement switch was not too much and it is rather simple to replace yourself.

 

[Woketman]

Oh, and since the switch is failing, it can often report the gear position incorrectly. So, as you sit in the non-starting car which is in P for Park, the dashboard may show R for reverse. Since the electronics believe that the thing is in reverse, it will NOT energize the starter, hence the problem.

 

[Teddybear1234]

2012, with 153,000 miles, no major issues. Just the crankshaft sensor replaced once, same for the gear position sensor and the tranny temp sensor. Running great!

Were did they replace tranny temp sensor I need mine replaced they said they replace the whole transmission

 

[Woketman]

Where? It is interior to the tranny. I was just under the end of my 100K mile warranty, so they replaced it under warranty. I think they take the tranny pan off, drain the fluid, replace the sensor and wire harness, replace the pan and refill.

 

[flemmons]

Oh, and since the switch is failing, it can often report the gear position incorrectly. So, as you sit in the non-starting car which is in P for Park, the dashboard may show R for reverse. Since the electronics believe that the thing is in reverse, it will NOT energize the starter, hence the problem.

Spot on. What some folks may not realize is that in most if not all newer cars the ignition switch is no longer tied to the starter solenoid. When you turn the key, or push the start button, all you are doing is sending a signal to the control computer to start the car. The computer then checks several parameters (is the transmission in park or neutral? If a push button start is the brake pedal pushed down? etc.) and if all parameters are met, a signal is sent to the starter solenoid which then engages the starter. If you want to see this in real life, some cars will continue to attempt a start even if you release the key position or take you finger off the start button. It is an elaborate design on a well established function, but generally doesn't cause problems.