"How reliable is the 1997 Hyundai Elantra?"

"Based on 196 NHTSA complaints, the 1997 Hyundai Elantra has a median complaint mileage of 89000 miles. The most common issue is Automatic Transmission."

"What are common problems with the 1997 Hyundai Elantra?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1997 Hyundai Elantra is Automatic Transmission, accounting for a significant portion of the 196 total complaints filed."

1997 Hyundai Elantra: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 196 complaints

196

Total Complaints

89,000mi

Median Mileage

Automatic Transmission

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

67,000 25th Percentile

89,000 Median Mileage

141,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Automatic Transmission

Frontal

Tank Assembly

Unknown Or Other

Door

Air Bags

Ignition

Engine

Gasoline

Fuel System, Gasoline

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHEN VEHICLE SMASHED INTO THE REAR END OF ANOTHER VEHICLE GOING 50 MPH THERE WAS NO DEPLOYEMENT OF THE AIR BAGS. THE WHOLE FRONT END OF VEHICLE WAS DAMAGED. *AK"

"AIR BAGS. DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35MPH WHEN VEHICLE PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF ME, HIT HEAD-ON AND NEITHER AIR BAG DEPLOYED. *AK"

"CONSUMER WAS INVOLVED IN A 45-50 MPH FRONTAL COLLISION, TOTALLING THE VEHICLE IN WHICH THE DRIVER'S AND/OR PASSENGER'S AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. PLEASE GIVE ANY FURTHER DETAILS. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Automatic Transmission 22 complaints

Median: 67,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

NJ: 24 MD: 21 VA: 20 NY: 19 KY: 17 CT: 12 IL: 10 GA: 9 CA: 8 MO: 7

Who Files Complaints?

52.6%

Original Owners

47.4%

Second+ Owners

Hyundai Elantra — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1992	46	-	Automatic Transmission	1
1993	39	-	Engine	2
1994	110	-	Frontal	26
1995	179	-	Frontal	32
1996	138	92,000	Gasoline	11
1998	75	72,000	Gasoline	10
1999	183	92,750	Automatic Transmission	24
2000	259	48,000	Frontal	43
2001	445	69,000	Air Bags	100
2002	431	72,000	Air Bags	80
2003	310	65,500	Suspension	59
2004	209	31,000	Air Bags	32
2005	180	51,500	Air Bags	43
2006	209	68,250	Air Bags	37
2007	364	70,530	Visibility/Wiper	26
2008	423	55,409	Steering	57
2009	315	78,000	Steering	39
2010	494	62,000	Steering	67
2011	588	70,000	Engine	29
2012	911	60,000	Engine	72
2013	1839	43,000	Steering	157
2014	540	54,000	Engine	58
2015	344	50,550	Engine	45
2016	378	54,128	Engine	30
2017	1054	41,000	Engine	57
2018	385	23,892	Engine	14
2019	309	43,500	Engine	19
2020	294	6,200	Engine	28
2021	205	15,500	Warnings	11
2022	127	23,500	Seat Belts	5
2023	131	7,000	Unknown Or Other	11
2024	86	7,654	Unknown Or Other	11
2025	23	-	Unknown Or Other	4

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28