NHTSA Complaint #10782592 — 2011 HYUNDAI ELANTRA

THE HYUNDAI ELANTRA HAS AN INTERMITTENT STARTING PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM IS HARD TO DUPLICATE. THE SOLUTION REQUIRES VARIOUS ATTEMPTS AT TRYING THE START SWITCH ALONG WITH THE MOVEMENT OF SHIFT LEVER. THIS BECOMES A SAFETY PROBLEM SINCE IT REQUIRES NUMEROUS ATTEMPTS TO MOVE SHIFT LEVER FROM PARK TO NEUTRAL POSITION. WHEN ATTEMPTING TO START VEHICLE AFTER A NUMBER OF TIMES THE POWER BRAKES TAKE EXTREME PRESSURE TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE FROM MOVING. AT TIMES, THE SHIFT LEVER WILL NOT MOVE PROPERLY OUT OF THE PARK POSITION AND STILL NOT START. THIS HAS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE LOCAL HYUNDAI SERVICE WARNED ME IF PROBLEM CANNOT BE DUPLICATED OWNERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DIAGNOSTIC AND SERVICE COSTS THAT WOULD LIKELY BE $200 OR MORE. ON ONE OCCASION THE CAR WAS PARKED IN MY GARAGE FOR ABOUT A WEEK ALONG WITH DAILY ATTEMPTS AT TRYING TO START THE CAR DID NOT START THE ENGINE. FINALLY IT STARTED AND DID NOT HAVE PROBLEMS DURING THE COMPLETE SUMMER, BUT ONCE THE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN BELOW 40-50 DEGREES F PROBLEMS OCCURRED. I AM VERY LEERY AT ALLOWING OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS TO OPERATE VEHICLE SINCE SOME MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY IN APPLYING THE LARGE AMOUNT OF BRAKING FORCE TO STOP VEHICLE FROM MOVING ON AN INCLINE WHEN ATTEMPTING TO START VEHICLE. I REVIEWED THE SERVICE BULLETIN NO.: TSB-12-AT-022-1 ON HYUNDAI ELANTRA AND KIA RECALL NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 13V114000 . NOTE MANY KIAS AND HYUNDAI VEHICLES ARE SIMILAR IN PARTS AND FUNCTION. AFTER READING THE NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 13V114000 ABOUT KIA, I DID RECALL INCIDENTS OF INTERMITTENT FAILING OF BRAKE LIGHTS AND INTERMITTENT ESC LIGHT MALFUNCTION.