NHTSA Complaint #10913658 — 2006 HYUNDAI ELANTRA

OUR CAR BLEW A HEAD GASKET AND NOW NEEDS A NEW ENGINE. IT IS, ESSENTIALLY, TOTALED. IT ONLY HAD 86,000 MILES ON IT AND WE HAD PLANNED ON DRIVING IT FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER 10 YEARS. THE CAR HAD BEEN IN A PARKING GARAGE ALL DAY. IT WAS ONLY 80 DEGREES OUTSIDE. WITHIN 10 MILES OF DRIVING, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. WITHIN ANOTHER 5 MILES THE ENGINE OVERHEATED AND BLEW A HEAD GASKET. THIS WAS NORMAL, FLAT, FREEWAY DRIVING. FORTUNATELY MY HUSBAND, WHO WAS DRIVING, HAD MADE HIS WAY TO THE RIGHT LANE WHEN THE LIGHT CAME ON AND WAS ABLE TO GET SAFELY OUT OF TRAFFIC. OUR CONCERN IS THAT THIS MAY HAPPEN TO OTHERS, AND MAY HAVE MORE SERIOUS REPERCUSSIONS. I'M NOT AWARE OF A RECALL BEING OUT ON THIS, BUT PERHAPS THERE SHOULD BE.