PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – "I was scared out of my wits," Harriette Gordon, of Coconut Creek, said after her 2013 Hyundai Elantra crashed into a tree.
Gordon "Called Christina" to say she had her foot on the break of her car while pulling into a parking spot when all of a sudden the car "flew" over the curb and into a tree.
"Having driven so many years, this was the worst thing, just the worst," she said.
The Call Christina team poured through pages of complaints pertaining to the 2013 Hyundai Elantra filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and found more than a dozen reports mirroring Gordon's experience.
Here is a snapshot of some of the complaints we uncovered:
File Date: 01/04/2016
"…while attempting to park at approximately 5 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning."
File Date: 12/28/2015
"My 2013 Hyundai Elantra ran into a Subway restaurant at 12150 S. Cicero, Alsip, IL. I was going into the subway parking lot, my goal was to park, but my car did not stop when I put on my brakes. My car kept going; it drove over the sidewalk, through the scrubs, and hit the building head on."
File Date: 01/20/2015
"Driver was making a left turn into a parking space on second floor of parking garage. As the left turn was made, the Elantra GT suddenly accelerated by itself into a wall, hitting a pole and the wall."
File Date: 01/17/2015
"2013 Hyundai Elantra had an accident due to unintended acceleration. Was pulling onto my parking spot, when the car just accelerated by itself, causing me to crash into my building."
File Date: 07/13/2015
"Pulling into the parking space at work less than 5 mph car accelerated and hit the parking garage wall."
File Date: 12/10/2014
"2013 Hyundai Elantra had an accident due to unintended acceleration."
File Date: 09/16/2014
"While turning into a parking spot my car suddenly jumped and accelerated and slammed into a concrete barrier. The air bag also did not deploy."
File Date: 07/25/2014
"Pulling into a parking space at Walgreens about a foot from a complete stop car suddenly accelerated up over a 6-in curb across a 5-ft sidewalk into a concrete wall of the store."
File Date: 10/02/2013
"…Unintentionally accelerated and crashing into a concrete wall in the parking lot at King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia PA. The car was turning into a parking space and when the gas petal was applied the car accelerated full speed into the wall. This is the second time this has happen to a car that was only 9 weeks old."
File Date: 6/17/2013
"Vehicle sudden acceleration after pressing brakes and trying to park. As I was turning into a parking space (less than 5 mph), in front of a grocery store to park the car, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, hit a lighting pole and completely damaged the front of the car."
According to CarComplaints.com, 2013 is the model year of the Hyundai Elantra with the most overall complaints. The most reported problem for that make/model year is "brakes make grinding noise."
"And it is supposed to be the best car on the market," Gordon said. "Sorry I had that car. That's all I can tell you."
On its website, the NHTSA gave the 2013 Hyundai Elantra 4 DR FWD an overall 5-star rating.
"We're not used to seeing any major problems with Hyundai, which makes the early signs of trouble with the 2013 Elantra very surprising in a bad way," CarComplaints.com noted. "It seems there was a bad batch of OEM pads & rotors, but so far Hyundai is not doing a recall. Instead Hyundai issued a TSB & dealers have been replacing pads & rotors on a per-complaint basis."
Gordon wants the manufacturer to acknowledge the pattern of complaints and reimburse her the $500 deductible incurred when she had to service the leased car for repairs. She also wants the dealer to put her in a new car for the remainder of her lease.
"I am very leery about driving this car (because) this could happen again," she said.
In a statement to Call Christina, a spokesman for Hyundai said, "The Elantra is a very well designed and safe car. Virtually every government study, including several NHTSA studies, has concluded that these incidents are caused by driver error."
You can report a problem, read complaints and review technical service bulletins at SaferCar.gov.
Click here to look-up recalls by VIN.
NHTSA Hyundai Link:
Hyundai Agrees to Pay $17.35 Million Fine in Brake Defect Case
Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) related to the 2013 Elantra:
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-15-01-012
Component(s): POWER TRAIN
NHTSA ID Number: 10058137
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: CABLE END CONNECTING TRANSMISSION RANGE SWITCH TO SHIFT LEVER PIN IS FASTENED TO RUBBER GROMMET WITH A PIN AND ENSURES PROPER GEAR SELECTION. MODEL 2011-13 ELANTRA. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-14-FL-006
Component(s): ENGINE
NHTSA ID Number: 10057053
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: THE DIAGNOSTIC LOGIC IS REVISED FOR ENGINE CONTROL UNIT (ECM) AND OP CODE, THAT WAS UPDATED. MODEL 2011-13 ELANTRA. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-13-01-043
Component(s): POWER TRAIN
NHTSA ID Number: 10054795
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: INFORMATION PROVIDED REGARDING THE PROCEDURE OF HOW TO DRAIN AND REFILL, TO CAPACITY SPECIFIED, MANUAL TRANSAXLE OIL, IN SOME VEHICLES. MODEL 2013 ELANTRA. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-12-AT-022-1
Component(s): ENGINE , POWER TRAIN
NHTSA ID Number: 10054172
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: DUE TO AN IMPROPERLY ADJUSTED OR IMPROPERLY OPERATING INHIBITOR SWITCH (RANGE SWITCH), ON SOME VEHICLES, RESULTED IN RANGE SWITCH SENSOR CIRCUIT (P0705), OPEN CIRCUIT (P0707), SWITCH RANGE/PERFORMANCE (P0706), SHORT CIRCUIT OR MULTIPLE INPUTS (P0708), IMPOSSIBLE ENGINE START (P OR N), MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LIGHT (MIL) ILLUMINATION. MODEL 2010-2013 SANTA FE, TUCSON, SONATA, ELANTRA, AZERA, ACCENT, VELOSTER TURBO. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-13-FL-008
Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM , ENGINE
NHTSA ID Number: 10054170
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: AN UPDATE FOR ECM TO REVISE LOGIC DUE TO IDLE AIR CONTROL SYSTEM, RPM HIGHER THAN EXPECTED (P0507). MODEL 2013 ELANTRA GT. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-13-FL-006
Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM , ENGINE
NHTSA ID Number: 10053532
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: THE FOLLOWING DTCS P2096 POST CATALYST FUEL TRIM SYSTEM TOO LEAN, P0301/2/3/4 CYLINDER 1/2/3/4 MISFIRE DETECTED, ON SOME VEHICLES, WILL BE REVISED THE LOGIC BY AN ECU UPDATE. MODELS 2011-2013 ELANTRA. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-13-AT-008
Component(s): ELECTRICAL SYSTEM , POWER TRAIN
NHTSA ID Number: 10052147
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: INFORMATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED REGARDING PROCEDURE IN REPAIRING AND REPLACING RELATED PART TO TRANSMISSION SOLENOID DTC FOR CERTAIN VEHICLES. MODELS 2010-2013 TUCSON, SANTA FE, 2011-2013 SONATA, ELANTRA, AZERA, 2012-2013 ACCENT, 2013 VELOSTER. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-13-FL-002
Component(s): ENGINE , FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
NHTSA ID Number: 10052144
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: THE THROTTLE CONTROL (ETC) BODY, ON SOME VEHIICLES, NEEDS TO BE CLEANED AND PROCEDURAL INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED, DUE TO DEPOSITS FOUND AT VALVE-TO-BORE INTERFACE. MODELS 2011-2013 ELANTRA, 2010-2013 GENESIS COUPE, 2010-2013 SANTA FE, 2006-2013 SONATA, 2010-2013 TUCSON. *PE
Service Bulletin No.: TSB-13-FL-001
Component(s): POWER TRAIN
NHTSA ID Number: 10052143
Manufacturer: Hyundai Motor America
Summary:
HYUNDAI: DUE TO AN ERROR IN THE INTERNAL CONTROL MODULE READ ONLY MEMORY, INFORMATION IS PROVIDED REGARDING THE REPLACING OF THE PCM AND A POSSIBLE WARRANTY CLAIM. MODELS 2011-2013 ELANTRA, 2010-2013 GENESIS COUPE, 2010-2013 SANTA FE, 2006-2013 SONATA, 2010-2013 TUCSON. *PE