Hyundai Elantra Hybrid jerking problems

Filed Oct 22, 2026 · Acceleration, Engine · PA

Approximately once every 500 - 2000 miles (maybe more frequently this year), my car suddenly begins to accelerate hard. This happens even if my foot is completely off the gas pedal. Usually, before the problem becomes severe, there are a few minutes in which I suspect the car is sometimes lurching forward, or losing some ability to accelerate. Then the problem worsens til the car is almost undriveable... it speeds up, I slow it down with the brakes, I release the brakes, the car speeds up, I slow it down with the brakes again, and so on. The problem goes away right away when I turn the car off and then back on. I brought the car to the the dealer to investigate this when the car was still pretty new, but they found nothing. I did have a recall repair (software update) done that I thought was related to this, but it made no difference. The check engine light does not illuminate, and neither do any other warnings. It's very scary when it happens. When it's bad and I don't have an opportunity to pull off the road, I can shift to neutral and let the car coast to a stop at the side of the road. Or I can turn the engine off and then back on, while the car is still moving.

Filed Apr 30, 2024 · Acceleration, Fuel system · TX

When gas is pressed (even to floor) in drive, vehicle stalls, does not accelerate. Then vehicle jerks into propulsion after revving. Other instances, at deceleration the car will jerk and shake to a stop. I have mentioned the problem at every scheduled maintenance

Filed Jan 4, 2024 · Driver assistance, Transmission · GA

Horn has now shut off at 11k miles. Jerky shifting transmission Combustion engine failed to start several occasions. Many error warnings for the lane keep assist

Filed Nov 25, 2023 · Engine, Transmission · NJ

Car still jerks forward after their “repair” attempts. Car will also not accelerate on the highway and won’t go past 55 without engine codes and the car going limp

Filed Oct 26, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 1,500 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2023 Hyundai Elantra. The contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking brake light illuminated, and the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the tires to skid and the speed to abruptly decelerate. Moments later the Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking light turned off, and the vehicle operated normally. The failure had occurred on several occasions. Additionally, the vehicle had experienced unintended acceleration, causing the vehicle to lurch forward. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of failure. The failure mileage was 1,500.

Filed Oct 11, 2023 · Transmission · FL

I have been encountering a series of troubling and erratic issues with my vehicle. These problems occur under various driving conditions, including acceleration, steady-state driving, and braking. However, the most prevalent and problematic occurrences seem to transpire during acceleration and braking. During acceleration, I've observed inconsistent behavior. Sometimes, the car shifts smoothly, with minimal torque drop between gears. On other occasions, the vehicle accelerates initially but then abruptly loses all power between gears, resembling the sensation of someone engaging the clutch in a manual vehicle and shifting slowly. This results in a temporary power loss lasting 1-2 seconds, followed by an over-revving and clutch slip, leading to an unintended surge in acceleration. The issues I've encountered during braking typically begin with a chattering noise and vibrations that seem to be an imbalanced or shocked reciprocating mass, I can assume maybe one of the clutches/flywheel . This is often followed by decreased brake pedal linearity, requiring increased brake pedal pressure to stop. This normally results in an unintended aggressive forward jerk just before coming to a stop, akin to someone releasing a clutch on a manual transmission vehicle too quickly when downshifting while the engine speed is too low. The steady-state symptom occurs less frequently but occasionally involves a momentary loss of power, almost resembling a backfire without the noise. I can only assume that this is related to brief disengagement of the clutches. I sought assistance by taking my vehicle to a local dealership who kept it for a little over a week. Unfortunately, they were unable to reproduce these issues, and no actions were taken to address my concerns. This unpredictable behavior from the vehicle often catches me and my passengers off guard and really makes it hard to trust the vehicle.

Filed Jul 4, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · IL

Horn has failed twice. The first time it was taken to the dealership and “fixed” - now it has failed again. The second issue is that the car accelerates on its own, both at a high and low rate of speed. While traveling at approximately 60 mph on multiple occasions, when the engine transitions from the electric motor to the gas engine, it will suddenly rapidly accelerate without any additional pressure on the gas pedal. While braking at a low rate of speed, the car seems to fight the brakes and will accelerate instead, propelling the car forward. This has almost caused multiple accidents. At the first occasion (Mar 2023), the dealer did a “transmission relearn” which mostly fixed the issue, but it has aggressively returned only 3 months later (one week ago) and is extremely dangerous. While trying to move to the side of the road and stop the car, the car continues the stop-go jerking/propelling forward and is nearly uncontrollable. The vehicle is currently at the dealership again and has not been diagnosed. On the first occasion they claimed they could not reproduce the issue. There is an open case with Hyundai regarding this. There were no warning lights or signals on the vehicle.

Filed May 11, 2023 · Brakes, Driver assistance · NY

On a few occasions (3?) the cars’ automatic emergency braking feature activated while driving at both highway and normal speeds. On none of the occasions was there inclement weather or a “slick” condition on the road. The feature would activate, give a visual and audible warning, and then de-activate within a few seconds. When the feature activated, I felt the car jerk a bit to slow down, and sort of swerve in one direction before righting itself. There is a possibility that the feature activated because I had manually enabled the Auto Hold feature as well which I usually do.

Filed Mar 19, 2023 · Driver assistance · TX

There have been multiple occasions, both on highway and urban roads, when the Lane Keeping Assist system has forced me out of my lane, both taking control of my car's steering wheel to move me out of the lane while also failing to trigger my Lane Departure Warning. One time, LKA jerked over into a lane of oncoming traffic, another time it jerked me out of my lane into a near collision with a concrete lane barrier, and another time the LKA jerked out of the lane almost into a curb.

Filed Mar 23, 2022 · Engine · NY

On multiple drives the car has "lurched" or accelerated when foot was NOT on the accelerator pedal. These were minor issues, but unnerving when pulling up to park near a structure. Today 3-23-22 I was driving and after about 1 hour of normal operation the car began to accelerate while pressing the brake, and decelerate while pushing the gas. The engine was revving and then slowing down opposite of what would be expected. This is a hybrid vehicle - it felt as if the gas engine was supposed to be spooling up to charge the battery but instead was feeding power to the wheels. there was no engine light illumination from this. I restarted the car and it seemed ok. Honestly, this was scary - trying to move from one lane to the next to an exit to safely exit the morning rush hour freeway. I had to keep my foot HEAVY on the break to make it slow / stop. On two other previous drives the vehicle "lurched" / the car "bucked" once or twice and then the gas engine would not re-engage. the MIL came on, and the car drove on battery power only. I drove off the road, restarted, and the vehicle worked fine. By the time i got the car to the dealer the MIL had cleared and they were unable to pull any codes and deemed the car safe / found no issues.