My daughter was driving the car and it would randomly stop in traffic, interstate whatever and sometimes take a few minutes to restart. We looked up some possible issues/solutions and had the car taken to our mechanic for basic spark plugs as we saw this as a possible and "cheap" solution.

That night, the car stalled again and would not restart. We had the car towed to our house. My neighbor tried to start the car and said the engine was not turning over. Another opinion was the timing belt (estimated $1200). I called my mechanic about the timing belt theory and he stated that "your car is part of a class action lawsuit for engine failure and Hyundai should replace this with the extended warranty won in that lawsuit."

I called the Hyundai dealership, my VIN was not on the list. The customer service agent told me: THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE IN THE 2016, 2017 AND 2019 MODELS. WE GET CALLS ALL THE TIME.

I called Hyundai corporation. Again was told my car's VIN was not on the list. I stated that my car was doing the same exact thing as I saw MANY other Hyundai Elantra owners complaining about. I was told that my engine was not made in the same place as the ones with "issues"...I said well maybe you should look into that! I was told to take it to the dealership and have the higher level diagnostic done and we can go from there. That diagnostic came back with a new engine ($8800), starter ($850), intake manifold ($850) and a new battery ($250). Grand total: $10,750 to fix a car that probably worth less than that.

I had to eat $5,000 I owed on the car, out $250 for the diagnostic, towing fees to get to my house and back to the dealership. I scrapped the car for parts for $550 because even if I fixed the problem, I would owe more that it was worth and I have to sleep at night and couldn't risk selling this very unsafe car.

After sharing this story with friends, many of them also had the same experience with their Hyundai breaking down with less than 150,000 miles...with major repairs needed. Most of those traded the car at the first hint vowing to never buy another one.

I told the people at my dealership: I WILL RIDE A DONKEY BEFORE I EVER BUY ANOTHER HYUNDAI. They do NOT back up their products!

The dealer led me to believe that there were known issues with engines in some Elantras and were sending the repair recommendations for warranty coverage. I provided maintenance records. They took pictures (that after 4 requests for copies, have still not been provided). After sending the information to Hyundai then, came back and advised me that the repairs were not being covered for lack of maintenance.

I followed up with Hyundai on 4 occasions over 3 weeks. I was told by 4 different people that a denial wasn't recorded in the system they use. The 4th customer representative escalated the issue to a case manager. After 6 weeks of back and forth, the case manager advised me that the warranty claim was denied...based upon lack of maintenance. The case manager stated that lack of maintenance usually meant there was sludge in the engine. I then, followed up with the Service Manager. He told me that he would provide copies of the pictures and an estimate of the repairs. I followed up about a week later, asking about the pictures and estimate.

A week later, I was in to have our 2nd car in for a recall repair, I asked for the estimate and pictures. The service tech had pictures on his phone and commented that there wasn't much sludge in the engine. He said he would send the pictures to me. A week later I contacted the dealer that I would be picking up the car. At that time, I asked for the pictures again...that was nearly 4 weeks ago and nearly 3 months since I brought the car to the dealer. Now, I have a car that I cannot use, after being led to believe the warranty (because of the known issues) would cover the repairs and an estimate for repairs that is unreasonable.