Loss of power steering on the 2009 Hyundai Elantra
1 injury 1 of the 15 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When loss of power steering gets reported
Owners of the 2009 Hyundai Elantra report loss of power steering at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles, from 13 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 80,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 95,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 60,094 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
8% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37,140 miles | 79,384 miles | 87,000 miles | 93,000 miles | 97,234 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 an injury is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $600–$2,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 30,000 miles, and latest on the 2008 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2009 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Driving around 45mph, trying to turn left and the steering locked up and the aps light came on. Took to pearson hyundai and had checked out. Per pearson, they found a code c1290, torque sensor main signal fault. Will need a new steering column. Appr. Cost of $1600.00. Per pearson, this is a safety issue and vehicle shouldn't be driven until repaired. Need information on any and all recalls on this vehicle for this safety issue. *tr
Had car in shop for power steering / eps light issue on 3/21/14 (81431 miles). They did an update #c1290 to recalibrate the esp and had to do a front wheel alignment too. The power steering went out again while I was on a busy road around 4pm. I took it back to the hyundai dealership on 4/8/14 and they re-did the update #c1290. They told me that it is an electrical 'shortage' causing the problem and I would need to replace the entire steering column shaft assembly - costing $1600. I saved up the money and called to get the work done (5/8/14) and the price went up to $1920 now!!!! They told me they can put in a used steering column for $350 - but would only guarantee the work/part for 90 days. Meanwhile I am driving without power steering causing more injury to my arms and neck and very difficult to drive & dangerous in traffic. The sonata was recalled for the same issues....why won't they recall the elantra's also? *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 hyundai elantra. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 MPH out of a parking space, there was a complete loss of power steering. The engine was turned off and upon restarting, the vehicle resumed normally. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis where a trouble code was detected. The power steering software was updated. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 79,384.
Also reported on the 2009 Hyundai Elantra
Other steering problem
Steering column or shaft failure
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
Other brake problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does loss of power steering happen on the 2009 Hyundai Elantra?
Across 13 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 80,000 miles and a quarter after 95,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is loss of power steering on the 2009 Hyundai Elantra?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed