Three problems related to seat belt have been reported for the 2008 Hyundai Elantra. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2008 Hyundai Elantra based on all problems reported for the 2008 Elantra.
Start October 2015, when I pull the seat belt it generate rattling noise but no problem to buckle up. I did not aware that was a safety issue. When my daughter borrowed and drove on the road last week (11/24/2015), she heard the noise and tested it by pulling out quickly, the seat belt did not hold her back. That meant I was driving on the road without working seat belt for two months. Please look into this, see if anyway can warn the driver the dangerous situation. Myself just was not Smart enough to see this potential safety issue.
While driving east toward home, a large SUV or pickup truck came around the curve with bright lights on, thus blinding me. I did not see a car turning left until too late to stop. Resulting in rear ending the other car. The air bags on my Hyundai failed to deploy. Also I do not think the right seat belt did not catch allowing my wife, the passenger to travel to its end and hitting her head on the dash or windshield, also injuring her right shoulder. I did not receive any recalls on seat belts or air bags.
I had a new 2008 Hyundai Elantra. The vehicle had only 3,000 miles on it. I hit another vehicle from behind. It was a direct front hit at about 40-45 mph. The seat belt did not tighten to hold either myself or my passenger back. The air bags for myself and my passenger did not deploy. All professional people (fire dept, mechanics, tow yard, police) stated repeatedly that there was no reason for the air bags and seat belts not to work.