If you have not heard, there is an ongoing case in California of an owner of a 2022 Hyundai Elantra N that is stuck in between a rock and hard place. The incident that happened is that the owner and driver of this car was pulled over by local police in the state of California. The officer stated that the car’s exhaust is backfiring and is too loud. The driver informed the officer that the car was stock and has been unmodified and offered to let the officer to check under the hood. The officer declined to look under the hood of the vehicle. The officer then went on a tangent on how the driver will have to bring the car to the state ref where they will suspend the registration of the vehicle and he will then have to go back to his Hyundai dealership to have “track” mode taken off the car at his expense and finally going back to the state ref to prove that “repairs” were done. The officer stated that all of this would cost the owner roughly $7,000.

Yikes. After dash cam footage of this incident hit the internet it went viral. Here are my personal takes on this situation. First and foremost, the owner of the car handled himself and the situation very well with much respect. I feel that the officer was far too quick to pass the buck over to another department and tell the young man on how the outcome would be like he has already sent over every other Elantra N in his area to the state ref. Unfortunately there was a lot of fear and confusion instilled and not any suggestions on how to get it resolved, he only stated consequences.

As far as the owner of the car, I personally don’t think he took the best course of action to make this as little of a headache as possible (this is all speculation and keep in mind I am not from California.) I am assuming this young man went to the state ref and told them everything that happened, which is not something I think I would have done. I would have probably went to the state ref and said something along the lines of, “I have a brand new car and got a ticket that my car is too loud. My car is completely stock and has never been modified. Go ahead and inspect it and I’ll be on my way to fight this citation.” Unfortunately what I assume what happened is that the owner told the entirety of the situation to the state ref including that the car has different drive modes along with everything the officer said. They proceeded to inspect the car in “sport” mode which from my interpretation is not mandatory. The car ultimately failed the decibel test. The owners registration has been suspended and going on 3+ weeks of not being able to drive his vehicle.

This all may seem a bit ridiculous but truthfully this is not and cannot be the first time something like this has happened. Think about all of the supercars in the state of California that are far louder than a 4 cylinder Hyundai. Auto manufacturers know the law and comply with regulations. Hyundai should have provided this young man with some kind of validation that he needs to get himself out of this jam. I am not talking about his local dealership, I’m talking corporate Hyundai. The fact that they are taking so long to help resolve this issue is beyond me. If I was looking into a new sports car I would be fearful that I would run into similar issues when purchasing a new N vehicle. I would also be fearful if I already owned one of the vehicles that this may happen to me. It is a shame because the variable exhaust system may be the coolest feature about the N vehicles. Those are my thoughts on this situation. Thanks for reading!

Rich – Konig Wheels