Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (automatic and manual transmissions, CVT, axles, driveshaft, 4WD/AWD).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2004 Hyundai Tiburon owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Clutch recall, powertrain recall, master cylinder recall, slave cylinder recall. When driving my car after a week of purchasing the car I pushed the clutch pedal to the floor to shift, and the pedal did not come back up. After several attempts to bring it back up to shift it finally came back. When shifting again the car died instantly, and after the car was off I could shift to any gears. When turning the car back on in neutral the car turned on, but would not shift to first it would push itself forward and die. Trying to start the car in first would take off but you could only put it back to neutral. After taking it to several mechanics I changed the slave and master cylinder, and nothing happened. To my surprise the clutch and dual mass flywheel, clutch, shift fork was completely destroyed. This is a common problem and they won't do anything about it.
Drove my 2004 Hyundai Tiburon for 17K miles and 1 day after driving about 1 hr in traffic I noticed my clutch would not engage my first gear properly. I have a 6 spd. Brought the car to Hyundai dealership and they told me that "I" had worn out my clutch and wanted 2 charge me $1800.00 to repair it. After arguing and calling corporate Hyundai and having to go to the dealership and explain to these guys and I know how 2 drive standard they finally replaced my clutch as a "one time good-will repair" under 1 circumstance, that I would pay 4 the 15K mile service, which at $235.00 was better then $1800.00. Came across the problems that other are having after signing up to www.newtiburon.com and figured I would file a complaint also. The thing is that after they repaired it with what seems to be the revised clutch number per the TSB, when the car is cold it grinds going into to 2nd gear. …
My 2004 Hyundai gt clutch went at 39,000 miles. I am not an aggressive driver and I have driven manual transmission cars for 10 years never having had a clutch problem before. This is not covered by warranty. It is clear to me that this clutch is a defect. I am a mechanic and this clutch did not fail like they typically do there was no slipping or indication of a wear issue before it failed. Just a rattling sound from what seemed to be the throw out bearing that started about 5 days before the failure. Then in the middle of a 6 hour drive there was a cluck when I shifted followed by a hard shift and then no power transfer at all. …
Purchased vehicle jan 04 with 10 miles on it. At around 12K miles the clutch began to rapidly wear. At 18K mi it was impossible to drive. Driver has never had to replace a clutch before 140K mi before. Dealer (union nj) claimed Hyundai not responsible, said would repair replace for $1200K (price reduction as a courtesy). Driver decided that not to replace with the same clutch bought a spec stage 3 aftermaket clutch for $480 and had the dealer put the clutch in. At around 32K mi suddenly the clutch went from very tight (catching about 1" - 1.5" of the floor to loose 3"+. Clutch slowly started slipping and was replaced at 38K mi by a different dealership (nyack, ny) claimed there was a TSB for the issue and offered to fix for free with factory clutch and new fly wheel. Fly wheel must of been root cause as there has bee no more incidents as of 80K mi.
I own a 2004 Hyundai Tiburon gt v6 car. I am apart of an online car forum for my specific car. A number of my fellow Tiburon owners and I have had the same problem. Our factory clutches on manual cars have been breaking and not holding the horse power of the car. This is a major concern to me because, it happened to me while driving. This is a huge safety concern because I was not able to control my vehicle to the extent that I originally bought it. This clutch failure put me in risk of an accident and thank god nothing bad happened before it was brought in for a fix. I brought it into Hyundai and they refused to fix the problem. After a week of warranty hell with lawyers and phone calls back and forth they finally fixed the problem. They said that they would never fix this again. They also did say that the clutch "prematurely slipped" (broke).
Took my car to dealership for the clutch slipping and grinding on two separate occasions, the grinding was stopped but the slipping was still a problem. I was told by service to "adjust the way I drive." at 19557 miles my clutch went out completely, when I asked the service advisor what caused this he said "it looks like its been slipping for a long time." the dealership informed me that the repairs would not be covered under warranty as the clutch parts are only under warranty for 12000 miles. My car was under 12000 miles both times the clutch was "repaired" before. Now I have a repair bill for over $2000 that I refuse to pay because they didn't fix the problem when they could have, under warranty.
I have a 2004 Hyundai Tiburon gtv6 with 6-speed manual transmission. In 23rd December 2007. My car was making an odd smell. I was told by a mechanic it was the clutch going bad. I contacted Hyundai and was told due to normal wear and tear that it was my fault. At this time I had 29,500mi on my car. On the 17th January 2008 with 30,500mi on my car, the clutch is completely bad and has to be replaced. I nearly got t-boned by a truck during normal traffic because my clutch disengaged and I started slowing down. The truck stopped to help and I got my car home afterwards. Hyundai refused to honor there 10-year warranty on the car and I got stuck paying about $900 on a new clutch and flywheel for my car.
At about 8,000 miles on the car I noticed that the clutch would not always hold while trying to accelerate to merge with traffic. Also the synchronization gears started to allow the transmission to grind while shifting into other gears at about 10,000. Hyundai warranted the transmission for the syncros, and I am sure they would have warranted the clutch too, but for the history that the clutches have had in our community (tiburons) I knew I would have to replace the clutch in 20K miles again. So I decided to not have them warranty the clutch so I could put in a clutch that I knew would last longer than I planed on owning the vehicle. Kind of sad not to have faith in your manufactures product's...
2004 ~clutch went out without any warning 8/10/2010(56961 miles) clutch was inspected on 6/15/2009 and was in excellent condition at the time of inspection (49987) and I purchased the extended warranty at the time of the purchase and to find out it isn't covered after being told that it was~attention 2004 Tiburon owners who are having the same flywheel and clutch issues as the 2003 owners. I have made contact with an attorney to start a class action suit. Please contact them if you too are experiencing the same. Tracy tein w/finklestein thompson & loughran [phone] 601 montgomery street, suite 665 san franciso, california 94111 together we can see that Hyundai rights their wrong.
I was driving my car on 01-11-06 and noticed that it wasn't catching when I shifted. I had next to no acceleration. On 01-12-06 the problem worsened. I got my car off the road and parked it. I called several Hyundai dealerships and was told that the clutch was going out and that it would not be a warranty fix even with the car only having 18,000 miles on it. I was told that it was because of my driving. I finally found a service manager who was willing to look up the TSB and said that my research was correct but that he could not guarantee me a warranty fix. My car was towed to (on 01-13-06) and is currently sitting at avondale Hyundai waiting to be looked at.
Transmission complaints in other Tiburon years
Frequently asked questions
How common are transmission problems on the 2004 Hyundai Tiburon?
NHTSA has 39 complaints about the transmission & drivetrain of the 2004 Hyundai Tiburon, 48% of the model year's 82 complaints. The component named most often is clutch assembly (22 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2004 Hyundai Tiburon transmission problems?
No. NHTSA lists no transmission & drivetrain recall for the 2004 Hyundai Tiburon. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2004 Hyundai Tiburon transmission problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 32,000 miles, and 37% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 0 fires and 1 injury to transmission & drivetrain problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.