The best car safe for a Hyundai Elantra is one that locks to the rear LATCH anchors, because a compact sedan gives you few other solid places to secure one. The Elantra has the anchors, so a Boosted Safe fits with no drilling and no special part. If yours has the anchors, it fits.
Why not the trunk or a console safe?
A trunk hides things well, and it's a fair place for a locked case. The catch is the short stop: walking to the trunk in a parking lot tells everyone watching that you're putting something away. A safe on the back seat is opened from inside the car with the door shut.
Some Elantra owners report that fitted console safes aren't an option, so check the maker's list first. Our console safe guide explains why. A lock box on a cable costs far less, but bolt cutters take about four seconds, and it goes in a bag.
Where it goes in an Elantra
It sits on one of the two outer rear seats, the ones with lower anchors. That seat is taken while the safe is in, and the other outer seat stays free. Under its booster-seat cover it reads as a child seat from outside the car, and a booster seat in a family sedan is about as ordinary as it gets. Run the one-minute fit check to confirm yours.
How it locks to the Elantra
Two steel latches grab the lower anchor bars in the seat crease, and the release sits inside the locked safe. To take it off the car, someone has to open it first. There is no cable to cut and no drilling. Our guide to LATCH and ISOFIX anchors shows what the bars look like, and the patented design page shows the latch.
We tried to rip the safes out on film. On our car safe pull test the cabled boxes came free fast. A screwdriver pried the Basic open at 2 minutes 20 seconds, and the Elite stayed shut. No safe is theft-proof. With enough time and tools, nothing is secure. The job is to raise the time and the tools it takes.
Which Boosted Safe to pick
- Boosted Safe Elite: the one most people buy. Fingerprint, keypad and key, and it fits a 16-inch MacBook Pro.
- Boosted Safe Basic: the same idea with a code and key, for a lower price.
- Mini: a certified booster seat with a locked compartment, and the smallest footprint.
- Golden Gate Elite: 12-gauge steel, 37 lb, and certified for firearms by the California DOJ.
In a small back seat the Mini has the smallest footprint, and the Elite holds the most. You can see them side by side on the car safes page or the comparison chart. A firearm goes in unloaded, and the laws on leaving one in a car vary by state, so read our state guide first.
Questions
Will I still have room for passengers?
One outer rear seat is taken while it's installed. It comes off in about a minute when you need the seat back. You open the safe to release it.
Which Elantra years does it fit?
US passenger cars from model year 2003 are required to have the anchors, which covers the Elantra from then on. Check the crease of the rear seat to confirm.
What do people keep in it?
A laptop, a wallet and passports, or a handgun stored unloaded where the law allows. Our guide to choosing a car handgun safe goes further.
