Owners have filed 17 complaints on the Audi 80, covering 1988–1991. The system named most often is Power Train (10 reports). Worst years by volume: 1990, 1989, 1991; cleanest: 1988, 1991, 1989. 2 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 7.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Audi 80
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 17 80 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 10 Read
The contact owns a 1991 audi 80. While driving 5 mph the front wheels locked and would not unlock. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. Eight months before the gear was stuck in reverse but eventually released. There was a NHTSA campaign id 93V006000 (power train: axle assembly), however; the VIN was not included. The…
Transmission overheats/shifts hard
Bearings and seals malfunctioned causing leakage. Nlm
Electrical System 2 Read
The battery died, called aaa and had the battery recharged. Then turned the ignition on and the driver's side airbag deployed, and threw the consumer more than 5 feet away into a brick wall. *ak the air bag was deployed while jump starting the vehicle. As the result of air bag deploying, electrical components like…
There is an ignition problem. There is a screeching sound that other owners of later audi models have also complained about. Apparently there is a recall for the later models, but I am not aware of one for that. Http://www.bba-reman.com/auto-mine/audi/audia6_ignition_switch_problem.htm
Service Brakes 2 Read
While driving master cylinder malfunction, causing brakes to fail, resulting in a minor collision
Master cylinder leaked, took to dealer and he replaced master cylinder
Steering 1 Read
Steering column locked up while vehicle was moving, causing accident
Fuel System 1 Read
Consumer noticed dripping of gas tank. Vehicle was taken to dealer who stated that leak caused by rust at top of fuel tank
Vehicle Speed Control 1 Read
Differential damaged, causing low fluid level, prior to recall, recall repairs refused due to vehicle not being serviced by audi dealer
80 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 1989 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1988 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 14 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.9 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 2. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the 80?
By complaint volume, 1990, 1989, 1991 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which 80 years are the cleanest?
1988, 1991, 1989 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Audi 80 have?
17 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1988–1991. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.