Owners have filed 2,193 complaints on the Audi A4, covering 1996–2024. The system named most often is Electrical System (351 reports). Worst years by volume: 2006, 1998, 2005; cleanest: 2024, 2019, 2021. 80 reports describe a crash, 36 a fire. On average the car was 5.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Audi A4
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 2,193 A4 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 351 Read
After run collant pump caught fire and damaged the engine wiring harness. I reported it to progressive insurance and they came and inspected it at a body shop. They concluded it was due to an open recall on the vehicle so insurance refuses to cover it. Had car towed to Audi dealership and they reported it to Audi USA.…
I own a 2009 audi a4. On the Month of october 2024 my transmission failed. I towed my car to a mechanic who then replaced my transmission i picked up my car on December 11 2024 at 7 am from audi of fresno. I have had no prior issues and like always i expect a dealership to inspect a new vehicle that comes in ,as i…
Car spontaneously caught on fire in the garage. Car was not running, keys were not in the ignition and engine was cold
Air Bags 334 Read
The contact owns a 2015 audi a4. The contact stated that while driving at 30 mph, she attempted to avoid hitting another vehicle that had darted in front of her vehicle. Despite her best efforts, the contact clipped the right passenger side of the other vehicle which caused severe damage to the front end of her…
I had an accident in my audi a4 convertible and the driver airbag did not deploy. Due to sun glare, I rear-ended a mercury mountaineer with my 2006 audi a4 convertible. I never saw his taillights, I was not messing with the radio or talking on the cell phone. I was not cited, although the accident was clearly my…
Takata recall: I recently learned that both my driver side and passenger side takata airbags were recalled on my 2009 audi a4. I have called and visited two dealerships in person and made over 5 phone calls to the manufacturer to try to get my vehicle's repair escalated, as my vehicle began it's "life" in florida, and…
Service Brakes 275 Read
Audi a4 cabriolet. On may 2006 the air bag warning light was on and brought to the dealer for repair. On september 2006 the air bag light and the brake warning light were on and brought to the dealer for repair. On november 10 I had an accident due to a brake failure driving at 15 mph exiting the highway. Manufacturer…
Consumer heard a loud noise coming from the driveway. Consumer went outside and saw vehicle rolling out from the driveway, and it crashed into a parked vehicle. The police were called, and vehicle was towed to the dealer for inspection. The mechanic adjusted the brakes
2002 audi a4 customer states that failed brakes caused an accident**cc the consumer stated that the brakes collapsed upon him trying to apply them. The manufacturer stated the collision must have occurred first, and in the course of the collision, the bracket in which the brake pedal was mounted collapsed, as it was…
Exterior Lighting 224 Read
The left headlight flickers and turns off. Changing the bulb did not fix the problem and neither did changing the ballast. I found that there was a settled class action lawsuit however they said that the lawsuit extended the warranty for headlights to 5 years. The lawsuit was settled in 2013 and my car is a 2006 model…
I originally had 3 recalls on my vehicle I called in to see about getting them fixed free of charge as explained in the recall tech bulletin .the customer service representative proceeded in getting all of my information then after doing so tells me there are no recalls on my vehicle and proceeded to update my cars…
2002 audi a4 with 370k burned a bit of oil which was fine cleaned the engine out with cleaners it smoked a bit which is normal.. Headlights started flickering 'hids' so I parked it. 3 days later I go to take the car on a test drive and the drivers headlight lit on fire ! Not sure if it was a headlight issue or a…
Engine And Engine Cooling 150 Read
The contact owned a 2013 Audi A4. The contact stated that his grandson was driving at an undisclosed speed when he heard a loud unidentified sound coming from the engine compartment. Suddenly, white smoke and flames were emerging from the engine compartment. The vehicle was successfully pulled to the side of the road…
The contact owns a 2006 audi a4. While driving 35 mph, the contact noticed smoke coming from the front and back of the vehicle. She pulled the vehicle over and turned off the ignition. She then heard a loud explosion underneath the vehicle. She exited and noticed flames underneath the vehicle and from under the hood…
Car did not show any signs prior to check engine light coming on. Within several minutes of check in light appearing the car begin driving rough and smoke poured from under the hood. My husband quickly cut the wires of the coil pack from the housing to prevent the fire from spreading, as I grabbed the fire extinguisher
Power Train 133 Read
Parked in an incline, I attempted to back out of a drive way. I placed my foot on the brake and placed the car in reverse and removed my foot from the brake. The vehicle went forward as if in neutral with no resistance at all. I stepped on the brake quickly to prevent from going through the garage door. Although I…
Vehicle is having a problem with the transmission. Owner has leased this vehicle in june 2004. When the vehicle is in reverse, it will not move then suddenly the engine will accelerate and a click and pop sound will be heard and then the vehicle will surge backward. Owner had taken the vehicle to the dealership and…
An accident occured in my 2002 audi a4 with the new-for-2002 cvt transmission (continuously variable transmission) resulting from a condition that I believe is defective relating to the function of the transmission. After depressing the accelerator from a dead stop, there is a long lag between before the vehicle…
Engine 129 Read
The contact owns a 2016 audi a4. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked when he detected a burning odor. The dashboard gauges and epc warning lights illuminated. The contact drove the vehicle to a gas station to refuel then back to his commercial property when he noticed there was fire coming from underneath…
Oil consumption I had this car since 2012 and found out recently about oil consumption class action lawsuit through the internet, when my car started consuming copious amounts of oil. The owner manual says a quart per ~1,200 miles, but I'm getting oil light at about 400 miles after service at the dealership. I spoke…
2001 audi a4 quattro 2.8l. As driving smoke was coming from hood.. Park and realize the engine was on fire. It look like it started by the passenger side headlight and spread. I read that audi had a recall on head light switch but did not rec, a recall letter. Not exactly sure where the fire started my audi caught on…
Steering 103 Read
I was rear-ended at a slow speed. I was stopped at the time. The driver who hit me was decelerating hard. Damaged to rear bumper. When I got back in the car, I realized that telescoping steering column had been pulled toward me. This would have been bad had I been shoved into the car in front of me and the airbags…
I was driving like normal and the stability light came on and the car started to swing left to right by it self
My car has a leaking high pressure fuel leak from the high pressure hose right at the top of the engine block at the rear of the engine. The steel line connects directly to the filter and is leaking from the stainless steal line. The power steering metal hose lines are incorrect from the factory and do not supply…
A4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Electrical System,air Bags,engine | — | — | |
| 2021 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 2020 | Back Over Prevention | 1 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2016 | Electrical System,engine,fuel/propulsion System | — | 1 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2014 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2013 | Electrical System | — | 2 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 7 | — | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 8 | 2 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 7 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 6 | 5 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 8 | 6 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 3 | 4 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 4 | 2 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 5 | 2 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags,seat Belts | 5 | 3 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 1 | — |
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 | 993 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.2 |
| Worst single series | 17 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.8 years |
A model average of 2.2 hides a worst series at 17. 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
- The original window sticker and factory options
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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 A4?
By complaint volume, 2006, 1998, 2005 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 A4 years are the cleanest?
2024, 2019, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Audi A4 have?
2,193 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1996–2024. Of those, 80 describe a crash and 36 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.