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Many customers pay a premium price to get behind the wheel of a 2018 Audi A4 expecting it to be the luxury vehicle of their dreams. After all, the automaker claims that the newer models put “progress at the forefront,” but recent reviews suggest otherwise. This high-end model suffers from defective air bags, a poorly built structure, malfunctioning powertrain and spotty brakes.
Click on other model year to view more problems: 2021
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NHTSA Complaints for the 2018 Audi A4
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Air Bags | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Engine | |
| Electrical System | |
| Fuel/propulsion System | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings | |
| Electronic Stability Control | |
| Structure:body | |
| Seats |
Problems with the Air Bags
If anyone would expect to be safe, it should be in the cabin of an expensive luxury car, but the Audi A4 has suffered from multiple air bag issues.
One recent review on Cars.com highlights how unreliable Audi is with this statement. “I paid high $ for the prestige and the traffic jam assistance quit working in month 10. The dealership repaired it twice, each taking a full week. At the first repair, they re-calibrated the camera. It worked for a couple days. At the second, they replaced the knee airbag with the faulty circuits. The explanation was traffic jam assistance shares circuits with that airbags.”
If that’s not enough, it’s helpful to look at the two recalls related to the air bag systems. The first, Recall Number 19V547000, states that the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) connecting cable could make the vehicle software misdiagnose a malfunction, which leads to a disabled passenger air bag. The second, Recall Number 18V836000, highlights how the passenger air bag module mounting screw might not have been tightened correctly, thereby preventing the deployment of this bag once again. If someone didn’t know better, they could assume that Audi is trying to get rid of the front-seat passenger.
Problems with the Vehicle Structure
If someone wanted a sub-par car, they would buy a Volkswagen instead of Audi. While they are made from the same company, Volkswagen keeps the prices lower and uses materials that aren’t as upscale. No one expects to get into an Audi and get cheap quality, yet that is what’s happening.
One Cars.com review states, “Great car for driving on snowy winter roads! Excellent traction with the tires that came with the car. Now that Spring is here and I am doing more driving on the interstate I am not so impressed. This is a noisy car! Not so much tire or engine noise, but wind noise! At 40 mph I can hear the wind blowing by but at interstate speeds of 70 mph it sounds like a hurricane (o.k. I have never been in a hurricane but I hope you get my meaning). I paid more than $50,000 for this car and I expected better. I should have gone for the Lexus that I was looking at!”
Aside from this structural issue, there has been a more significant recall that proves Audi didn’t do a good job constructing the A4. Recall Number 17V675000 says that the aluminum trim on the doors can become loose around the speakers and expose occupants to sharp edges. Between malfunctioning airbags and sharp knife-like surfaces in the vehicle, it seems that Audi doesn’t value its clientele much. There certainly isn’t much progress, as someone might be safer in a vehicle from forty years ago.
Problems with the Transmission
The transmission is an integral part of any vehicle’s powertrain. When this vital component fails to operate as it should, every drive becomes a nightmare. That’s just what is shown by an Edmunds review. “TRANSMISSION: HORRIBLE, super annoying huge lag when switching between D-N-R, will make you hear lots of honking in the busy NY streets. Odd gating (gate sensors) of the gear lever will make you miss the gears (D-N-R) quite often.”
Of course, the automaker has remained relatively quiet on the transmission concerns. After all, what would it look like if this luxury brand couldn’t get something as simple as the transmission right? At this point, many customers are wishing they had gone with a different high-end automaker, or saved money and gone with the VW instead.
Problems with the Brakes
Brakes have been around since the early 1900s. Since then, most automakers have perfected the design, and even work to create new innovative technologies. On the other hand, Audi seems to be failing – and not making progress, as promised.
One Cars.com review talks about brake problems with the A4. It states, “My brand new Audi A4 was in the shop 5 times for brake problems with no answers or results. They insisted on performing the same “fix” each time, and each time my brakes ended up worse. I have never had so many problems with any vehicle. The service team was not interested in finding an actual solution. As a result, I got rid of my car after less than a year of ownership. Had I not gotten rid of my vehicle, I would have had to schedule yet another visit as the brake problem was still not fixed. Very disappointed with the purchase and customer care. I will not buy another Audi.”
Audi doesn’t seem to be hiding issues. Looking at TSB ID #A461775 we see that the engineers even talk about how the brakes can make a troublesome clicking noise. Is this what someone buying an Audi A4 is hoping for when dropping a wad of cash? Between the structural noises, malfunctioning brakes, airbags that won’t deploy and powertrain with a mind of its own, it seems that Audi needs to go back to the drawing board.
Your Lemon Law Legal Rights
Think you have a lemon? Sit back and let the experts work out your lemon case at no cost to you. The law makes Audi pay legal fees. You may be able to get your lemon out of your life. Every year, auto manufacturers buy back, replace or pay cash settlements to thousands of ‘lemon’ owners like you.
Complaint Data
| Category | Air Bags |
| Date | Mar 16, 2023 |
| State | OR |
| Description | Without cause a passenger airbag malfunction light has come up, dealership says this is not covered under recall or vehicle warranty. |
| Category | Air Bags |
| Date | Mar 13, 2023 |
| State | WA |
| Description | After dealership did the second repair to the airbag recall, the airbag light came on and has been on solid . When taking the car back to the dealership to have it fixed ,we were clear about the whole thing over the phone . The dealership proceeded to charge me for a diagnostic test as well as claiming to not have seen any recalls on the car . Dealership claimed the whole airbag needed to be replaced yet the car has never been in an accident. Bottom line the initial recall isn't finished . Dealership explained car would be safe to drive , even tho the safety system is currently malfunctioning . |
| Category | Fuel/propulsion System |
| Date | Feb 15, 2023 |
| State | OH |
| Description | On december 29, 2022 as I was driving my engine light came on, the fuel gauge registered empty (I had over a quarter tank of fuel at the time), and my miles till empty display in the upper left of the instrument cluster went blank. I took my audi to my audi dealer and their recommended repair was as follows: fuel tank: after removing fuel pump and level sensor we found that the secondary fuel level sensor is built into the fuel tank is faulty. Recommend replacing the tank and fuel pump with the tank. Their reason was that if the fuel tank failed it could cause a potentially hazardous situation for the driver and passengers. |
| Category | Engine |
| Date | Oct 15, 2022 |
| State | TX |
| Description | Water pump prematurely failed. Upon self inspection, I noticed the coolant reservoir was below the minimum requirements. I asked the dealer to inspect, and they determined the cause was a faulty water pump. At around 50,000 miles, this water pump should not have failed under normal use. I am fortunate I self inspected, as continued use may cause premature engine failure due to overheating. Overheating would cause spontaneous vehicle operation failure during normal driving conditions, stalling the vehicle on a road or highway, putting myself and others at risk for impact. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | Jun 29, 2022 |
| State | KY |
| Description | The audi pre-sense engaged on 3 occasions going 50+ mph bringing the car to a complete stop when there was nothing in front if it and a car right behind me. I was lucky the car behind me did not collide. If it had been a semi truck and just as close as the car trailing me, they would not have been able to stop in time causing damage or death. The problem could not be confirmed by the audi dealer who performed a vehicle scan and found no codes and could not reproduced it. I had the pre-sense shut off. I reported this to the manufacture on 6/17/22. The pre-sense red warning triangle displayed in the instrument panel as when it was engaging. |
| Category | Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings |
| Date | Jun 15, 2022 |
| State | OH |
| Description | The forward collision warning system (audi presense) identified a shadow from an overpass as another car and alerted me to use the brakes. My car did figure out there was not another vehicle before performing an emergency brake. If the car had done an emergency brake I would have surly been rear ended on the highway. This is not the first time forward collision warning has activated due to a shadow on the road. I have not mentioned this to the dealer but have read of this happening to others that own audi cars that use audi presense. The audi presense installed in my car utilizes the front facing camera only - there is not a forward facing radar system. There has never been a warning that that system is not functioning as intended. |
| Category | Air Bags |
| Date | May 31, 2022 |
| State | VA |
| Description | The contact owned a 2018 audi a4. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph a second vehicle crashed into the passenger side front end of the vehicle. During the crash, the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged but no air bags were deployed. The driver sustained a fractured left wrist, concussion, lumbar injury and left arm injury. No other injuries to the second driver were reported. The vehicle was towed away and later deemed a total loss. A police report was taken at the scene. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 21,000. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 22, 2022 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Due to the at&t 3g turndown, audi of america is removing a critical safety feature from certain my 2018 vehicles, with no solution offered to the vehicle owner except to pay an additional 0-00 out of pocket to install a retrofit device to restore some of these safety features. As sold, my2017-2018 and certain my 2019 audi a4/a5/q5/q7 vehicles came with an emergency call feature, both automatic in the event of a severe accident, and manual. From the owners manual: "the vehicle electrical system initiates an automatic emergency call under certain circumstances, for example, if an airbag deploys. The led in the emergency call button (2) blinks green. The emergency call is made. This cannot be cancelled." because of the at&t 3g sunset, audi of america is providing a retrofit kit to restore this emergency call functionality in the event of an accident. However, they are not providing this retrofit free to all customers. All my2017 vehicles qualify for free installation and subscription to the new emergency call retrofit service. However, my2018 and 2019 vehicles with an in- service date of before february 22, 2018 will have to pay for the installation and subscription to this service. Making owners of my2018 vehicles pay to restore a critical safety feature that the vehicle was sold with is highly unethical and can lead to safety issues. Instead of an automated call to 911 during a severe accident, audi of america is forcing owners of certain my2018 vehicles to choose between paying 00 + subscription fees for this critical safety service, or relying on owner's being conscious enough to use their own cell phones, which may not be the case during a severe accident. The decision by audi of america to enforce an arbitrary in-service cutoff date of 2/22/2018 for my2018 vehicles is highly illogical and unethical. All my2017 vehicles, which are older and more likely to be out of warranty, qualify for the free update while my2018 are subject to an arbitrary cutoff. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Feb 18, 2022 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | I received a message on my dashboard to turn the engine off and check the coolant when starting the vehicle each morning for the last two days. I brought the car into the audi dealership in paramus/fair lawn, nj. They stated the water pump was not working. I researched and found that a recall for all road station wagons (audi) had occurred for 2013-2017 for water pumps that could start a fire in the car. My car, although a 2018 model, was manufactured in january 19, 2018 (the beginning of 2018; recall noted for 2017)- water pump is defective with only 56,000 miles on it. My car was manufactured with defective water pump from prior year...... They paid for water pump part but made me pay for labor to put a replacement part in the car. Audi should be liable for this..... There should be a recall in my year car because of the potential for fire with a defective water pump. |
| Category | Air Bags, Seats |
| Date | Jan 03, 2022 |
| State | NY |
| Description | The contact owns a 2018 audi a4. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 21v874000 (seats, air bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue however, no further assistance was provided. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts are not available. |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Nov 20, 2021 |
| State | TX |
| Description | While driving the emergency parking brake engaged itself without warning or cause. This caused the vehicle to come to an abrupt stop. Luckily I was in a parking lot but if I had been in a high traffic area or intersection, it could've caused a collision. I had 2 passengers who witnessed this sudden bizarre event. There was nothing that could've caused this to happen. It scares me & now I'm worried this could happen again without warning. The sensor screen was beeping with a message to put my car in park before setting the brake. Made no sense why this happened. |
| Category | Engine, Fuel/propulsion System, Power Train |
| Date | Aug 17, 2020 |
| State | DC |
| Description | Engine malfunction prevented the vehicle to engage and a significant lag. Correction of the failure has been attempted twice and a third attempt to correct malfunction is currently in progress with no movement as of yet. Gas tank has been drained and refilled and did not correct issue. Definitely not a gasoline type issue. |
| Category | Electronic Stability Control |
| Date | Aug 07, 2020 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | I went to press the button to disable start/stop mode. The button to do this is next to the electronic stability control button. I accidentally pressed the esc button and shut of electronic stability. **these two buttons should not be next to each other. ** there should be a way to default to disabled start/stop mode. |
| Category | Structure:body |
| Date | Jun 03, 2020 |
| State | NY |
| Description | Front of body rides too low to ground. Body damage occurred on left front fender from driving up a steep hill after making left turn onto road with the steep hill. *tr |
| Category | Service Brakes |
| Date | Nov 08, 2019 |
| State | CA |
| Description | New factory brakes make very loud audible screeching sound when coming to a stop. This happens just before coming to a complete stop and sometimes in the beginning of breaking. Mechanic has worked on this issue several times and reordered brakes from local audi dealership and it is still making the sound. Dealership said its 4th generation brakes and its a problem with the coating. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Oct 20, 2019 |
| State | NM |
| Description | Rear view camera is intermittant when in reverse and backing up the vehicle. Sometimes there is no rear view camera while backing up. Multiple trips to audi dealer - not fixed. Loaner car from dealer, 2018 audi a5 had exactly the same problem. No rear camera - radio screen instead. Bug in audi software - this model needs to be recalled to force audi to fix this safety problem. Two pictures provided - one is my a4 and the other is the audi a5 loaner : both show the cars in reverse and the radio screen displayed - not the rear view camera latest occurance was 10/19 no picture taken. |
| Category | Air Bags |
| Date | Aug 22, 2019 |
| State | CA |
| Description | Tl* the contact owns a 2018 audi a4. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 19v547000 (air bags). The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Audi of stevens creek (3350 stevens creek blvd, san jose, ca 95117, (408) 215-9341) was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not available for the recall remedy. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and was not able to confirm when the parts were to become available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available. |
| Category | Electrical System, Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Speed Control |
| Date | Aug 21, 2019 |
| State | TX |
| Description | While driving on highway all interior electrical systems shut down. Cruise control feature was disabled for several hours. While stopped at a light, audi pre sense was engaged and seatbelts tightened unnecessarily. Parking sensors cause car to quickly stop unnecessarily while reversing out of driveway or parallel parking. Noise coming from the trunk at left rear wheel area when driving over bumps in road, rivet was replaced. Car was taken to hendricks audi south austin for repairs multiple times. |
| Category | Electrical System, Service Brakes, Structure:body |
| Date | Jul 20, 2019 |
| State | CA |
| Description | My son just crashed my 2018 audi a4 with pre sense basic and city. k damage in the front! No air bag deployed. It happened on a highway during morning rush hour in heavy traffic. He was driving around 40mph, traffic slow down and he did not realize until it was too late. He braked hard, but the auto brake never kicked in. |
| Category | Visibility/wiper |
| Date | Apr 11, 2019 |
| State | NJ |
| Description | I purchased my vehicle jan 3rd 2019 in az. It was transported to nj via private carrier and delivered on feb 12th. On april 10th an approx. 8 inch long arching crack appeared in my windshield. I was not hit with a rock or any other debris. In the am the car was fine and several hours later this huge crack appeared. The car had not been moving and was in an area where nothing could have hit the car. |
| Category | Electrical System, Engine, Service Brakes |
| Date | Mar 03, 2019 |
| State | MD |
| Description | Involved in a three car rear-end accident. I was the very front car (car 1, white 2018 audi a4) which was completely stopped that took the least force of the impact. Car 2 (tesla medel s) was also stopped but took brunt of force from at fault car 3 (dodge suv) who came barreling in. My car took minor damage to the rear yet my 2018 audi a4's collision protocols disabled my car and left it completely undriveable. The seat belts also pulled back and locked up leaving me unable to rebuckle my seat belt after the accident. This meant I was stuck in the middle of a busy highway unable to move to the shoulder with no protection besides the shell of the vehicle. After the fire department arrived 15 minutes later, they had to spend considerable time reading through the manual to figure out how to manually disable my brakes and took 4 firefighters (1 steering and 3 pushing) to push my car to the shoulder. Meanwhile, the at fault driver (car 3) was able to drive away from the scene of the accident after completing police activities. The collision protocol of automatically tightening seat belts, putting on hazard lights, dialing road-side service, rolling down windows partially, and braking itself was great. However, disabling the car and leaving the seat belts unusable afterwards left me in a dangerous situation that could have been even a worse second accident. A flatbed tow truck was called in by audi roadside service and of course they recommended an audi certified collision center. |
| Category | Unknown Or Other |
| Date | Jul 10, 2018 |
| State | NY |
| Description | My new audi a4 2018 horn has a dead spot on the whole lower right hand side. Audi has replaced the air bag in the steering wheel which has the horn contacts and it still does not work! I have been told that this is the case on all 2018 audi a4's. I drive in nyc and not having a functioning horn is a life and death situation. I believe the nhtsa should seriously look into this. My complaint case # with audi is 180482431 |
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About the Author:
Brian Jones spent more than 20 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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This is the worst write up of a car I have ever read. You act like Audi is the only manufacturer to experience recalls of this nature. You want to rip into engineers that designed a car with speaker finishing flaws? Yet you have unapologetically posted a piss poor money grab of a review of a car to benefit your law offices. Wanna talk about cars 40 years ago? Okay, have fun spontaneously combusting in a Ford Pinto or getting impaled by a steering column. This is a lazy representation of a car review. I don’t even like Audis. But I hate this lack luster attempt at a cash grab even more. What useless drivel.