Build quality, electrical system and engine issues among the top complaints received by the NHTSA from vehicle owners
Premium vehicles are competing for the attention of consumers, with the 2019 Audi A6 coming out near the top. The automaker claims that “adventure is always in season,” but some drivers feel that this model provides too much excitement in the way of a defective engine, failing electrical system and poorly-built structure.
Click on other model year to view more problems: 2020 2021
One of the most important components is the motor of a car. It must be powerful and dependable, all of which this A6 doesn’t seem to have.
One NHTSA complaint says, “At a stop light the engine will shut off completely requiring you to restart the car. This happens intermittently and happens when the auto on/off is on or off. Leads to dangerous situations when in city traffic or stopped at a red light on highway. Two trips to Audi and there are no error codes on the engine to diagnose the issue. Makes for very nervous driving when every stop light may cause your car to stall. Most recent issue the car would re-start and immediately stall, and then started shaking violently.”
It turns out that Audi is fully aware of defects with this vehicle. Service Bulletin #24FR states the engine might not restart after the start/stop enables, requiring that the driver must restart the engine manually. There’s no adventure quite like a vehicle shutting off in the middle of the road and attempting to restart it. What an experience!
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Electrical System | |
| Engine | |
| Power Train | |
| Steering | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking | |
| Service Brakes | |
| Exterior Lighting | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control |
It turns out that the A6 has an electrical system that is just as faulty as the motor.
Here’s an Edmunds review worth reading. “I personally also don’t like the dual screen interface at all. It’s very non intuitive to use. The windows were fogged up one morning, but I couldn’t figure out how to defog them. Even simple tasks require multiple steps through the touch screens. The touch screens are difficult and dangerous to use while driving and can blind you when you drive with an open sun roof and the sun comes from a certain angle. I very much prefer to way more intuitive set up in the base A4.”
If that’s not enough to make someone run away from this Audi, NHTSA Campaign Number 20V153000 should do the trick. This recall states that moisture can get into the starter generator and might cause a fire. Basically, this vehicle shuts itself off while driving and might spontaneously burst into flames too. When Audi sets out to create a defective vehicle, the company goes all out.
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To complete the assessment, it’s worthwhile looking at the structure of this premium model. Not surprisingly, it’s made with as much care as one would expect at this point.
One more Edmunds user states, “Have vehicle with 20″ tires, poor ride, noisy and a lot of vibrations. I use comfort mode and still not that great. Seat’s hard and not that comfortable. Would not repurchase this vehicle. Had noise, rattle from day of purchase. Finally so annoying, brought car back to dealership. Noise coming from moon roof. Repair could go from replacing felt around moon roof to having to take out front and rear windows, remove headliner, take out moon roof and reset roof beams that hold moon roof in place. This is a premium vehicle? Third and last Audi. If your thing of buying this vehicle, you better give it a good test drive over a bumpy road.”
If this isn’t bad enough, consider Service Bulletin #A5020002060335_1. It says that water can make its way into the footwell. If owners were interested in buying a Slip N Slide, they could save a lot more money. It seems every which way you turn, this Audi has water infiltrating areas where it shouldn’t be. Maybe it’s time to save money and buy a beater instead. While it won’t be a premium car, at least it won’t leak like a sieve.
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.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 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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