1999 AUDI A4 Complaints

WHILE TRAVELING ON THE HIGHWAY ON A SUB ZERO (-6 DEGREE F) NIGHT, MY CAR WHICH WAS SET AT 55 MPH ON CRUISE CONTROL, ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN TO 62 MPH, AND THE THROTTLE BECAME STUCK. BRAKING, AND PUSHING THE APPROPRIATE BUTTONS WOULD NOT DISENGAGE THE CRUISE CONTROL. I HAD TO PHYSICALLY PUSH THE FOOT BRAKE AS HARD AS POSSIBLE TO FORCE THE CAR TO A STOP, AND THEN THE CAR WAS STILL ACCELERATING ON ITS OWN WHEN I RELEASED THE BRAKE. AFTER STARTING THE CAR AND TURNING IT OFF 3 TIMES, I FINALLY DISENGAGED THE CRUISE CONTROL AND MADE IT TO MY DESTINATION. ON THE WAY HOME, WITHOUT TOUCHING ANY CRUISE CONTROL FEATURES, THE THROTTLE ONCE AGAIN BECAME STUCK AND WAS TRYING TO ACCELERATE THE CAR. TODAY I HAD THE CAR SERVICED, AND I WAS INFORMED THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED 3 CALLS DURING THE TIME PERIOD I WAS THERE REGARDING A SIMILAR SITUATION WITH VEHICLES THAT CONTAIN THE SAME OR A SIMILAR ENGINE.*AK

ABS PUMP FAILURE. AT APPROX. 71000 MILES, THE ABS CONTROLLER/PUMP FAILED ON MY 1999 AUDI A4 1.8T QUATTRO. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS THAT I HAVE SPOKEN TO AND READ ABOUT WHO HAVE ALSO HAD THE EXACT SAME FAILURE WITH THE SAME ABS PUMP/CONTROLLER. HTTP://TECH.BENTLEYPUBLISHERS.COM/THREAD.JSPA?THREADID=3409&TSTART=0 AND HTTP://FORUMS.AUDIWORLD.COM/A4/MSGS/1743701.PHTML . APPARENTLY, AUDI KNOWS ABOUT THE PROBLEM BUT IS NOT WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO ISSUE A RECALL.*AK

OUR ABS LIGHT CAME ON THE DAY I PICKED UP THE CAR FROM THE DEALER AFTER GETTING ALL NEW BRAKES DONE. BERNARDI AUDI OF NATICK MA. THEY REFUSE TO BELIEVE THEY ARE TO BLAME.(WHATEVER) MY INDEPENDENT MECHANIC IS SAYING THE CONTROLLER IS DEAD.*AK THIS CAR IS A 1999 AUDI A4 QUATTRO THAT HAD 65,000 MILES ON IT WHEN IT DIED. THE CAR RUNS WITHOUT ABS TO THIS DAY. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY CHARGE 1500 DOLLARS TO FIX THIS!!

THE TIMING BELT FAILED AT 48,000 MILES CAUSING MAJOR ENGINE DAMAGE. ALL SOURCES STATE THIS BELT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE REPLACED UNTIL 90,000-105,000 MILES. *NLM

MY TIMING BELT FAILED AT 69000 MILES AND CAUSED ENGINE DAMAGE (REPLACEMENT OF HEADS). TOTAL REPAIR COST CAME TO $4000. SEEMS TO BE A COMMON FAILURE PRIOR TO THE RECOMMENDED 90K CHANGE INTERVAL. I TRIED SCHEDULING THE CHANGING OF THE TIMING BELT AT 6800 MILES BUT WAS TOLD TO WAIT BY AN AUDI SERVICE DEPARTMENT. CURRENTLY WORKING WITH AUDI FOR REPAYMENT.*AK

THE VW/AUDI 1.8T ENGINE HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING AN ALARMING NUMBER OF PREMATURE TIMING BELT FAILURES, CAUSING INSTANTANEOUS POWER FAILURE AND CATASTROPHIC VALVE TRAIN DAMAGE. (SEARCH AUDIWORLD.COM FOR TIMING BELT FAILURE.) FAILURES HAVE OCCURRED AS LOW AS 45K MILES. MINE WENT AT 90K MILES ALTHOUGH THE SERVICE MANUAL MAKES NO MENTION OF SCHEDULED REPLACEMENT. IF THIS HAD HAPPENED WHILE PASSING OR ON THE INTERSTATE, A SERIOUS ACCIDENT COULD HAVE OCCURRED. THESE VEHILCLES SHOULD BE RECALLED OR AT LEAST AUDI SHOULD NOTIFY THE OWNERS OF THE PROBLEM. THE TIMING BELTS SHOULD BE REPLACED TO AVOID A POTENTIAL FATAL ACCIDENT. THERE IS ALSO A KNOWN TIMING BELT TENSIONER PROBLEM IN PRE-2000 MODEL YEAR CARS THAT CAUSES FAILURE. *AK

TURBO-CHARGER BROKE DOWN. IT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED AT 68000 AS IT IS NOT A WEARABLE PART. THE CAR STARTED STALLING, PRESSED GAS PEDAL BUT THERE WAS NO MOVEMENT. SCALE OF THE RPM'S ON THE DASH BOARD WENT ALL THE WAY TO 5500 RPM'S, WHEN I PRESSED A GAS PEDAL, BUT THE CAR DID NOT MOVE. SUDDENLY, I WAS ENGULFED IN HUMUNGOUS AMOUNT OF WHITE SMOKE. BROUGHT CAR TO DON ROSEN AUDI SERVICE CENTER AND THEY ARE SAYING THAT REPAIR WILL COST ME SOME $1,600 AT LEAST. BUT, I BROUGHT MY CAR IN, MONTH AGO TO DON ROSEN AUDI AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER WITH COMPLAINT THAT THERE WAS WHITE SMOKE COMING OUT OF THE EXHAUST AND THAT VEHICLE WAS RUNNING AT 60% OF ITS POWER. THEY LOOKED AT IT AND SAID THEY DID NOT SEE ANY PROBLEM, PARTICULARLY THAT THE TURBO-CHARGER WAS JUST FINE. I SAID, MAYBE THERE IS NO SMOKE COMING OUT RIGHT THIS MOMENT, BUT IT IS HAPPENING EVERY SINGLE DAY, FEW TIMES A DAY, AND PLEASE TO LOOK AT IT BETTER. THEY'VE JUST SENT ME HOME TELLING ME THERE WAS NO PROBLEM. I TOLD THEM THAT IT WAS THEIR MISTAKE BY NOT LISTENING ME WHEN I COMPLAINED ON TIME TO FIX IT. BUT THEY DID NOT WANT TO HEAR MY ARGUMENT. NOW, I HAVE TO PAY FOR THE REPAIR I'VE TOLD THEM MONTH AND A HALF AGO TO FIX. PLUS, THIS BRAKE-DOWN SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED AT FIRST PLACE AT THIS MILEAGE. ALSO, WHEN I VISITED THEM MONTH AGO THEY'VE TOLD ME THAT I NEED TO CHANGE A TIMING BELT ONLY. I SEE THAT TIMING BELT, AS A PART COSTS ONLY $40, BUT THEY WANT TO CHARGE $1,000 TO FIX IT. I DO NOT THINK THAT THE LABOR COSTS $960 TO REPLACE A TIMING BELT. *NLM

NHTSA#00-V-414-000; PASSENGER VEHICLES. TIE RODS OF THE STEERING ASSEMBLY ARE PROTECTED ON EACH SIDE BY A SEAL TO PREVENT MOISTURE AND DUST PARTICLES FROM ENTERING THE SWIVEL BEARING MECHANISM. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOME TIE ROD SEALS MAY NOT SEAL PROPERLY. CONSUMER HAS SAME PROBLEM. HOWEVER THIS VEHICLE WAS NOT RECALLED DUE TO THE VIN. *AK

LEAKING WATER PUMP CAUSED TIMING BELT TO FAIL CAUSING $8500 ENGINE DAMAGE ON A 1999 AUDI A4 WITH ONLY 28K MILES.

WHEN THE CAR WAS ABOUT A YEAR OLD, THE ENTIRE AIRBAG SYSTEM HAD TO BE REPLACED, THE REPAIR FACILITY NOTED TO ME THAT I WAS LUCKY TO BRING IT IN WHEN I DID, AS IT WAS AT RISK FOR SPONTANEOUS DEPLOYMENT. ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS INCLUDED AN OIL PUMP FAILURE ($750) AT ABOUT THE THREE YEAR MARK; AND OCCASIONAL SUDDEN LURCHING/RPM REVVING OR SUDDEN ONSET OF A 'LAG' IN POWER, WHICH THE DEALER NOTED WHEN I BROUGHT IT IN BUT COULD DO NOTHING ABOUT. I HAVE ALSO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE FUEL INDICATOR GAUGE BEING GROSSLY INACCURATE - INDICATING I HAVE USED ONLY A QUARTER TANK OF FUEL TO DRIVE 350 MILES. HOWEVER, THE MOST BOTHERSOME ONGOING PROBLEM IS FOUR OR FIVE TRIPS TO THE DEALER TO REPAIR A NON-FUNCTIONING CRUISE CONTROL SYSTEM. EACH TIME THEY HAVE 'REPLACED THE VACUUM HOSES' BUT THIS 'REPAIR' WILL BEGIN TO FAIL AGAIN LATER THAT SAME DAY. THE SYSTEM WILL EITHER FAIL TO ENGAGE ALTOGETHER, OR IT WILL BE ENGAGED DURING HIGHWAY DRIVING, THEN WITHIN A FEW MINUTES, THE SPEED WILL CONTINUALLY DECREASE UNTIL I HAVE TO MANUALLY DISENGAGE THE SYSTEM AND TURN IT OFF. I REPORTED THIS TO AUDI OF AMERICA'S CORPORATE CUSTOMER SERVICE (VERY FRIENDLY AND HELPFUL) WHO HELPED ME ARRANGE ANOTHER SERVICE VISIT, BUT THE PROBLEM HAS NEVER BEEN RESOLVED. CRUISE CONTROL HAS NEVER WORKED AND I'M GIVING UP ON IT EVER WORKING. I JUST HAVE TO PRETEND THAT I DON'T HAVE IT, WHICH IS VERY ANNOYING DURING HIGHWAY TRAVEL. *NLM