2005 AUDI A4 Complaints

WIFE WAS DRIVING HOME FROM WORK AT NIGHT, WHEN ERROR MESSAGE "LEFT DIPPED HEADLIGHT" APPEARED, AND SHE NOTICED LEFT LOW BEAM HEADLIGHT NOT WORKING. REPLACED WITH NEW BULB AND STILL NOT WORKING. A FEW MONTHS LATER, NOW BOTH LEFT AND RIGHT HEADLIGHTS NOT WORKING. THIS VEHICLE IS NO LONGER SAFE TO DRIVE AT NIGHT. *TR

FRONT HEADLIGHTS FLICKER ON EITHER SIDE AND I GET A HEADLIGHT DIPPED ERROR ON MY DASH. AS A RESULT EITHER RIGHT OR LEFT LIGHT GOES OUT COMPLETELY. PROBLEM OCCURS DAILY AND THE ONLY WAY OF TURNING LIGHTS ON BACK AGAIN IS TO COMPLETE TURN LIGHTS OF OFF THEN ON AGAIN. A SAFETY ISSUES WHEN DRIVING AT NIGHT AND EARLY MORNING.

I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE ON 02/11/2012 AND THAT VERY EVENING WHEN I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE THE LIGHTS, MY RIGHT LIGHT BEGAN TO FLICKER AND THEN FAILED COMPLETELY. THIS REALLY UNNERVED ME AS I WAS IN AN AREA WITH NO STREET LIGHTS. AND DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. I INSTINCTIVELY TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF AND THEN ON AGAIN, AND THIS MADE THEM COME BACK ON. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS HAPPENED NUMEROUS TIMES THAT NIGHT. I FEEL THIS IS A BLATANT SAFETY ISSUE ESPECIALLY AS I HAD FAMILY MEMBERS IN MY CAR AND THEIR WELL BEING WAS COMPROMISED. I HAVE RESEARCHED THIS PROBLEM VIA THE INTERNET AND IT APPEARS TO BE RAMPANT ON AUDI'S AND THE DEALERSHIPS DON'T EITHER KNOW WHAT TO DO OR DON'T WANT TO DO IT AS FOR THE EXPENSE OF THE PARTS.I SPOKE WITH NO LESS THAN 8 AUDI DEALERSHIPS AROUND THE PA NORTHEAST AND NO ONE COULD POSITIVELY SAY WHAT WOULD BE THE PROBLEM. I AM HAVING THE BULB REPLACED AT MY COST BECAUSE I BOUGHT THE CAR USED AND HAVE NO WARRANTY. NOW I KNOW WHY I WAS ABLE TO PURCHASE IT AT A GOOD COST. LAST OWNER WAS PROBABLY CRAZY OVER THIS. BY ALL ACCOUNTS, EVEN REPLACING THE BULB MIGHT NOT WORK. THERE ARE NO LESS THAN 4 TSB'S OUT ON THIS PROBLEM. WHY AUDI GETS AWAY WITH THIS IS A TRAVESTY AND THIS SHOULD BE REMEDIED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED. *TR

THE HEADLIGHTS ON MY AUDI A4 FLICKER AND THEN I GET AN ERROR MESSAGE SAYING THAT THE "HEADLIGHT DIPPED" AND THEN IT TURNS OFF. I THEN HAVE TO TURN OFF THE HEADLIGHTS AND TURN THEM BACK ON TO GET THE LIGHT TO RETURN. I HAVE TRIED REPLACING MANY COMPONENTS OF THE HEADLIGHT SYSTEM AND NOTHING HAS REMEDIED THE ISSUE. THE DEALER DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM EITHER. *TR

MY AUDI A4 CURRENTLY HAS AN ISSUE WITH THE HEADLIGHTS GOING OUT. WHEN I TURN IT ON, ONE OF THE HEADLIGHTS WILL START FLICKERING AND THEN DIP, GETTING A WARNING LIGHT ON THE DASH THAT SPECIFIES THE HEADLIGHT HAS DIPPED. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT HEADLIGHT. THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT AND TENDS TO HAPPEN EARLY AFTER DRIVING, USUALLY WHEN ROADS ARE UNEVEN OR GOING OVER SPEED BUMPS. I HAVE TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER WHO SAID THEY COULD NOT REPLICATE THE PROBLEM AND ADVISED REPLACING THE BULBS AT THE COST OF OVER $700. THEY DID NOT GAURANTEE IT WOULD FIX THE PROBLEM. I WAS ABLE TO REPLICATE THE PROBLEM AS SOON AS I DROVE OFF THE LOT. APPARENTLY OTHER DRIVERS HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS ISSUE. THIS IS AN EXTREME SAFETY AND HAZARD ISSUE AS IT OCCURS WHILE I AM DRIVING. IF YOU TURN OFF THE HEADLIGHTS AND TURN IT BACK ON, THEY WILL SOMETIMES STAY ON BUT MORE OFTEN WILL FLICKER AND THEN GO OFF AGAIN. I BELIEVE THIS IS A MANUFACTURING ISSUE VS. WEAR AND TEAR AND WOULD LIKE AUDI TO PERMANENTLY FIX THE ISSUE AT THEIR EXPENSE. *TT

RANDOMLY, AND AT ALL DIFFERENT SPEEDS AND ROAD CONDITIONS, THE LEFT OR RIGHT LIGHT WILL FLICKER AND GO OUT. THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WILL SAY "DIPPED LIGHT". THE LIGHTS MUST BE TURNED OFF THEN ON TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. VERY DANGEROUS ON DARK CURVY HIGHWAYS. SO FAR BOTH HAVE NOT GONE OUT TOGETHER. DEALERS HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO FIX IT AS THERE ARE NO ERROR CODES OR CANNOT REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM. PROBLEM HAPPENS AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, AND SOMETIMES SEVERAL TIMES IN ONE EVENING. *TR

THE LEFT HEADLAMP WILL FLICKER AND THEN DIP TOWARDS THE GROUND WHILE DRIVING, A DASHBOARD WARNING SAYS "LEFT HEADLAMP DIPPED". THE CAR HAS BEEN TO THE AUDI DEALER SEVERAL TIMES AND THEY ARE UNABLE TO REPLICATE THE ISSUE, AND TELL ME THE FAULT DOES NOT GENERATE A COMPUTER CODE FOR THEM TO CHECK. IT HAS STARTED HAPPENING ON A MORE FREQUENT BASIS, AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS AND ON DIFFERENT ROAD CONDITIONS. *TR

WHILE DRIVING EITHER DURING THE DAY OR DURING THE NIGHT EITHER ONE OF THE LIGHTS WILL START FLICKERING AND THEN EVENTUALLY GO OUT COMPLETELY. WHILE DRIVING HOME ONE THE FREEWAY ONE NIGHT THE RIGHT SIDE STARTED TO FLICKER AND THEN WENT OUT COMPLETELY...I TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF AND THEN TURNED THEM ON AND THE LIGHT WORKED PERFECTLY FINE FOR 5 MINS OR SO AND THEN THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN! *TR THE NEXT DAY AS I WAS GOING TO WORK EARLY IN THE MORNING (WHILE IT WAS STILL A LITTLE DARK) THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN...BUT THIS TIME WITH THE LEFT SIDE. IT STARTED TO FLICKER AND THEN IT WENT OUT COMPLETELY. I TURNED THE LIGHTS OFF AND TURNED THEM BACK ON AND THE LIGHT WORKED AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. I CALLED AN AUDI DEALER AND THEY SAID TO BRING THE CAR IN TO GET THIS ISSUE FIXED...THEY QUOTED ME AT $180 FOR THE BULB AND A GRAND TOTAL OF $450 FOR THE BULB PLUS INSTALLATION. I JUST RECENTLY BOUGHT THE CAR AND IVE BEEN READING ONLINE ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE THAT ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THEIR HEADLIGHTS.... I THINK ITS ONLY FAIR TO HAVE A RECALL DUE TO A POOR DESIGN BECAUSE I DONT THINK ITS VERY SAFE FOR ME OR ANYONE TO DRIVE WITH ONE HEADLIGHT AND THEN HAVING THE CHANCE OF THE OTHER HEADLIGHT GOING OUT AT THE SAME TIME!

WHEN THE CAR GETS COLD, THE LATCH ON THE TRUNK WON'T CATCH. SO, YOU CAN HAVE THE TRUNK LATCH CLOSED WHEN YOU LEAVE THE GARAGE. BUT WHEN YOU PARK IN A COLD OUTDOOR LOT, THE LATCH WILL COME UNDONE, AND YOU CAN'T LATCH THE TRUNK ON THE WAY HOME. SO WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING AND HIT A BUMP, THE TRUNK LID RATTLES AROUND. BUT THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN IT IS COLD. THE SERVICE GUYS AT MY AUDI DEALER SAID, "YEAH, THIS IS A PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS." IF THEY KNOW ABOUT IT, WHY DON'T THEY FIX IT? THEY SHOULD REPLACE THE FAULTY TRUNK LATCHES. IT SEEMS A SAFETY HAZARD TO HAVE THE TRUNK FLY OPEN WHEN YOU ARE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD. *TR

THE TIMING CHAIN (NOT THE TIMING BELT, WHICH HAD BEEN CHANGED WELL BEFORE THE RECOMMENDED TIME) BROKE. THIS CAUSED THE ENGINE TO SEIZE IMMEDIATE RESULTING IN THE CAR COMING TO A RAPID AND ABRUPT STOP. FORTUNATELY FOR ME, IT OCCURRED AT LOW SPEED ON A VERY QUIET STREET. HAD IT OCCURRED ON A FREEWAY, SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH LIKELY WOULD HAVE RESULTED SINCE THE CAR DECELERATED SO QUICKLY I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TIME TO COAST INTO THE BREAKDOWN LANE. APPARENTLY FAILURES OF THESE TIMING CHAINS OCCUR COMMONLY; AUDI APPARENTLY HAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY PROGRAM FOR SOME CAM FOLLOWER WEAR PROBLEMS (THAT MAY OR MAY NOT INVOLVE A TIMING CHAIN FAILURE). BUT THEY DO NOT LIST THE CHAIN OR THE FOLLOWER AS MAINTENANCE OR INSPECTION ITEMS, AND GIVE OWNERS NO HINT THAT THEY SHOULD INSPECT THE FOLLOWER, OR REPLACE THE CHAIN PERIODICALLY. TIMING CHAIN FAILURES ON ZERO CLEARANCE ENGINES (VW HAS THE SAME ENGINE AND APPARENTLY THE SAME PROBLEM), WILL KILL FOLKS IF THEY OCCUR ON FREEWAYS OR OTHER ROADS WHERE AN INABILITY TO COAST TO A SAFE STOPPING POINT WILL LEAVE MOTORISTS AT INCREDIBLE RISK. *TR