1998 AUDI A4 Complaints

SINCE I HAVE OWNED TH CAR, I HAVE EXPERIENCED A DELAY OR A LACK OF BRAKING ABILITY WHEN DRIVING IN THE RAIN. I HAVE HAD A FEW NEAR ACCIDENTS WHEN I HAD TO BRAKE SUDDENLY AND I HAD NO RESPONSE. LUCKILY I HAD QUATRRO AND ROOM TO MOVE. NORMAL DRIVING IS O.K. ONLY BECAUISE I KNOW OF THE PROBLEM AND GIVE MYSELF TIME TO STOP. THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE. I NEED THE BRAKES TO WORK PROPERLY EVERY TIME AND UNDER ALL CONDITIONS. MY 87 MAXIMA HAS BEETER BRAKES NOW THAN THE AUDI. THIS NEEDS TO BE SOLVED OR I WILL HAVE TO CONSIDER SELLING MY VEHICLE FOR A SAFER BMW ESPECIALLY SINCE CHILDREN ARE ON THE WAY. NOT A SAFE VEHICLE FOR THEM. I HOPE YOU CAN REMEDY. *AK

WET BRAKING DELAY; 15 OCCURRENCES A GUESS, BUT IS ANY HEAVY RAIN - WHEN INTIALLY HIT THE BRAKES IN HEAVY RAING, GET NO BRAKING ACTION, SOMETIMES FOR OVER A SECOND. PEDAL IS FIRM, FEELS NORMAL. AFTER ABOUT A SECOND, WATER WASHED OFF ROTORS AND BRAKING IS NORMAL. COMPLAINED TO DEALER, BUT THEY SAY HAVE TO DRIVE CAR UNDER THESE CONDITIONS BEFORE CAN TAKE ACTION - "HAVEN'T HEARD OF ANY OTHER COMPLAINTS". DIFFICULT TO DO WHEN AM 1 HR AWAY FROM DEALER AND HAVE TO SUDDENLY TAKE OFF FROM WORK AND DRIVE TO THEM, HOPING THAT RAIN CONTINUES. HAVE DRIVEN/OWNED CARS SINCE 1969, HAD PREVIOUS 1990 AUDI - EXPERIENCED NO SUCH PROBLEMS ON ANY PREVIOUS VEHICLE. *AK

IN WET CONDITIONS (RAIN OR SLUSH), BRAKES INTERMITTENTLY FAIL TO RESPOND FOR SEVERAL SECONDS, THEN GRAB NORMALLY. BEEN THIS WAY SINCE I TOOK DELIVERY OF CAR. THIS IS NOT NORMAL WET WEATHER BRAKING FORCE REDUCTION. MORE LIKE NO BRAKES AT ALL FOR A FEW SECONDS. I BELIEVE THE BRAKES ARE GETTING WET INTERNALLY DUE TO LACK OF PROPER SHIELDS, BUT DRY THEMSELVES OFF AFTER A FEW SECONDS OF APPLICATION, WHICH WOULD EXPLAIN THE SEVERAL SECOND DELAY FOLLOWED BY NORMAL BRAKING. THE DEALER HAS INSPECTED ALL BRAKING SYSTEM COMPONENTS TWICE FOR ME AND FOUND NOTHING UNUSUAL. LOTS OF OTHER AUDI A4 OWNERS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE SAME PROBLEM. NO OTHER CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED OR DRIVEN HAS BEHAVED LIKE THIS IN WET WEATHER. ESPECIALLY AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS THE BRAKING DELAY IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, PATICULARLY SINCE IT IS INTERMITTENT. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW WHEN THE CAR WILL DECIDE NOT TO STOP WHEN YOU NEED IT TO! THE ONLY WAY I HAVE FOUND TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEM IS TO APPLY THE BRAKES EVERY TEN OR FIFTEEN SECONDS TO K EEP THEM DRY. BUT THAT, TOO, IS DANGEROUS, SINCE FOLLOWING TRAFFIC GOES BANANAS SEEING MY BRAKE LIGHTS COME ON ALL THE TIME FOR NO APPARENT REASON. I HAVE COMPLAINED TO AUDI OF AMERICA, WHICH CLAIMS THEY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM AND HAVE NOT HAD OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT IT. THEY ARE LYING, BECAUSE I KNOW OTHER A4 DRIVERS WHO HAVE ALSO COMPLAINED BITTERLY TO AUDI OF AMERICA AND THEIR DEALERS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. PLEASE HELP US! *AK

EVERY TIME IT RAINS IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO BRAKE THE CAR, EVEN THOUGHT THE BRAKES WORK PROPERLY IN THE DRY. I HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM EVER SINCE THE PURCHASE, BUT HAVE DECIDED TO REPORT IT ONLY NOW. THE CAR SEEMS TO ACTUALLY GO FASTER WHEN INITIALLY PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL, AND OLY AFTER ABOUT 2 SECONDS IT STARTS TO SHOW SOME SIGN THAT IT IS ACTUALLY BRAKING THE CAR. THIS MAKES THE CAR, WHICH IS BASICALLY NEW, UNSAFE TO DRIVE IN THE RAIN. *AK

WHEN DRIVING IN WET CONDITIONS, THE BRAKES RESPOND VERY DIFFERENTLY THAN WHEN DRY, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE BRAKES HAVEN'T BEEN APPLIED FOR A WHILE. THE BRAKE PEDAL REQUIRES MUCH GREATER FORCE TO DECELERATE AT THE DESIRED RATE COMPARED TO WHAT THE OPERATOR EXPECTS BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF DRIVING THE CAR PREVIOUSLY. THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO BE MOST OBVIOUS WHEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY IN THE RAIN. I'M GUESSING A LAYER OF WATER BUILDS UP ON THE DISCS OR PADS (OR BOTH), AND WHEN EXITING THE HIGHWAY AND APPLYING THE BRAKES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A WHILE IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE THERE IS NO BRAKING AT ALL! THE FEW TIMES MY WIFE HAS DRIVEN THE CAR IN THE RAIN ON THE HIGHWAY SHE HAS COMPLAINED LOUDLY TO ME. THE PROBLEM IS NOT LIMITED TO HIGHWAY DRIVING, HOWEVER. EVEN NORMAL DRIVING AROUND TOWN CAN RESULT IN THE FEELING OF SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED BRAKING. IF I DRAG THE BRAKES A LITTLE USING MY LEFT FOOT TO KEEP THE DISCS HEATED UP AND CLEAR OF WATER THEN WHEN I NEED THE BRAKES THEY SEEM TO BE FINE. THE PROBLEM NEVER SHOWS UP WHEN IT'S DRY OUTSIDE. THIS IS VERY DISCONCERTING AND MAKES ME AFRAID OF GETTING INTO AN EMERGENCY SITUATION WHERE I NEED TO DECCELERATE QUICKLY AND SIMPLY CAN'T DO IT. AS IT IS NOW I HAVE TO PLAN WAY AHEAD KNOWING THAT I MAY NOT HAVE THE BRAKING POWER I THINK I SHOULD HAVE. I HAVE NEVER FELT THIS KIND OF REDUCED BRAKING POWER IN THE RAIN IN ANY OTHER CAR I HAVE EVER OWNED OR DRIVEN. *AK

WHEN TRAVELING AT SPEED OF 50 MPH OR GREATER IN VERY HEAVY RAIN, THERE IS AN INITIAL DELAY WHILE BRAKING (0.5 SEC-1 SEC) WHEN BRAKES DON'T HAVE AN EFFECT. PUSHED THE PEDAL AND NOTHING HAPPENED FOR THE INITIAL DELAY. THEN, ABRUPTLY THE CAR BRAKES. ALSO, THERE IS A LACK OF SPLASH SHIELDS ON THE FRONT ROTORS ON THE MODEL YEAR 98 (MODEL YEAR 2000 HAS IT). THE ROTORS HAVE WATER ON THEM AND IT TAKES A WHILE FOR THAT TO BE EVACUATED. *AK

TRAVELING AT HIGHWAY SPEED, WEATHER WAS RAINING/SNOWING, WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO APPLY THE BRAKES TO EXIT THE HIGHWAY, THE BRAKES DID NOT SLOW THE CAR AS THEY SHOULD. I PUMPED THE BRAKES SEVERAL TIMES AND WAS ABLE TO SLOW THE CAR FOR THE EXIT RAMP. THIS HAS OCCURRED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS PRIOR AND SINCE, ALL DURING WET CONDITIONS. ON THE 1/22/00 INCIDENT, I WAS ON MY WAY TO THE DEALER TO HAVE A SCHEDULED SERVICE COMPLETED AND MENTIONED THE PROBLEM TO THE SERVICE WRITER. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH WET BRAKING IN MY MODEL HOWEVER AUDI HAS NOT AUTHORIZED ANY REPAIRS. HE DID HAVE THE PADS REMOVED AND CLEANED ALONG WITH THE ROTORS. THIS HAS NOT SOLVED THE PROBLEM.

NO PARTS HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE FOR RECALL # 99V131000/ BRAKE BOOSTER SINCE OCTOBER 1999. CONSUMER HAS CONTACTED DEALER ABOUT EVERY 4 WEEKS AS DEALER HAS INSTRUCTED. ALSO, DEALER CLAIMED THAT MANUFACTURER WAS NOT SENDING OUT PARTS FOR RECALL REPAIR. *AK

CONSUMER RECEIVED RECALL 99V131001 CONCERNING THE BRAKE BOOSTER.CONTACTED THE DEALER, NO PARTS WERE AVAILABLE TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. RECALL PLEASE GIVE ANY FURTHER DETAILS.*AK

WET BRAKING PERFORMANCE GREATLY DIMINISHED DUE TO WET ROTORS, REQUIRES HIGHER BRAKE EFFORT AND STOPPING TIME/DISTANCE. *AK