1999 AUDI A4 Complaints

PICKED UP CAR AT HOLBERTS AUDI IN WARRINGTON, PA ON JUNE 15, 2004. DEALER REPLACED RIGHT FRON UPPER AND LOWER SUSPENSION LINKS. AFTER LEAVING THE DEALERSHIP, THE ABS LIGHT CAME ON AND THE BRAKE LIGHT BEGAN BLINKING. BROUGHT CAR BACK TO DEALER AND DEALER SAID ABS CONTROL MODULE NEEDS REPLACING. WITHOUT A FUNCTIONING ABS CONTROL MODULE, THE CAR IS WITHOUT THE INCREASED SAFETY PROVIDED BY ANTI LOCK BRAKES. HAVEN'T REPLACED THE PART YET DUE TO ITS $1,000 PRICE TAG.*AK

WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED AND ATTEMPTING TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL IN EITHER DIRECTION A GRINDING NOISE WAS HEARD. THE VEHICLE WAS SERVICED, AND THE TECHNICIAN DETERMINED THAT RACK AND PINION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.*AK

AFTER STARTING THE VEHICLE A FIRE BROKE OUT INSIDE THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT. DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *AK

1999 AUDI A4 1.8T QUATTRO, VIN: [XXX] TIMING BELT FAILED WHILE DRIVING. MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE RECOMMENDS REPLACEMENT OF THIS BELT AT THE INTERVAL OF 105,000 MILES. THIS FAILURE OCCURRED AT 67,600 MILES ONE MONTH AFTER WARRANTY RAN OUT (PER AUDI, CARFAX INDICATES CAR STILL UNDER WARRANTY). THIS EXTREMELY EARLY FAILURE SUGGESTS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT EXISTS WITH THIS ENGINE. AUDI ADVOCATE INVESTIGATING AT THIS TIME, BUT HAS SUGGESTED THAT THIS MANUFACTURER DEFECT WILL NOT BE COVERED BY AUDI. I DISAGREE, THIS SHOULD BE COVERED AS AN UNACCEPTABLE FAILURE, IMPOSSIBLE TO AVOID BY CONSUMER, AS I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED TO REPLACE AT AN EARLIER TIME, LET ALONE, AT 50% OF MANUFACTURER"S RECOMMENDED INTERVAL. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TIME BELT FAILURE AT 65K MILES WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH ON HIGHWAY CAUSED OVER $5K IN REPAIRS. DEALER RECOMMENDED LOOKING AT OTHER REPAIR CENTERS BECAUSE IT COULD NOT LOOK AT THE CAR FOR 7 DAYS BECAUSE THE BACKLOG OF OTHER AUDI'S WITH SAME PROBLEM. INTERNET SEARCH FOUND 10 OTHER TIMING BELT FAILURES RANGING FROM 45K TO 98K ON SIMILAR MODELS. KNOWN ISSUE WITH AUDI CORP OF AMERICA. *JB

FAILURE OF A BOSCH 5.3 ABS HYDRAULIC CONTROL UNIT (PART # 8E0 614 111A) IN A 1999 AUDI 1.8 TURBO QUATTRO WITH 53,000 MILES.

WATER PUMP WENT OUT, CAUSING THE TIMING BELT TO FAIL. FAILING TIMING BELT CAUSED IT TO JUMP BUT LUCKLY IT DIDN'T CAUSE ANY ENGINE INTERFERENCE.*AK

AT APPROXIMATELY 68,800 MILES THE TIMING BELT ON MY AUDI A4 1.8T QUATTRO BROKE AS I WAS PULLING INTO TRAFFIC. THIS OCCURED APPROXIMATELY 6 WEEKS AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF THE MANUFACTURERS EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE AUTO HAS BEEN METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED SINCE ITS PURCHASE AND HAS ALL THE PERTINENT SERVICE RECORDS. THE CURRENT REPAIR ESTIMATE IS $4,000 TO $5,000. THE CURRENT RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT INTERVAL FOR THE TIMING BELT BY AUDI IS 90,000 TO 105,000 MILES. AUDI USA CURRENTLY WILL NOT PROVIDE ANY ASSISTANCE IN THE REPAIR OF THIS VEHICLE. I HAVE PERFORMED SOME INTERNET RESEARCH AND ASIDE FROM THE 2 COMPLAINTS ON THE NHTSA WEBSITE I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS SIMILAR COMPLAINTS OF AUD A4 AND VW PASSAT 1.8T TIMING BELTS BREAKING WELL IN ADVANCE OF THE 90,000 MILES SERVICE INTERVAL. THIS APPEARS TO BE A MANUFACTURERS DEFECT AND THE VW AUDI SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR OF THIS PROBLEM I BELIEVE. FORTUNATELY FOR ME I WAS NOT HIT AS MY CAR FAILED PULLING INTO TRAFFIC. I BELIEVE THIS DEFECT POSES A SIGNIFICANT RISK SHOULD IT FAIL AT AN INOPPORTUNE MOMENT.

THROTTLE STICKS AT LOW AMBIENT TEMPERATURE. THIS HAS OCCURED SEVERAL TIMES IN THE LAST MONTH WHEN TEMPERATURE WAS BELOW 10 F. IT OCCURS WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON AND WHEN THE CRUISE CONTROL IS OFF. VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION AND HARD TO STOP VEHICLE WITH A THROTTLE STUCK OPEN. LETTING THE CAR SIT FOR A FEW MINUTES WARMS UP THE THROTTLE BODY ENOUGH THE THE THROTTLE UNSTICKS.*AK

RAPID AND CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF WATER PUMP DISRUPTED TIMING CHAIN AND LED TO SEVERE DAMAGE TO ENGINE, REQUIRING ITS REPLACEMENT. THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT NIGHT ON A LIMITED ACCESS ROAD WITHOUT SHOULDERS. I NEEDED TO GO SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS, AT MOST, TO PULL OFF ROAD FOR SAFETY. AUDI'S 3-YEAR WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED, AND SO IT OFFERED NO HELP, DESPITE LOW MILEAGE AND REGULAR MAINTENANCE OF THE CAR.