2000 AUDI S4 Complaints

THE DOOR LOCKS AND ALARM SYSTEM FAILED WHEN MY CAR WAS STOLEN FROM THE IKEA PARKING LOT IN ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY. THIEVES PUNCHED OR DRILLED A HOLE IN THE DRIVER DOOR BETWEEN THE DOOR HANDLE AND DOOR LOCK AND WERE ABLE TO OPEN THE DOOR AND DISABLE THE ALARM SYSTEM AT THE SAME TIME. AFTER BREAKING THE STEERING COLUMN, STARTING THE CAR, AND OUTRUNNING POLICE, THE CAR WAS RECOVERED VIA LOJACK WITH ALL MY PERSONAL BELONGINGS GONE. AUDI SHOULD ADRESS THIS ISSUE BY MAKING NEW CARS WITH AN IMPROVED SECURITY SYSTEM AND BY DOING SOMETHING FOR EXISTING OWNERS TO FIX THIS COSTLY AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM. OTHER AUDI OWNERS NEED TO BE MADE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM.*AK

PE00 020; CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 55MPH ON HIGHWAY AND NOTICED A TREMBLE OF VIBRATION. HE WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER. NOTICED THAT REAR PASSENGER TIRE TREAD SEPARATED FROM RIM. FIRESTONE, BRIDGESTONE RE040, POTENCA, P225 R15/ DEALERSHIP WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM.*AK

THIS IS THE THIRD TIRE I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE SINCE GETTING THE CAR, ONE HAD A BUBBLE AND THE OTHER TWO HAD A SIDEWALL BLOWOUT WILL DRIVING THE CAR. AUDI HAS SENT THEIR CUSTOMERS A LETTER STATING THAT IF CERTAIN CONDITION ARE MET THEY WILL PAY FOR THE REPLACEMENT. *AK (TIRESIZE: 225/45YR17)

VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND LEFT AFTER REMOVING ITEMS FROM TRUNK, AND IT SUBSEQUENTLY RAN AWAY. *AK

ON OR ABOUT 11/20/00 I APPLIED BRAKES WHILE DRIVING DOWN HILL. CAR ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL. BRAKES WOULD NOT STOP CAR, WHICH EVENTUALLY CRASHED INTO TELEPHONE POLE. I INJURED MY LEFT LEG. AUDI ADVISED ME THEY KNEW OF NO "DEFECT" THAT COULD CAUSE THIS ACCIDENT. ON 13/21/01 AS I APPLIED BRAKES TO TURN INTO A PARKING SPACE CONTIGUOUS TO A BUILDING THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED. WHEN I BOTH HEARD TO ENGINE RACING AND THE CAR ACCELERATING I FORTUNATELY SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL AND STOPPED THE VEHICE. MY FOOT WAS NOT ON THE ACCELERATOR! I REFUSE TO DRIVE THIS VEHICLE. AUDI'S RESPONSE IS THAT IF THE DEALER FINDS A PROBLEM AUDI WILL TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION. THERE IS A PROBLEM WHETHER AUDI FINDS IT OR NOT. I AM NOT RISKING A FATAL ACCIDENT TO ESTABLISH THIS FACT!*AK

MUCH OF THIS INFORMATION IS FROM WWW.AUDIWORLD.COM. THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS TURBO FAILURES ON THE EARLIER 2000 AUDI S4. FOR THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD TURBO FAILURES, SOME HAVE INDICATED AN ABNORMAL 'SIREN' SOUND WHEN ACCELERATING. THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW TURBOS THAT HAVE ALSO BEEN REPLACED (WITHOUT FAILURE) BECAUSE OF COMPLAINS OF THIS SOUND. MY CAR STARTED EXHIBITING THIS SOUND FROM 2K MILES ONWARD. INITIALLY, THIS SOUND OCCURED ONLY WHEN THE ENGINE WAS COLD. IT IS HOWEVER NOW MORE APPARENT MOST OF THE TIME. I HAVE BROUGHT THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE AUDI SERVICE DEPARTMENT BUT HAVE INSISTED THAT SOUND IS NORMAL AND IS APPARENT EVEN ON NEW CARS. SINCE THEN I HAVE TEST DRIVEN A NEW S4 AND THE SOUND IS NOT PRESENT. THE THEORY TO THE CURRENT FAILURE IS THAT THERE IS AN INSUFFICIENT OIL SUPPLY TO THE TURBOS AND BECAUSE OF THIS THE INTERNAL BEARINGS ARE DAMAGED AND HENCE START WHINING ('SIREN SOUND')AND EVENTUALLY FAILING. A FEW CHANGES BY AUDI ALSO SUPPORTS THIS THEORY. 1) THEY HAVE REVISED THE TURBOS ON THE NEWER S4S. THE OIL INLET TO THE NEW TURBOS ARE NOW LARGER. ALSO,2) THEY HAVE REVISED THE RECOMMENDED OIL WEIGHT FROM A 5-40W TO 0-30W WHICH ENSURES BETTER OIL FLOW AND LUBRICATION AT LOWER TEMPERATURES. THE REASON OF MY CONCERN IS THAT THE TURBOS COST MORE THAN $5000 DOLLARS TO REPLACE AND I INTEND TO KEEP MY CAR FOR 5 YEARS OR 90K MILES (WHICHEVER COMES FIRST). FYI THE 'SIREN' SOUND IS SOMETIMES LOUD ENOUGH THAT PASSENGERS IN MY CAR THINK THAT THERE IS A EMERGENCY VEHICLE IN THE VICINITY. I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO ASSIST YOU IN ANY WAY, OR PROVIDE YOU WITH CONTACTS, LITERATURE ON INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED TURBO FAILURES.

NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK (TIRESIZE: 225/45VR17)( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: 225/45VR17 )

AUDI USA HAS ENGINEERING CONTROL AND WERE CONTACTED AND PRESENT DURING REPAIR. UNDER VERY ICY CONDITIONS ON STRAIGHT ROAD, DURING ACCELERATION FROM VERY SLOW SPEED, VEHICLE PITCHED INTO OVERSTEER CONDITION. NOT ENTIRELY UNEXPECTED, BUT AFTER A DIFFICULT RECOVERY, WHEN ALL SEEMED OK, IT OVERSTEERED AGAIN QUITE VIOLENTLY. THIS WAS AGAIN RECOVERED, BUT IT APPEARED THAT THERE WAS AN ABS BRAKE INPUT , CERTAINLY NOT OF MY DOING. THE THIRD CYCLE WAS MORE SEVERE, AND I LEFT THE ROAD. NEITHER THE BRAKE NOR THROTTLE WERE TOUCHED DURING THE WHOLE CYCLE, BUT STEERING INPUTS WERE POWERFUL AS I ATTEMPTED TO SAVE THE DAY. THE SEPARATENESS OF THE CYCLES ALERTED ME TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE WHEEL SPEED SENSORS HAD DETECTED A DIFFERENTIAL SPEED AND APPLIED THE BRAKES. AUDI REFUSES TO RELEASE ANY DATA ON THE OPERATION OF THEIR ABS SYSTEM, AND THE VOLATILE COMPUTER DATA HAS GONE..IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT SOME OF THE CONTROL FUNCTIONS PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED, ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL, ETC, ARE NOW EMBEDDED IN THE ABS . THE S4 DID NOT HAVE A STABILITY CONTROL MECHANISM, IT NOW DOES. THIS IS A VERY POWERFUL VEHICLE SYSTEM, AND IF IT SHOULD FAIL, THE CONSUMER SHOULD BE ABLE TO KNOW THE CRITERIA UNDER WHICH IT SHOULD, COULD OPERATE AND/OR FAIL. A YEARS WORTH OF COMMUNICATION HAS PRODUCED ZERO DATA FROM AUDI. *AK

SIDE WALL BUBBLES ON BOTH FRONT TIRES. AUDI DISAVOWED ANY KNOWLEDGE OF A PROBLEM IN JUNE 2000 (TIRESIZE: 225/45/17)( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: 225/45/17 )

BUBBLE IN TIRE SIDEWALL AFTER HITTING POTHOLE. (TIRESIZE: 225/45-17)( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: 225/45-17 )