2018 AUDI A4 Recalls, Complaints & Safety

The contact owned a 2018 Audi A4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was fluid leaking from the front of the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact also stated that while the vehicle was parked, there was a puddle of fluid leaking from the front of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and it was determined that the water pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.

This problem is extremely sporadic, and often remedies itself after car shut down, and sometimes require that the car sit for a period of time. I estimate the following issue happens ~1 time a month, or estimated 5% of the time. Weather (temperature specifically) does not appear to impact occurance. When reversing, at times the back up camera does not function properly. During these times, the parking sensors appear to work, but it's unclear if the emergency reverse automatic braking system is working. The backup camera issues present themselves in several different ways and are described below. 1) Scrolling view (think of an old time movie, where the image "scrolling" through the screen 2) Black, but not completely black, includes what appears to be interference (sometimes white pixels flash randomly throughout the screen) 3) Off color (almost like a color inversion), darks appear light, light colors appear dark, similar to how things when developing film in a dark room 4) Similar to #1 but instead it freezes, halfway through a scroll. Often times the picture is split, with the bottom on the top, and the top on the bottom, and a clear black line in the middle Opening and closing the trunk, tapping the camera, turning the parking sensor (and camera) off and on do not solve the issue when it happens. Neither does changing from R to P on the transmission lever. Issue always requires a restart, rarely does an immediate restart fix the issue. The tracking lines are also distorted when this happens. When not malfunctioning, camera system works perfectly. Recently, I came across NHTSA ID: 25V900000 which almost exactly describes my issues but my car is not included. I did recently ask the Dealer to look into it during my 40,000 mile service. They stated that no codes were in the system and they could further troubleshoot but the intermittent nature would likely result in no findings unless the issue is present on site.

My screen turns on and off consistently not allowing me to use my backup camera. Causing a small collision while backing up when the camera turned off unexpectedly. Additionally when it’s off it will auto break when I’m not close enough to hitting and it’s loud and yanked me. This has been an issue for some time and I’m seeing a significant amount of my models have this issue and it’s not safe.

Drive system malfunction message appeared after starting ignition at 6am before heading to work. Turned car off immediately and took another vehicle to work.

My car's MMI keeps restarting while driving which affects the rear view camera and while backing up it can restart and go completely blank. I feel this puts my safety at risk while backing up. It also shuts down my bluetooth to my phone which can be a hazard while driving. I have called the dealership but they will not do anything without a large diagnosis fee which i cannot afford. They have said there are no recalls against it. No warnings prior to the failure and the failure happens every time I drive it, including multiple times per use.

The Audi MMI system began to spontaneously restart while driving after owning the car for a couple of years. It would power off and reboot at random intervals. It became more frequent and is both distracting and dangerous as you lose all navigation, and camera function while it reboots not to mention any telephone connection. This happens every couple of minutes and multiple times per drive. Took it to the dealer (Kendall Audi of Bend) and was told the MMI needed to be replaced. Spent approx. $2500 to have MMI replaced and now it has started happening again with the NEW MMI. There are MANY MANY other complaints with this same issue on Reddit and the Audi World Forum and it needs to be addressed by Audi.

Fortunately no catastrophic failure or accident occurred. At about 40,000k miles the rear spring mounts are significantly corroded and need replacing. This appears to be a galvanic reaction that occurs due to a design flaw which shortens the life of the critical mounts. I’m told one could fail imminently and the other is headed that way. Had this failed in use the damage would be significant and caused an accident. The service advisor said that Audi is aware of the short lifespan and has an improved version that will be used in the repair. I have a video of one of the mounts and will request the parts when repaired.

See attached document for complaint

Left front brake hose failed. Replaced both front hoses, bled and flushed the brake hoses as needed

SAFETY AND THEFT ISSUE!! The door lock actuators on two doors of vehicle. Front and back seat where children ride. The actuators failed to engage leaving it easy for anyone to open the door from the outside even when presumed locked. Actuators do not engage which leaves vehicles prone to theft and allows anyone to open the door included a child from the inside of the vehicle at any time.

I was rear-ended at a slow speed. I was stopped at the time. The driver who hit me was decelerating hard. Damaged to rear bumper. When I got back in the car, I realized that telescoping steering column had been pulled toward me. This would have been bad had I been shoved into the car in front of me and the airbags deployed too close to me. Luckily, this did not happen.

Crash

The all-wheel-drive clutch in the vehicle had to be replaced. The symptoms were heavy vibrations or thumping when starting to drive forward from a stop with the wheels turned in either direction. A dealership - New Country Audi of Greenwich - did the repair at a cost of $4,308.85 (including tax). This drivetrain failure occurred at less than 48,000 miles. The vehicle came with a 50,000 mile or 4 year warranty. Since it was in service for over 5 years, this defect was not covered under warranty. There is a Techical Service Bulletin on this issue, number 39 21 43 2059057/4 July 16, 2021. The dealer confirmed my issue was indeed the same as that addressed in the TSB. It seems to me that a major known issue occurring at less than 50,000 miles is a defect. I do not know if it is ultimately a safety hazard, but it seems it could become dangerous if not addressed. For reference, I am attaching the TSB and the repair invoice.

UNKNOWN

While driving there was an internal failure of the front differential which caused debris to fly out and the debris then punctured the transmission according to the diagnosis on an Audi dealership. The car jerked to a stop and would not move. If this happens at high speed it represents a sever safety risk to the occupants. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer and insurance representatives as well as by a dealer. There were no warning lamps, messages or other symptoms and this happened with no warning.

I first received notice of this recall in 1/22. My Audi dealer has continuously stated that Audi does not send them enough kits to remedy this recall

The rear view camera does not activate when using the parking assist or when reversing. The sensors are still functioning as intended. This can cause unintentional accidents or injuries to pedestrians. This issue was brought up with the dealer back in January of 2023. They mentioned the wiring for the rear camera was pinched by the trunk mechanism and because loose. There are no warning lamps displayed on the dash.

Without cause a passenger airbag malfunction light has come up, dealership says this is not covered under recall or vehicle warranty.

After dealership did the second repair to the airbag recall, the airbag light came on and has been on solid . When taking the car back to The dealership to have it fixed ,We were clear about the whole thing over the phone .the dealership proceeded to charge me for a diagnostic test as well as claiming to not have seen any recalls on the car .dealership claimed the whole airbag needed to be replaced yet the car has never been in an accident. Bottom line The initial recall isn’t finished . Dealership explained car would be safe to drive , even tho the safety system is currently malfunctioning .

On December 29, 2022 as I was driving my engine light came on, the fuel gauge registered empty (I had over a quarter tank of fuel at the time), and my miles till empty display in the upper left of the instrument cluster went blank. I took my Audi to my Audi dealer and their recommended repair was as follows: Fuel Tank: After removing fuel pump and level sensor we found that the secondary fuel level sensor is built into the fuel tank is faulty. Recommend replacing the tank and fuel pump with the tank. Their reason was that if the fuel tank failed it could cause a potentially hazardous situation for the driver and passengers.

Water Pump prematurely failed. Upon self inspection, I noticed the coolant reservoir was below the minimum requirements. I asked the dealer to inspect, and they determined the cause was a faulty water pump. At around 50,000 miles, this water pump should not have failed under normal use. I am fortunate I self inspected, as continued use may cause premature engine failure due to overheating. Overheating would cause spontaneous vehicle operation failure during normal driving conditions, stalling the vehicle on a road or highway, putting myself and others at risk for impact.

The Audi Pre-sense engaged on 3 occasions going 50+ mph bringing the car to a complete stop when there was nothing in front if it and a car right behind me. I was lucky the car behind me did not collide. If it had been a semi truck and just as close as the car trailing me, they would not have been able to stop in time causing damage or death. The problem could not be confirmed by the Audi dealer who performed a vehicle scan and found no codes and could not reproduced it. I had the Pre-sense shut off. I reported this to the manufacture on 6/17/22. The Pre-sense red warning triangle displayed in the instrument panel as when it was engaging.

The forward collision warning system (Audi PreSense) identified a shadow from an overpass as another car and alerted me to use the brakes. My car did figure out there was not another vehicle before performing an emergency brake. If the car had done an emergency brake I would have surly been rear ended on the highway. This is not the first time forward collision warning has activated due to a shadow on the road. I have not mentioned this to the dealer but have read of this happening to others that own Audi cars that use Audi PreSense. The Audi PreSense installed in my car utilizes the front facing camera only - there is not a forward facing radar system. There has never been a warning that that system is not functioning as intended.

Due to the AT&T 3G turndown, Audi of America is removing a critical safety feature from certain MY 2018 vehicles, with no solution offered to the vehicle owner except to pay an additional $650-$1000 out of pocket to install a retrofit device to restore some of these safety features. As sold, MY2017-2018 and certain MY 2019 Audi A4/A5/Q5/Q7 vehicles came with an emergency call feature, both automatic in the event of a severe accident, and manual. From the owners manual: "The vehicle electrical system initiates an automatic emergency call under certain circumstances, for example, if an airbag deploys. The LED in the emergency call button (2) blinks green. The emergency call is made. This cannot be cancelled." Because of the AT&T 3G Sunset, Audi of America is providing a retrofit kit to restore this emergency call functionality in the event of an accident. However, they are not providing this retrofit free to all customers. All MY2017 vehicles qualify for free installation and subscription to the new emergency call retrofit service. However, MY2018 and 2019 vehicles with an in- service date of before February 22, 2018 will have to pay for the installation and subscription to this service. Making owners of MY2018 vehicles pay to restore a critical safety feature that the vehicle was sold with is highly unethical and can lead to safety issues. Instead of an automated call to 911 during a severe accident, Audi of America is forcing owners of certain MY2018 vehicles to choose between paying $1000 + subscription fees for this critical safety service, or relying on owner's being conscious enough to use their own cell phones, which may not be the case during a severe accident. The decision by Audi of America to enforce an arbitrary in-service cutoff date of 2/22/2018 for MY2018 vehicles is highly illogical and unethical. All MY2017 vehicles, which are older and more likely to be out of warranty, qualify for the free update while MY2018 are subject to an arbitrary cutoff.

I received a message on my dashboard to turn the engine off and check the coolant when starting the vehicle each morning for the last two days. I brought the car into the Audi Dealership in Paramus/Fair Lawn, NJ. They stated the water pump was not working. I researched and found that a recall for ALL ROAD station wagons (Audi) had occurred for 2013-2017 for water pumps that could start a fire in the car. My car, although a 2018 model, was manufactured in January 19, 2018 (the beginning of 2018; recall noted for 2017)- water pump is defective with only 56,000 miles on it. My car was manufactured with defective water pump from prior year...... They paid for water pump part but made me pay for labor to put a replacement part in the car. AUDI should be liable for this..... there should be a recall in my year car because of the potential for fire with a defective water pump.

While driving the emergency parking brake engaged itself without warning or cause. This caused the vehicle to come to an abrupt stop. Luckily I was in a parking lot but if I had been in a high traffic area or intersection, it could’ve caused a collision. I had 2 passengers who witnessed this sudden bizarre event. There was nothing that could’ve caused this to happen. It scares me & now I’m worried this could happen again without warning. The sensor screen was beeping with a message to put my car in park before setting the brake. Made no sense why this happened.

ENGINE MALFUNCTION PREVENTED THE VEHICLE TO ENGAGE AND A SIGNIFICANT LAG. CORRECTION OF THE FAILURE HAS BEEN ATTEMPTED TWICE AND A THIRD ATTEMPT TO CORRECT MALFUNCTION IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS WITH NO MOVEMENT AS OF YET. GAS TANK HAS BEEN DRAINED AND REFILLED AND DID NOT CORRECT ISSUE. DEFINITELY NOT A GASOLINE TYPE ISSUE.

I WENT TO PRESS THE BUTTON TO DISABLE START/STOP MODE. THE BUTTON TO DO THIS IS NEXT TO THE ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL BUTTON. I ACCIDENTALLY PRESSED THE ESC BUTTON AND SHUT OF ELECTRONIC STABILITY. **THESE TWO BUTTONS SHOULD NOT BE NEXT TO EACH OTHER. ** THERE SHOULD BE A WAY TO DEFAULT TO DISABLED START/STOP MODE.

FRONT OF BODY RIDES TOO LOW TO GROUND. BODY DAMAGE OCCURRED ON LEFT FRONT FENDER FROM DRIVING UP A STEEP HILL AFTER MAKING LEFT TURN ONTO ROAD WITH THE STEEP HILL. *TR

NEW FACTORY BRAKES MAKE VERY LOUD AUDIBLE SCREECHING SOUND WHEN COMING TO A STOP.THIS HAPPENS JUST BEFORE COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP AND SOMETIMES IN THE BEGINNING OF BREAKING. MECHANIC HAS WORKED ON THIS ISSUE SEVERAL TIMES AND REORDERED BRAKES FROM LOCAL AUDI DEALERSHIP AND IT IS STILL MAKING THE SOUND. DEALERSHIP SAID ITS 4TH GENERATION BRAKES AND ITS A PROBLEM WITH THE COATING.