This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
In heavy rain or slush, braking is severely degraded. It appears that the brake rotors and/or pads act like sponges in wet weather, and can't shed water fast enough during initial braking. A scarey 1-2 seconds will elapse before the brakes, under high pedal pressure, will engage. To avoid the problem, you have to drive with 1 foot on the brake, and 1 foot on the gas to dry out the brakes, then repeatedly check for braking effectiveness.
There is a 2 sec. Delay for brake response when wet. Much worse than any other vehicle I have driven. This will cause accidents. Vehicle will not stop in published distance when brakes are wet. New brake pad material is required. There are already many other reports of this same problem in your data base.
- White Rock, WA, USA
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During wet weather, the brakes takes several seconds to catch after the pedal is depressed. This has caused many near accidents since this behavior is not normal nor expected. Dry weather braking is just fine. I am very concerned about this problem and have contacted Audi of America and my dealer. They do not have a solution for the problem yet. I need help!!
My A4 exhibits a severe delay (3-4 secs) in braking force when the brakes get wet (I.e. any time it rains). This is not normal and seems quite hazardous. It only happens when the brakes get wet, which always happens driving in rain (and I don't mean driving through puddles). Dealer's latest story is that Audi is aware of problem but has no fix. Some (not all) owners of this car model have the same complaint.
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.
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!
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.
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.
The wet braking is horrible on this car. If you are driving in the rain, it takes 2 seconds for the rotors to dry out. I have always had cars with 4 wheel discs and have never seen a car that loses its brakes so easily. The car brakes *great* in the dry and when the roads are wet, but when it is raining enough to wet the rotors, all drivers with the stock pads need to be extrememly careful. I don't know if this is part of the problem, but there is no spash shield behind the rotor. I don't want to be involved in an accident because of this and felt like I should report it. I do know that this is not just happening to me, but that is not what the dealer wants us to think. I have heard that changing the pads to an aftermarket helps, but I feel Audi should do something about this before someone gets hurt.
Brakes do not "grab" in the wet/rain. There appears to be a one to two second delay between stepping on the brakes and the car slowing done. I have noticed this same delay, in dry weather, at highway speeds of 50-60 mph.
During or after raining, initial braking has no response for about 1 - 2 seconds. Then the brakes slowly build up friction to engage stopping power. I realize that wet roads cause some brake performance loss, but this exceeds the norm. There are also many other A4 owner complaints about the same problem on the A4.org forums.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wappingers Falls, NY, USA