10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
43,677 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2004 Audi A4 miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2004 Audi A4 Owner Comments

problem #6

Sep 072022

A4

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

This took place about a week ago. The car was parked in our driveway when the fire started. My husband had returned home just 15 minutes prior to the fire starting. I noticed there was smoke coming in our living room window. Then I looked at our security camas. And saw smoke pouring out from underneath the hood of my car. We tried to put the fire out with our two hose system set up and it wouldn't go out. So we knew it was electrical. We couldn't get close enough to open the hood so I couldn't pour baking soda on it. Two fire extinguishers later like 10 minutes the firefighters showed up and we're able to put it out. They confirmed that the arch came from the battery terminals /cables. Two of the fireman said they'd never seen anything like this before. Then the car tried to START ITSELF as my husband and the two fireman were standing right in front of the Audi. They had to cut the remaining battery cable that wasn't completely burned through before it stopped. My neighbor has a recording of the whole incident. The engine compartment is destroyed! The engine might be all right but we don't have the finances to do anything but clean up. Oh and for extra fun one of the fireman took an ax the the hood of the A4 cabriolet I have had for maybe a month. Now we have no car and no real means of being able to fix it.

- Spokane, WA, USA

problem #5

Aug 232021

A4

  • miles
PRNDS appeared in red on my dash and then started blinking. Went on line regarding this and read about a TCM switch or a lever switch malfunction.Have an appt with mechanic on 8/26/21. From what I have read we are looking at a cost prohibitive repair of several thousands of dollars. Does Audi have any responsibility? Apparently it is a common complaint with the A4 model. Felt loss of power when decelerating.

- Catonsville, MD, USA

problem #4

Oct 102019

A4

  • 99,872 miles
My vehicle started up fine and I was driving to work, I was idling at the red light and my car shut off and signaled the battery light. We tried to jump it thinking it was the battery like it signaled, and it wasnt so we had to tow it. The car still doesnt start. It cranks but wont start and I was in the middle of an intersection, no warning lights before hand at all.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #3

Apr 102015

A4

  • 90,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Rear window of convertible soft top for 2004 Audi A4 cabriolet. An old issue often suffered by Audi cabriolets from 2003-2009. Claimed to be caused by the adhesive that Audi uses. This can be caused by keeping the car outside instead of in a garage as prolonged exposure to sunlight causes the adhesive to give away and fail, causing the rear window to separate from the outer layer of the top and drop. While the window is still technically attached to the inner layer of the top, the window no longer protects against water. As a result rain can seep into the non water resistant inner layer of the top and then cause water damage to the rear seats. This is the case with my own car and with a large enough number of cabriolets that this should have been settled frankly, a good 10 years ago when the first cases were being noticed. I have as many others have, attempted to use a temporary fix and as a result, there is a clear industrial adhesive around the top and rear window to attempt to fix this, it fails with continued use.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #2

Apr 032016

A4

  • 69,802 miles
Premature rear window leak due to glue problem which results in replacing complete top dealership said window was repaired before on previous owner.

- Hilton Head Island, SC, USA

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problem #1

Jul 012004

A4 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 2,389 miles
I have a brand new 2004 Audi A4avantquattro 1.8. on July 1, with 2389 miles on the car, I had a blowout of my right rear tire, which is a Goodyear M&S R235/17 low profile high performance tire. I never had a sensation of hitting anything on the road, but had only seconds to get from the fast lane of I-5 in downtown sacramento, ca across 5 lanes of freeway traffic and around a caltrans maintenence crew on the shoulder, to safety. By the time I did, the tire tread had completely separated on both sides of the wheel 360 degrees. Six days later, while having the tire replaced at a local tire store, the check engine light came on in the car. I took it to the dealer at my next opportunity, with now 2750 miles on the car. I was told that the filler hose to the gas tank was punctured, requiring the replacement of the entire gas tank, as it is all one peice, that the wires connecting the fuel system to the central computer were damaged and had to be replaced, that a hole in the sheath around the shock absorber on that wheel had been punctured, requiring possible replacement of the entire shock, and that the entire wheel liner on that wheel was gone and had to be replaced. The estimated cost for this is somewhere between $1600-2000. Neither Audi, nor the dealership, thus far has taken any responsibility for the design flaws that created the possibility for such damage from a flat tire. I frequently drive alone, and we live in a high fire danger area. I was driving around with a leaky gas tank for 5 days before the "check engine" light even went on, not to mention the fact that a faulty shock absorber could have caused my all wheel drive to fail. I feel that this car is unsafe for me to drive.

- Nevada City, CA, USA

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