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.
The contact owned a 2013 Audi A4. While driving approximately 70 mph, the steering wheel failed to center and the traction control warning light illuminated. As a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and it spun into a circle. The contact crashed into the guardrail and sideswiped another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact sustained a head injury that did not require medical attention. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,000.
The contact owned a 2013 Audi A4. The contact stated that the steering was erratic and no longer centered. The contact heard a clicking sound coming from the steering wheel prior to the failure. While traveling 65 mph, the contact lost control of the steering wheel and crashed into a guard rail. The vehicle was destroyed. None of the air bags deployed. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The front driver side tie rod fractured; however, the contact did not know whether the failure occurred before or after the crash. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.
At highway speeds, steering feedback is very unpredictable. The vehicle will not drive in a straight line at highway speed, it constantly requires unnatural adjustments to maintain the vehicles position in interstate lane. The vehicle does not pull to one side or the other instead the steering is loose and unpredictable a few inches on either side from the 12 O'clock position, neutral position. This has caused very often unintentional lane departures and almost accidents.
The steering developed an intermittent notchy feel during highway driving within the first 1600 miles. The steering wheel feels a bit like the volume knob on the radio and "clicks" from one position to the next. It is very difficult to have the steering wheel between the 2 positions. I complained to Audi and they acknowledged the problem and said they had a power steering update to fix the problem. The update was applied in Dec 2013. After the update the notchy feeling started occurring around town (35-55mph). It can make staying in the lane difficult. Sometimes it feels like the steering wheel is fighting against you a little. Also the car does not go straight on the highway. It requires constant, small adjustments to keep the car going straight. Driving can be very disconcerting. I am working with Audi to resolve the problem but they have not acknowledged that there is a larger problem. So far they have been unable to fix it.
Car developed notchy feeling when trying to keep vehicle straight on highway roads. Requires constant input in both right and left directions. Similar to trying to correct for cross winds from both sides even though calm conditions. Car had up-grade to steering module at 5K miles which dealer said I had no choice in the matter. Car then went to dealer for steering column bushings and other parts according to their internal recall. Now car has lighter feel but does not rebound to neutral or 12 O, clock position. Does not pull in any direction but rather remains in whatever direction needed to correct to traveling in straight line. Little input to go left, remains traveling slightly left. Same thing correcting to right. Audi aware of problem but has no definite fix. Very pronounced at lower temps especially below freezing which does not help in the adirondacks. Am told this system saves 1 mpg. Not worth the sketchy and untrustworthy behavior.
- Plainview, NY, USA
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There are two issues which occur without warning, usually when the car is cold or while driving on the freeway. The first issue occurs when traveling in a straight line and is a "slip" in the steering wheel when crossing the 12 O'clock position where it feels like it's holding fine and then suddenly "slips" and then grabs again when you turn the wheel off center. This happens with no change in road conditions, acceleration, or vehicle speed. When this occurs it is unsettling and has caused drivers to inadvertently drift into the adjacent lane. The second issue is a "notchy" feel which happens at any speed, any steering mode and any wheel position. Like the first steering issue, this also feels unsafe as the driver often over or under corrects steering input. I have taken the vehicle to Audi dealers numerous times, they even changed the power steering system in Jan 2013 however the problem returned after approximately 45 days. I took the car back to the Audi dealership in June at which point they acknowledged that Audi is aware of the problem and they are working on a fix, however neither the dealer nor Audi has called with a real fix for this issue yet.
We are having a steering problem with our 2013 all road. It has about 10K miles on it. At varying speeds, we notice "play" or lack of control while steering. It appears there is a 1-2 inch lack of response from center while driving from time to time....not consistent. It also appears that steering takes more effort while compensating for this lack of control....during and after the episode.
The vehicle undergoes consistent lateral movement on the freeway when over speeds of 60 miles per hour. The driver has to continually correct the steering wheel just to stay in a driving lane. The vehicle drives fine at speeds below 60 mph.
The steering is notchy/ clicky and unstable. Difficult to keep the car in a straight line. Problem stops when restarting the vehicle. Has happened multiple times, beginning to feel unsafe in the car. Have read multiple reports of the exact same problem!
I just lease 2013 Audi A4 on March 15, 2013 from dealer in (NY); the steering control/mechanicals are completely offline, unable to keep steering/wheels straight. I constantly have to turn steering to keep the wheels straight, as if car is drifting either to left or right, especially at 20 miles or over. On highway the steering will not hold a straight line. I am constantly making corrections every few seconds to maintain lane. It is impossible to keep steering and car go straight. I hope Audi engineers are checking the problem. I am unhappy and disappoint with Audi A4.
Steering control is notchy at low speeds. This happens randomly and not frequently only 5 times in two months. During each episode the steering had a high amount of resistance then jumped to the next position. At highway speeds (70 mph) the steering will not hold a straight line and small corrections must be made every few seconds to maintain your lane. The steering is impossible to keep on center making it very difficult to make long trips. This is at all times while at highway speed. The dealer representative told me that my VIN is flagged for steering problems by Audi but no fix was available at this time.
This is for my 2013 Audi allroad (station wagon, based on an A4). Outside temp: ~ 34 degrees F. 1550 miles on odometer. I was driving on the interstate. The pavement was not crowned, and in fact was very smooth. There were no ruts from heavy tractor/trailer usage. The weather was clear and there was no detectable wind. No other vehicles were anywhere near me to create buffeting. With no warning, the steering wheel jumped approximately to 2.0 inches to the right - - the car quickly started traveling to the right. When I attempted a correction to the left, there was an obvious resistance in the steering wheel for ~ 2 inches, and then it went to zero. The same occurred when I went back to the right. It's as if there is a notch, or detent, to the right and to the left. It is extremely unnerving. Now with 3350 miles, it has continued with the same degree of erratic behavior, regardless of the pavement type or quality. The problem occurs, regardless of speed, every time I drive the car. If I drive for more than 30 minutes, it sometimes disappears. There is an obvious problem with Audi's new electric or electro-mechanical steering system. I am very afraid that the system will fail and I will be in a crash.
The car steering is notchy. It is hard to drive straight on the highway- the steering either clicks into slight left or slight right. It is unsafe because it is really hard to drive the car. People have complained on various websites but Audi has not recalled anything yet as far as I know. There are youtube video posts also- here is one: www.youtube.com/watch?V=mw9M2N3cym4..... updated 03/08/13 the consumer stated the problem was fixed. Updated 03/11/13
The contact owns a 2013 Audi A4. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the steering became very irregular and difficult to control causing the contact to swerve in and out of highway lanes. The vehicle was stopped and shut down. After restarting, the failure ceased. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the steering was operating as designed. The manufacturer was notified and stated there was no recall and offered no other assistance. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was 800 and the current mileage 3,600.
At any speed, moving the steering wheel through center presents a "notchy" feel, where resistance is felt and then the wheel jumps to another position. These "notches" are felt through about 10-20 degrees off center. At highway speeds, the car is difficult to keep in a straight line as the steering fights the driver to remain on-center. The dealer, when contacted, replaced the "steering rack", which made the problem go away. I have read a dozen or more reports from other 2013 Audi A4/A5/S4/S5/allroad owners reporting the same issue, and at least one reported that the problem returned after a steering rack replacement. My concern is that this is just a temporary fix and that the problem will recur.
After 3500 miles the vehicle developed a "notchy" sensation in the steering feel that varied in intensity and would occur at random times. This notchy sensation would occur any speed above 20mph, as if switched on. When symptoms would occur there would be a heavy, notchy feeling on either side of straight steer that would take a lot of force to overcome and then once feeling like the wheel is over the notch, it would over correct making it difficult to maintain a lane. The steering wheel could not be placed in those notch positions, as if trying to drive using a click wheel. The notchiness is also felt throughout all wheel travel, not just on center, straight wheel. This makes staying on a given path difficult and unsafe. At random times steering felt so heavy that it felt like there was no power steering in maneuvers. Dealer has replaced the steering rack but the very next day the notchy steering symptoms reappeared randomly. There is no set of conditions to reproduce the problem, however turning the car off and on or turning the wheel lock to lock alleviates the symptoms. The symptoms have slowly increased in frequency since the replacement and occur at random times, especially during highway driving. This is the first year Audi has introduced electromechanical steering into their cars in the United States. This is potentially a new design flaw that has gotten through testing or a new production defect and should be investigated quickly. Many other 2013 Audi (varying models) owners have had the same issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Media, PA, USA