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.
Serious steering issue going on. Entered highway in comfort mode, accelerated and switched lanes to passing lane when suddenly the steering had a tormented moment and decided to steer itself from the 12:00 O'clock to 3:00 O'clock position, while driving at highway speed. This is very dangerous as I had a car on the right of me and my car tried to drive itself into their lane. The steering also has notchiness going on, and has been confirmed by my local dealership, but only at low speeds. This issue is life-threatening and needs to be addressed by Audi.
Vehicle will not drive straight when steering wheel is centered. There appears to be a "notch" at the center, requiring constant adjustment to maintain a straight path at highway speed. This appears to be a common issue. I have had multiple alignments performed to attempt to correct the issue. The dealer has reproduced the issue and has stated that this is normal.
My 2013 Audi S4 is experiencing a steering issue where it has 'on center floating'. basically the steering wheel feels like there are notches to the steering when the wheel is centered. I have experienced this issue many times, especially when it is cold out, but have not been able to reproduce the issue at an Audi dealership. Based on the research I have done, this is a common issue on the 2013 Audi S4 but Audi is not acknowledging the issue. The issue had been so bad that it posed a saftey risk when driving in snow. The resolution seems to be the latest steering rack that is available, but the dealership, and Audi of America, refuse to replace it unitl the dealer is able to reproduce the issue.
Steering wheel slips causing the vehicle to veer right or left without movement of the steering wheel. Constant adjustments must be made just to keep the car aligned in a straight position. Gets worse when going around long turns. Very scary and unrealiable to drive. Would never let anyone I cared about drive the car. What a waste of 70K. Dealership claims they have never heard of the problem yet it is all over the internet with common problems and some people getting it fixed while others cant. Scared to drive the car above 35mph. Terrible steering issue.
Rather than a smooth linear feedback the steering wheel feels as if it has notches in it. The wheel at times can be hard to maintain centered and keeping the car on a straight track requires constant adjustment from one side of a notch to another. The dealer refuses to acknowledge the problem.
- Kingston, MA, USA
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The steering of my 2013 Audi S4 has two problems that make driving very dangerous: 1) the steering slips at the center position either a little bit to the left or to the right, so the car will not go straight on highway speeds. The car requires constant steering corrections to go straight. 2) the steering feels notchy between 10 O'clock and 2 O'clock positions. It is like the steering is objecting the driver's input. Both issues are very common with all the new Audi (2013+ models) that have the new electric steering issue. The following is a list of similar NHTSA complains, all for Audi models with the new electric steering. 10505438 10503937 10503501 10499877 10499851 10498547 10498541 10498470 10498457 10498341 10495010 10545446 10509971 10503726 10503217 10501368 10501365 10500833 10495057 10573003 10572699 10548120 10543784 10524655 10509530 10507320 10507134 10503907 10502189 10499530 10497799 10495251 10494775 10562801 10574487 10569246 10556552 10543625.
My 2013 Audi S4 went into the dealership for its first free oil change. Without my permission they installed an update on my power steering(48K8) and now my car veers from one lane to another. My steering wheel does not move yet my car goes from the right side of the road to the other. The dealers "act" like they have never heard of this problem, yet it is all over the internet. Audi commonwealth and Audi newport refuse to help or say they can't do anything. Audi usa, like the dealerships, claim they have never heard of this problem. I have since brought the car back three times and nothing changed each time. They gave my car an alignment and chamber check and still nothing changed. They also loosed, bounced and reset front lower control arms, road tested, and still wondered. They performed a few other random things, inspect I shaft U joints(which were fine), G85 steering angle sensor basic settings performed(didn't help), power steering end lock adaptation performed(didn't help). Shop foreman road tested and verified the vehicle is now operating normal compared to like vehicle, other vehicles have this same problem, I don't want my car to drive like other cars, I want my car to drive like it did before commonwealth Audi performed a service I did not ask for or ok. I am the only person to ever drive my car, I know how it drove before and after the update, not the shop foreman. This is extremely unsafe for cars to be wondering the road like this. Updated 03/11/15.
The power steering in my new 2013 Audi S4 failed while driving 4 days after purchase. I couldn't turn the wheel and needed lot of effort to turn it. I luckily managed to get back home. The power steering malfunction showed up on console when I was going at 35mph and I panicked but managed to control the car. I couldn't even park the car.as I took the car from a dealer who is 40miles away from my place I had to call them but they mentioned that they cant tow the car 40miles and gave a nearby service address. When I called the nearby service they said that they don't have any loaners and cant help. My purchase dealer finally sent a tow truck and I had to go along with them at 9 pm to the service center and even they mentioned that they don"T have loaners available. Luckily a lady then just dropped her loaner car which was given to me. The service center mentioned that the power steering module failed and needs to be replaced. I was shocked to see steering failure on a 4 days old Audi I clearly mentioned the dealer that I wont be taking the old car and asked for a new one. Its been more than a week and the Audi response was soo sick they cant find a similar car for me. If the color matches then the options I preferred wouldn't or if they match the color wouldn't. I am soo frustrated that even the so called premium brand cant even satisfy their customer with what they want? they decided what car I should be taking by giving me very few options which doesn"T satisfy what I want even after spending a lot. The steering failure is such a life hazard and would have caused an accident. Some serious action needs to be taken on this but don't know whom to contact. I don't know if there are any region wise head for Audi with whom I definitely want to talk but the advocate says that they cant help. This is the most scared and frustrated experience of owning a premium brand like Audi.
My 2013 Audi S4 exhibits an alarming tendency to weave from side to side without a steering input. This occurs without a change in steering wheel position, vehicle speed, or change in road surface or prevailing wind direction. It is more pronounced at highway speeds and when wheel is centered at 12 O'clock but does occur at all speeds and steering vectors. Audi dealership notes the problem and blames the new electric steering system but states it is a "characteristic" of the system and is not a defect. I disagree and feel any direction change in a vehicle without a driver input or a explainable external factor constitutes a potential safety issue.
Car intermittently develops a "notchiness" around the center point and is non-responsive to steering input from center at highway speeds. There are many similar complaints on Audi discussion forums.
The car's steering is extremely notchy and skips over the center entirely. It becomes easy and hard and whips back sometimes. It causes you to swerve in traffic and is a major safety issue. I have contacted Audi of America and my dealer several times and they are aware of the issue, but they do not have a fix for it.
The steering feels notchy when turning, it also feels like it is floating when centered at freeway speeds, causing the driver to over correct to keep the vehicle straight. When turning there is a slight slip of resistance similar turning a dial with grooves. I do not feel safe with the unknown steering response.
The steering has a notching just off center to the right and left. Feels like the steering falls into a detent position. Makes controlling the car awkward. The feel is not progressive. The steering cannot be held in the desired position.
While driving at a low speed on city roads, the steering became difficult to control. It felt as if the steering wheel was notching/ratcheting as I turned it. I was able to maintain control, but steering felt loose and inaccurate.
Audi's electronic assisted steering on my S4 exhibits unpredictable behavior which could result in an accident. It has a "notch" at 12 O'clock where the car usually does not respond to wheel inputs until you turn it more than an inch in either direction. When it does finally react, it often overcompensates. It does not always happen however. Sometimes the notchiness is present, sometimes it's not even on the same steering settings/same speed. I can not keep the car going straight at times. The slightest movement to the right steps it over into what feels like the next groove and I start slightly heading off the road too the right, try to correct and it steps a notch over to the left and I start slowly changing lanes that direction.
My steering is unable to keep a straight line at times. The steering wheel feels like is in notched like a gear would be. My car will start moving towards the left lane like the alignment is off. When I try to correct this the steering makes a non fluid movement to next landing notch to the right, then the car starts moving off to the right lane. I have to move between these two landing notches every few seconds to remain within my lane. This is extremely unsafe and is very concerning! I today started researching this and it appears this is a well known issue with the newer Audi's but not fix is being released.
Electric power steering (eps) randomly gets a "notchy" feeling and loses its true center. The wheel cannot be held at a perfect "12 O'clock." It is either at 11:57 or 12:03, so going straight down a road requires constant correction on the part of the driver. These notches persist throughout the entire steering wheel. In other words, by making a hard left, the wheel will pass through 8-10 different notches. At some point, the problem will then go away and disappear.
Starting around February 2, 2013 my vehicle started displaying intermittent bizarre steering behavior. The issues were two fold. First, while driving at any speed but most commonly over 50 mph the steering exhibited a "slip and connect feeling" where the steering would feel disconnected (or very loosely connected) to the wheels. Large driver steering inputs resulted in only minor corrections. Only when turning the steering wheel about two inches in either direction would the steering grab and feel normal again. This phenomenon has resulted in several near miss accidents where the car swerves into the adjacent lane. The second issue is a steering notchiness which occurs at any speed and most apparent during turns. I can best describe this as if the steering, which is electronic, changes from high to low to high boost while turning the steering wheel. Although not as much a safety concern as the first issue, it requires vigilant attention to ensure car control. Both of these issues have been reported by many Audi drivers on several online forums. The following thread has over 850 posts from concerned Audi drivers, many with these same issues. www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/513862-steering-issues-2013.
My 2013 Audi S4 exhibits an alarming tendency to weave from side to side without a steering input. This occurs without a change in steering wheel position, vehicle speed, or change in road surface or prevailing wind direction. It is more pronounced at highway speeds and when wheel is centered at 12 O'clock but does occur at all speeds and steering vectors. Audi dealership notes the problem and blames the new electric steering system but states it is a "characteristic" of the system and is not a defect. I disagree and feel any direction change in a vehicle without a driver input or a explainable external factor constitutes a potential safety issue.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Burke, NY, USA