Total Complaints
4 filings
AUDI 90 · model year
4 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1988AUDI90 carries 4 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 1 injury, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1988 90 is visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system:heater core with 1 filings, followed by service brakes, hydraulic:antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip (1) and steering:column locking:anti-theft device (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 9 investigation files overlapping the 1988 90. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
4 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| VISIBILITY:DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER/HVAC SYSTEM:HEATER CORE | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP | 1 |
| STEERING:COLUMN LOCKING:ANTI-THEFT DEVICE | 1 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 |
NO SUMMARY
THE ANTI-THEFT LOCKING MECHANISM THAT ENGAGES WHEN THE VEHICLE IS SHUT OFF, SOMETIMES ENGAGES WHILE DRIVING, CAUSING STEERING TO MALFUNCTION.THE DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
WHEN THE BRAKES ARE APPLIED THE BRAKES LOSE PRESSURE AND GO TO THE FLOOR, RESULTING IN EXTENDED STOPPING DISTANCE. THE DEALER HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK
HEATER CORE FAILED AS VEHICLE WA SENTERING GAS STATION, WINDSHIELD BECAME FOGGED UP AND DRIVER'S RIGHT FOOT WAS BURNED BY HOT COOLANT. *AK
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.