Total Complaints
27 filings
AUDI A4 · model year
27 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
5 / 5 ★
New Car Assessment Program
The 2013AUDIA4 carries 27 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 1 fire, 1 injury, and 0 fatalities. For crash performance, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gave this cohort an overall 5/5 rating, with 5/5 front crash, 5/5 side crash, and 5/5 rollover scores derived from standardized barrier and dynamic tests.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2013 A4 is steering with 10 filings, followed by engine (6) and unknown or other (3). 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 2013 A4. 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
27 filings
Crashes Reported
1 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| STEERING | 10 |
| ENGINE | 6 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 3 |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 |
| AIR BAGS | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
| SEAT BELTS | 1 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 1 |
Component that failed is a/an electric coolant pump for turbo. Yes, it is available for inspection. Safety was compromised due to increased risk of fire. Yes, the issue has been confirmed by Audi Service Department. Yes the vehicle has been inspected by Manufacturers local service department. Yes, the check engine light and ECU light were illuminated on the dash of vehicle 3 weeks before car was taken in for service.
The contact owned a 2013 Audi A4. The contact stated that his grandson was driving at an undisclosed speed when he heard a loud unidentified sound coming from the engine compartment. Suddenly, white smoke and flames were emerging from the engine compartment. The vehicle was successfully pulled to the side of the road by the contact's grandson. After the grandson managed to exit the vehicle, a short while later the vehicle caught fire. A bystander came over and assisted in extinguishing the fire. No one was injured during the incident. The fire department arrived and extinguished the remaining flames. There was no police or fire department report filed. The vehicle was towed and the insurance company determined the vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 127,000.
Mileage: 127,000
My Audi A4 failed to start on the coldest day of the year when my daughter was out doing errands and left it for an extended time parked outside. When she returned and tried to start the car, she got an error message: "Steering defective! Do not drive vehicle!" She re-tried over a dozen times, leaving the vehicle and returning to try again....to no avail. It was extremely cold so she retreated into the building and searched the internet and found others who had had this same problem. She finally called a friend who came to pick her up and take her home. I called Audi, and they confirmed that it's a know problem that occurs in extreme cold and there's no way to get it started until things warm up. We waited until later in the day before my son and I drove over and successfully got the car started. Luckily my daughter could get warm refuge in a nearby building. But it is easy to imagine other circumstances, say, someone who lives in the country who stops at the side of the road for what
I purchased this vehicle on 10/16/2022 and the very next day took it back and informed them that it was leaking oil. It was repaired and from that point on it was telling me to add a quart of oil once every week. Was diagnosed by the Audi dealership of the pistons needing to be replaced and that my car fell under the lawsuit that has yet to be settled. Was told I could spend the 9k to fix the car and be reimbursed. Audi really needs to be fixing all vehicles with these issues. That is just insane to pay 9k to fix a vehicle when I just got it and have barely been able to drive it.
I have a 2013 Audi A4 2.0. I was driving home at night close to my home and the car started puttering and wouldnât go and I found out that the timing chain had âjumpedâ and caused sudden engine failure. I later found out that same issue is the subject of class action lawsuits for the second time around because Audi didnât properly take action after the first suit and repair the issue, which is apparently a major problem with my model and other class vehicles and instead continue to let people unknowingly buy and drive these cars.
August of 2021. It was raining out and I drove through a puddle and my electric steering shut down. This has been a known defect for at least 10 years with Audi and NHTSA has done NOTHING about it.
2013 Audi A4 with a 2.0 turbo engine approximately 62.5K miles and up to date with all services. I was driving on the highway at highway speeds when the engine suddenly started to misfire with a partial loss of power making the car difficult to steer. At that time the check engine light was not illuminated. I was able to get off the highway and drive home about 2 miles away from when the misfires first occurred. The police did not get involved as I was able to return home. The following week the car was towed to my mechanic where it was diagnosed that cylinder 3 had a problem. At that time the check engine light illuminated. He recommended that I tow my car to the Audi dealership as they have better availability of parts. The dealer took apart the engine and diagnosed a broken piston ring which destroyed many other parts of the engine. The engine had to be replaced with a new one from the factory. Audi should be held accountable for catastrophic engine failures that may resul
2013 Audi A4 with a 2.0 turbo engine approximately 62.5K miles and up to date with all services. I was driving on the highway at highway speeds when the engine suddenly started to misfire with a partial loss of power making the car difficult to steer. At that time the check engine light was not illuminated. I was able to get off the highway and drive home about 2 miles away from when the misfires first occurred. The police did not get involved as I was able to return home. The following week the car was towed to my mechanic where it was diagnosed that cylinder 3 had a problem. At that time the check engine light illuminated. He recommended that I tow my car to the Audi dealership as they have better availability of parts. The dealer took apart the engine and diagnosed a broken piston ring which destroyed many other parts of the engine. The engine had to be replaced with a new one from the factory. Audi should be held accountable for catastrophic engine failures that may resul
2013 Audi A4 with a 2.0 turbo engine approximately 62.5K miles and up to date with all services. I was driving on the highway at highway speeds when the engine suddenly started to misfire with a partial loss of power making the car difficult to steer. At that time the check engine light was not illuminated. I was able to get off the highway and drive home about 2 miles away from when the misfires first occurred. The police did not get involved as I was able to return home. The following week the car was towed to my mechanic where it was diagnosed that cylinder 3 had a problem. At that time the check engine light illuminated. He recommended that I tow my car to the Audi dealership as they have better availability of parts. The dealer took apart the engine and diagnosed a broken piston ring which destroyed many other parts of the engine. The engine had to be replaced with a new one from the factory. Audi should be held accountable for catastrophic engine failures that may resul
Two of my four kids were in the rear seat. My 7 year old panicked because her seatbelt came unbuckled and she couldnât get it back. My initial reaction was to hit the breaks and slow down. My daughter was ejected from her seat into the passenger seat head first and then landed on the floor with her booster seat on top of her. I pulled over and checked the seat belt and it would not latch. I had to drive her home unrestrained!! A few days later, different child experienced a similar situation with the middle seat. This is a concern because if the seatbelts failed during a car accident, my childrenâs lives were at risk. Repeated risk of the lives of children by ignoring this common issue. How many lives will it take to be protected? Minus the fear of being unable to afford repairs, or to get the vehicle in to the repair shop? As this has happened to 2/5 buckles in a matter of days, how do I know all of the buckles are not defective? Why are we repeatedly waiting for the tally marks o
Coolent migration from the coolant valve through the wire into the connection to ecu. This caused corrosion which in turn caused an unsafe driving condition by shutting the throttle pedal control to the engine off. This has been recalled on many other models and is quite prevalent in the a4 with manual transmission as mine is.
The contact owns a 2013 Audi A4 The contact stated that while driving between 50-60m mph when driving in the dark on an unfamiliar road when they missed a turn and ended up crashing into a pole on the side of the road. As a result, the vehicle flipped few times. The vehicle ended up coming to a stop. No airbags deployed. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed but had not been deemed totaled officially as of yet. The contact stated that the vehicle suffered severe damage. There were no injuries. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50, 000. The VIN was not available.
Mileage: 50,000
STEERING WHEEL RANDOMLY LOCKED WHILE THE CAR WAS IN MOTION. THE CAR WAS ALMOST INOPERABLE. IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IS ALSO A SAFETY HAZARD. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS, BUT NO RECALL FROM AUDI. IT NEEDS TO ADDRESSED AND FIXED. LIVES ARE AT RISK.
Mileage: 75,000
WHILE DRIVING, ON OR OFF THE HIGHWAY STEERING STIFFENS MAKING IT HARD OR IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE TURNS. IT IS A SCARY SITUATION, WHICH FORCED ME TO PULL OVER ON THE HIGHWAY ONCE- I WAS NOT ABLE TO SWITCH LANES DUE TO THE HARDNESS OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THIS OCCURS RANDOMLY, AT ANYTIME OR SPEED, EVEN AT SLOW SPEEDS WHILE DRIVING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. IT OCCURS TO EITHER SIDE, SOMETIMES ONE SIDE OF THE WHEEL OR BOTH SIDES.
Mileage: 7
WHILE DRIVING, ON OR OFF THE HIGHWAY STEERING STIFFENS MAKING IT HARD OR IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE TURNS. IT IS A SCARY SITUATION, WHICH FORCED ME TO PULL OVER ON THE HIGHWAY ONCE- I WAS NOT ABLE TO SWITCH LANES DUE TO THE HARDNESS OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THIS OCCURS RANDOMLY, AT ANYTIME OR SPEED, EVEN AT SLOW SPEEDS WHILE DRIVING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. IT OCCURS TO EITHER SIDE, SOMETIMES ONE SIDE OF THE WHEEL OR BOTH SIDES.
Mileage: 7
THE CAR STARTED LOSING POWER WHEN STEPPING ON THE GAS TO GO FASTER OR UP A RAMP OR MERGING INTO THE FREEWAY. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE MECHANIC I TRUST. HE CHECKED MY CAR AND STATED IT IS LOSING POWER IN THE FOURTH CYLINDER. HE DID THE SPARK PLUGS AND OTHER TESTS, I'M NOT GOOD REMEMBERING THE NAMES. STATES HE WOULD NEED TO DO A REBUILD OR REPLACEMENT OF THE ENGINE. THE CAR HAS ONLY 87,000 MILES. DOENT MAKE ANY SENSE.
Mileage: 87,000
JUST PURCHASED THE CAR APRIL 13, 2020. STRONG GASOLINE SMELL EMITTING FROM FRONT END OF VEHICLE AND IN CABIN. SEEMS TO BE COMING FROM THE DRIVER SIDE OF CAR. DOES NOT HAPPEN ALL THE TIME. DOES NOT MATTER IF THE GAS TANK IS FULL, HALF, OR EMPTY. CAN'T FIND ANY LEAKS UNDER THE HOOD, BUT STILL HAS A VERY STRONG SMELL OF GASOLINE.
Mileage: 119,000
THE CAR HAS BEEN BURNING THROUGH OIL. IT HAS BEEN REQUESTING A QUART OF OIL BE ADDED JUST ABOUT EVERY 500-700 MILES. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE PROBLEM STARTED IN EARLY 2019 AND AT FIRST IT WAS JUST EVERY 1200-900 MILES THAT THE CAR WOULD ASK FOR AN EXTRA QUART OF OIL. THEN IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS IT HAS GOTTEN WORSE ASKING FOR A QUART OF OIL EVERY 500-700 MILES; THIS IS ALL IN ADDITION TO THE REGULARLY SCHEDULE OIL CHANGES.
Mileage: 118,000
THE CAR HAS BEEN BURNING THROUGH OIL. IT HAS BEEN REQUESTING A QUART OF OIL BE ADDED JUST ABOUT EVERY 500-700 MILES. ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE PROBLEM STARTED IN EARLY 2019 AND AT FIRST IT WAS JUST EVERY 1200-900 MILES THAT THE CAR WOULD ASK FOR AN EXTRA QUART OF OIL. THEN IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS IT HAS GOTTEN WORSE ASKING FOR A QUART OF OIL EVERY 500-700 MILES; THIS IS ALL IN ADDITION TO THE REGULARLY SCHEDULE OIL CHANGES.
Mileage: 118,000
MY CAR RECENTLY STARTED FEELING STIFF WHILE TAKING TURNS AND IT LOOKS AS IT'S BEEN AN ONGOING REPORTED ISSUE. NOTHING THAT HAS BEEN RECALLED IN THE PAST HOWEVER MOST REPORTS ARE OF PEOPLE "FIXING" THE PROBLEM ONLY FOR IT TO CONTINOUSLY COME BACK.
Mileage: 150,000
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.