AUDI S4 · model year

2018 AUDI S4

9 NHTSA complaints, and 2 active recalls for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

Not crash-tested

New Car Assessment Program

The 2018AUDIS4 carries 9 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, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. For crash performance, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gave this cohort an overall Not Rated/5 rating, with Not Rated/5 front crash, Not Rated/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 2018 S4 is engine with 4 filings, followed by power train (1) and vehicle speed control (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. This model year has 2 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.

NHTSA currently has 9 investigation files overlapping the 2018 S4. 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.

9
Complaints
0
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths

Total Complaints

9 filings

Crashes Reported

0 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

NHTSA NCAP overall: Not Rated/5 — Not rated · Front: Not Rated/5 · Side: Not Rated/5 · Rollover: 5/5

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
ENGINE4
POWER TRAIN1
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL1
STRUCTURE:BODY1
SERVICE BRAKES1
SUSPENSION1

Recalls (2)

19V54700024/07/2019

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Audi RS5 Sportback, 2018 S5 Cabriolet, S5 Sportback, S5 Coupe, S4 Sedan, A5 Cabriolet, A5 Sportback, A5 Coupe, and 2017-2018 A4 Sedan and A4 Allroad vehicles. Oxidation on the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) connecti

21V87400010/11/2021

SEATS

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2017-2020 A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, 2018-2019 RS5 Coupe, 2019 RS5 Sportback, 2018-2020 A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A5 Sportback, S4 Sedan, S5 Cabriolet, S5 Coupe, and Audi S5 Sportback vehicles. The cable connecting the seat heater to the Passen

Recent Complaints

20250606ENGINE

Water pump defect for the 3.0L ea839 turbo engine found across many Porsche and Audi models. Defect causes damage to vacuum lines, thermostat, and can eventually lead to engine failure if not resolved. No way of knowing this is happening until you start to lose coolant (which will throw an engine code), but by that point the damage is done. There was a recall for the previous generation vehicle water pumps.

20250313ENGINE

My 2018 Audi S4 has a catastrophic engine failure issue and this is common with the EA839 engine. There is a knocking in the motor that is caused by internal engine parts (rocker arms needle bearings) becoming loose and dislodged. The metal shavings travel in the motor oil and destroy the engine from the inside. Hendrick Audi northlake examined the car on February 26, and recommended a new engine be installed at a cost of $32,000. I contacted Audi customer care and they reviewed the case only to offer me no assistance with the new engine expense. My Audi S4 is a 2018 with less than 47k miles, and I am the fifth owner. I have been reading a lot of threads on Audi forums as well as Reddit about this problem, and this is not rare. This should be a class action lawsuit against Audi for making and selling a defective product. The EA839 engine from 2017 to 2020 is a ticking bomb from day one, almost engineered to fail prematurely. And Audi does nothing to remedy the problem. That is why I wo

20240407ENGINE

PCV housing and lines failed. Caused pressure to build up thus shooting off the oil cap shooting oil everywhere! in addition to that it is a huge fire hazard considering the turbo is right next to it.

20221220SUSPENSION

Audi Dealer inspection revealed Rear spring is broken and mounts are deteriorating. Dealer states not common and would result in accident if not repaired. Research indicates broken springs common with certain Audi vehicles (A4/S4, Q5 & Q7), especially 2018 model year. See Audi World forum website. It would appear these springs are defective and will result in accident, injury and death. Audi refuses to acknowledge issue and issue recall.

20180409SERVICE BRAKES

THE VEHICLE'S PRE SENSE AUTO-BRAKING AND BRAKING ALERT JOLT HAS BEEN ACTIVATING ERRONEOUSLY AND HAVE ALMOST CAUSED ACCIDENTS AT SPEED. THE SYSTEM CANNOT BE PERMANENTLY DISABLED, IT DEACTIVATES UPON IGNITION RESTART. THE SYSTEM HAS ERRONEOUSLY AND AGGRESSIVELY JOLTED THE BREAKS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS ON CURVES, ESPECIALLY WHEN CRESTING A HILL WITH VEHICLES PARKED ON THE DOWNWARD SLOAP. CLEARLY, IT IS MISTAKEN THE PARKED VEHICLES FOR A POTENTIAL IMPACT, EITHER AGGRESSIVELY JOLTING THE BREAKERS AND/OR BREAKING. THIS IS NOT ONLY VERY FRIGHTENING BUT ON A SLIPPERY SURFACE, WOULD HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. THIS FEATURE ALSO ACTIVATED ON THE HIGHWAY AT 65+ MPH WHILE SAFELY CHANGING LANES, AND ALMOST LED TO MY VEHICLE BEING REAR-ENDED. THERE SHOULD BE A WAY FOR A DRIVER TO PERMANENTLY DISABLE OR CUSTOMIZE THIS FEATURE TO BETTER ADAPT TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND/OR UNIQUE DRIVER CONDITIONS. AS IS, THIS FEATURE HAS BEEN DANGEROUS!

Mileage: 4,000

20180215STRUCTURE:BODY

THERE ARE TWO LARGE "UNDERRIDE GUARD" PANELS ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE VEHICLE THAT ARE FASTENED BY SMALL, LOOSE-FITTING PLASTIC CLIPS. THERE IS ALSO FELT SOUND-DEADENING MATERIAL ON THE EXTERIOR SIDE OF THIS PANEL. WHEN THE VEHICLE IS DRIVEN IN RAIN OR SNOW, THE PANEL COLLECTS SNOW OR WATER UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS AND BREAKS FREE UNEXPECTEDLY, CAUSING THE PANEL TO CONTACT THE ROAD AND DRAG ON THE GROUND. THIS DRAGGING CAUSES A "RUDDER EFFECT," PULLING THE VEHICLE RAPIDLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY IN AN UNPREDICTABLE DIRECTION. THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION AT VARYING SPEEDS WHEN THIS OCCURS; IT HAS OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 30 MILES PER HOUR, 40 MILES PER HOUR AND 65 MILES PER HOUR.

Mileage: 5,800

20171128ENGINE

WHEN DRIVING IN MANUAL MODE AND TRANSITION FROM ON THE THROTTLE TO OFF-THROTTLE, THERE IS A 1-2 SECOND DELAY BEFORE THE ENGINE STOPS ACCELERATING AND TRANSITIONS TO DECELERATION. ESPECIALLY IN FIRST GEAR, THIS MEANS THAT THE VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME. I DROVE ANOTHER MODEL OF AUDI WITH THE SAME ENGINE/TRANSMISSION (2018 S5) AND IT EXHIBITS THE SAME BEHAVIOR. SINCE THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE A PHYSICAL THROTTLE CABLE, THIS WOULD SEEM TO BE CAUSED BY THE THROTTLE NOT CLOSING AS COMMANDED BY THE ECU OR THERE BEING A DELAY IN THE THROTTLE BEING COMMANDED TO CLOSE. THIS HAS NOT CAUSED A COLLISION BUT EASILY COULD.

Mileage: 1,300

20171128POWER TRAIN

WHEN DRIVING IN MANUAL MODE AND TRANSITION FROM ON THE THROTTLE TO OFF-THROTTLE, THERE IS A 1-2 SECOND DELAY BEFORE THE ENGINE STOPS ACCELERATING AND TRANSITIONS TO DECELERATION. ESPECIALLY IN FIRST GEAR, THIS MEANS THAT THE VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME. I DROVE ANOTHER MODEL OF AUDI WITH THE SAME ENGINE/TRANSMISSION (2018 S5) AND IT EXHIBITS THE SAME BEHAVIOR. SINCE THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE A PHYSICAL THROTTLE CABLE, THIS WOULD SEEM TO BE CAUSED BY THE THROTTLE NOT CLOSING AS COMMANDED BY THE ECU OR THERE BEING A DELAY IN THE THROTTLE BEING COMMANDED TO CLOSE. THIS HAS NOT CAUSED A COLLISION BUT EASILY COULD.

Mileage: 1,300

20171128VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

WHEN DRIVING IN MANUAL MODE AND TRANSITION FROM ON THE THROTTLE TO OFF-THROTTLE, THERE IS A 1-2 SECOND DELAY BEFORE THE ENGINE STOPS ACCELERATING AND TRANSITIONS TO DECELERATION. ESPECIALLY IN FIRST GEAR, THIS MEANS THAT THE VEHICLE CONTINUES TO ACCELERATE FOR THAT PERIOD OF TIME. I DROVE ANOTHER MODEL OF AUDI WITH THE SAME ENGINE/TRANSMISSION (2018 S5) AND IT EXHIBITS THE SAME BEHAVIOR. SINCE THE CAR DOES NOT HAVE A PHYSICAL THROTTLE CABLE, THIS WOULD SEEM TO BE CAUSED BY THE THROTTLE NOT CLOSING AS COMMANDED BY THE ECU OR THERE BEING A DELAY IN THE THROTTLE BEING COMMANDED TO CLOSE. THIS HAS NOT CAUSED A COLLISION BUT EASILY COULD.

Mileage: 1,300

Compare 2018AUDIS4 to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations

View all investigations

Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 2018 AUDI S4 have?
The 2018 AUDI S4 has 9 NHTSA complaints, 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What is the safety rating for the 2018 AUDI S4?
The 2018 AUDI S4 received an overall NHTSA safety rating of Not Rated/5, front crash rating of Not Rated/5, side crash rating of Not Rated/5, and rollover rating of 5/5.
Are there any recalls for the 2018 AUDI S4?
Yes, the 2018 AUDI S4 has 2 recall(s). The most common affected component is AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE. Recalls are issued by NHTSA and manufacturers must provide a free remedy.
What are the most common problems with the 2018 AUDI S4?
The most-complained component for the 2018 AUDI S4 is ENGINE with 4 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include POWER TRAIN and VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL.
Is the 2018 AUDI S4 safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. The 2018 AUDI S4 has an NHTSA safety rating of Not Rated/5. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

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.