2011 Audi S4 Recalls, Ratings & Complaints

Incident: April 7, 2021 · Filed: April 9, 2021

CAR HAS DEVELOPED A TRANSMISSION PROBLEM IN THE MECHATRONIC UNIT. CAR GIVES A GEARBOX MALFUNCTION DISPLAY IN THE CAR. REVERSE WILL NOT WORKING AND THE CAR WILL REPEATEDLY GO INTO NEUTRAL AT ANY SPEED. SOMETIMES THEN IT WILL JERK BACK INTO GEAR VERY VIOLENTLY.

Incident: May 16, 2019 · Filed: October 1, 2019

THIS VEHICLE IS KNOWN FOR THE TRANSMISSION ISSUES THAT CAN BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AT TIMES DUE TO THE VEHICLE MAKING SUDDEN AND UNEXPECTED MOVEMENTS.

Incident: February 1, 2019 · Filed: February 21, 2019

TRANSMISSION BLEW UP ON THE HIGHWAY AT CRUISING SPEED. HAS TO GET A TOW AND PAY 12000 FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION

Incident: March 26, 2018 · Filed: March 26, 2018

MY CAR IS HAVING JERKY SHIFTING WHENEVER THE VEHICLE IS DRIVER, ESPECIALLY ONCE THE ENGINE GETS HOT. I HAVE HAD FELT THE CAR JERK FORWARD A COUNTLESS AMOUNT OF TIMES AND HAVE GOTTEN WHIPLASH A COUPLE TIMES WHERE I'VE BEEN IN PAIN. TRANSMISSION ON MY AUDI S4 IS GIVING THE SAME ISSUES AS MANY OTHERS HAVE ENCOUNTERED ON AUDIZINE.COM AND AUDIWORLD.COM, WITH THE SAME SYMPTOMS. AUDI NEEDS TO RECTIFY THIS ISSUE AND DO A RECALL ON ALL B8/B8.5 S4 VEHICLES!

Incident: March 27, 2017 · Filed: February 8, 2018

MY 2011 S4 STARTED GETTING THE "TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION CONTINUE DRIVING" LIGHT AT ABOUT 40,612 MILES. AT THE SAME TIME MY VEHICLE WOULD JERK WHEN STOPPING AND ACCELERATION. WHEN SHIFTING DOWN THE GEARS MAKE A CLUNKING NOISE SPECIALLY FROM 3RD AND 2ND GEAR. I WAS ABLE TO USE MY EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT I BOUGHT BECAUSE AUDI DIDN'T WANT TO COVER MY VEHICLE. AUDI SERVICE ADVISORS RECOMMEND CHANGING THE MECHATRONIC AND CIRCUIT BOARD BUT MY WARRANTY ONLY AUTHORIZED THE CIRCUIT BOARD. MY VEHICLE STILL JERKS WHEN STOPPING AS IT DOWNSHIFTS AND WHEN I ACCELERATE FROM A STOP.

Incident: February 6, 2018 · Filed: February 6, 2018

DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT 25 MPH, CAR RANDOMLY SHOWS 'GEARBOX MALFUNCTION' AND 'TPMS' SIMULTANEOUSLY. CAR DROVE IN LIMP MODE FOR A FEW MINUTES UNTIL I WAS ABLE TO COME TO A STANDSTILL AND PUT IT IN PARK AND TURN IT BACK ON TO DRIVE. 'TMPS' SIGN IS STILL SHOWING. POSSIBILITY OF BEING A MECHATRONIC ISSUE, WHICH IS VERY WELL KNOWN AS AN ISSUE WITH THE 2010+ AUDI S4S.

Incident: January 26, 2018 · Filed: January 30, 2018

I WAS EXITING OFF OF THE INTERSTATE AND THE CAR BEGAN TO SPUTTER. I HAD TO CUT 3 CARS OFF TO PULL ONTO TO THE SHOULDER, WHERE THE CAR CONTINUED TO LOSE POWER AND EVENTUALLY DIED. A GEARBOX MALFUNCTION WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, BUT SAID IT WAS STILL SAFE TO DRIVE. I WAS ABLE TO GET ME CAR INTO PARK AND START . AFTER SITTING FOR A FEW MINUTES I WENT ON MY WAY, HOWEVER, THE CAR SPUTTERED AGAIN OUT OF 1ST GEAR BUT SMOOTHED OUT ONCE I GOT GOING. THE LIGHT REMAINED ON THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIP BUT DIDNT COME BACK ON THE NEXT MORNING. I CALLED AUDI USA TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED AND THEY ACTED LIKE THEY NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING HAPPENING AND SAID IT WAS OKAY TO DRIVE. I HAVE ONLY HAD THIS CAR FOR 6 MONTHS AND THAT GEARBOX MALFUNCTION HAS NOW HAPPENED 3 TIMES, THE LATEST OF WHICH ALMOST CAUSED AN ACCIDENT. I HAVE CALLED A COUPLE MECHANICS, INCLUDING A LOCAL AUDI DEALERSHIP, AND HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT ITS A BAD MECHATRONICS UNIT AND THAT IT IS EXTREMELY COMMON FOR MY PARTICULAR YEAR, MODEL AND TYPE (THERE IS A TSB FOR IT). WORST OF ALL, IT WILL COST ME $5000 + TO REPAIR. I BOUGHT THIS CAR 6 MONTHS AGO FROM A LARGE, WELL RESPECT DEALERSHIP AS A CERTIFIED PRE-OWNED, WITH 75,000 MILES. I ALSO PURCHASED AN EXTENDED WARRANTY THAT WILL NOT COVER IT. IM NOT SURE WHAT TO DO.

Incident: July 21, 2017 · Filed: August 15, 2017

DRIVING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS (~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~70 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY. THE VEHICLE JUST GAVE UP ALL POWER AND INSTANTLY DROPPED TO ABOUT 55-60 MPH ,IN MORNING COMMUTER TRAFFIC, DUE TO BEING IN A STEEP CANYON. IT TOOK A MOMENT BEFORE THE CAR FOUND A GEAR AND GAINED POWER AGAIN. I LIMPED THE CAR TO WORK AND PARKED SOMEWHERE WHERE I CAN EASILY MOVE THE CAR IF THE TRANSMISSION IS STILL STUCK WITHOUT HALF OF THE GEARS.

Incident: April 8, 2017 · Filed: April 10, 2017

GEARBOX MALFUNCTION WARNING AND THE TPMS MALFUNCTION CAME ON AT SAME TIME. CONTINUED TO DRIVE IN LIMP MODE FOR ABOUT 1 MILE AND THE CAR SHUT COMPLETELY OFF. START THE CAR BACK UP AND STILL SHOWING WARNINGS. GET IT HOME AND ATTEMPT TO PUT INTO REVERSE AND THE CAR WON'T ENGAGE. I JUST HAPPENED TO START THE CAR AGAIN AND ALL LIGHTS WERE GONE. CAR WENT INTO ALL GEARS, DROVE FINE, AND GOT IT TO THE DEALER. TWO HOURS LATER I GET IN TO GO TO THE STORE AND AS SOON AS I SHIFT INTO D, THE TPMS AND GEARBOX MALFUNCTION LIGHT FLASH UP TELLING ME I HAVE NO REVERSE AND I'M STILL GOOD TO DRIVE. SO I DECIDE TO DRIVE DOWN THE STREET AND SEE WHAT THE ISSUE IS. AS SOON AS THE CAR WENT TO SHIFT FROM 1ST TO 2ND IT SKIPPED, REVVED IN NEUTRAL FOR ABOUT 2 SECONDS THEN DROPPED HARD INTO 3RD GEAR. THE NEXT MORNING I WENT TO DRIVE THE CAR AND DROVE AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH NO PROBLEM - NO ERROR MESSAGE, NO FAULTY SHIFTING, NO JERKING OR ANYTHING. SO I DECIDED TO RUN TO THE STORE ABOUT 4 MILES AWAY AND SEE HOW IT HELP UP. I MADE IT TO THE STORE AND HALFWAY BACK BEFORE BOOM - IT HAPPENED AGAIN. CAR WILL START IN 1ST GEAR FINE, WENT SHIFTING INTO 2ND IT SLIPS INTO NEUTRAL FOR ABOUT 2-3SEC THEN DROPS ABRUPTLY INTO 3RD, WHEN YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPEED IT DOES THE SAME THING TRYING TO SHIFT INTO 4TH - SKIPS AND DROPS INTO 5TH, SAME THING INTO 6TH - SLIPS OUT OF 5TH AND DROPS HARD INTO 7TH. SLOWING DOWN WAS NOT A HUGE PROBLEM AS LONG AS YOU HAVE PLENTY OF ROOM TO TAKE IT EASY. IF YOU SLOWED TO FAST THE GEARS WOULDN'T KEEP UP AND IT WOULD JERK VERY HARD. THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER SINCE IT IS A SYSTEM FACTORY FAILURE WITH THE DSG UNIT SIMPLE AS THAT. REASON WHY I AM CONTACTING THIS AGENCY AS THE CAR SHUT OFF ON ME WHILE YOU WERE DRIVING IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY AND I COULD HAVE BEEN HIT/KILLED THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED.

Incident: December 5, 2016 · Filed: December 29, 2016

DEC 5 2016, WHILE PULLING OUT OF MY DRIVEWAY IN ROUTE TO A SCHEDULED SERVICE APPOINTMENT AT AUDI OF ASHEVILLE, MY 2011 AUDI S4 LURCHED AND SEVERAL WARNINGS CAME UP INCLUDING "DSG FAILURE, NO REVERSE, TPMS WARNING", FOLLOWED BY "YOU MAY CONTINUE TO DRIVE". WITHIN 5 MILES AND AT A SPEED OF APPROX 35 MPH THE VEHICLE SUFFERED A CATASTROPHIC LOSS OF DRIVE AND CAME TO A STOP IN A TWO LANE ROAD, THE ENGINE WAS STILL RUNNING, BUT NO CONNECTION WITH THE REST OF THE DRIVE-TRAIN WAS EVIDENT. I BELIEVE THE "MECHATRONICS" CONTROL UNIT FAILED CAUSING TOTAL LOSS OF DRIVE AND UNCONTROLLED, UNSYNCED GEAR CHANGES. I WAS APPROX 5 MILES FROM BEING ON AN INTERSTATE WITH A 6% GRADE. VEHICLE IS ONE OWNER, ORDERED AND SERVICED EXCLUSIVELY BY AUDI, 70000 MILES, NOT ABUSED. REQUIRES COMPLETE TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT, WITH THE NOTED EXCEPTION OF THE TRANSMISSION THERE WAS NOTHING MECHANICALLY WRONG WITH THE REST OF THE VEHICLE.