2001 Audi A4

2001 AUDI A4 1.8 TURBO: THE TIMING BELT BROKE WHILE THE CAR WAS TRAVELING IN HEAVY, RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC CAUSING THE CAR TO BE IMMEDIATELY DISABLED AND STOPPED WITH NO OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE THE CAR OFF OF THE HIGHWAY. THE 3-LANE HIGHWAY WAS BACKED UP FOR 6 MILES WHILE POLICE AND EMERGENCY WORKERS WORKED TO TOW THE CAR. THE DISABLED CAR LED TO A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH TRAFFIC BACKED UP FOR OVER 1-HOUR ON A 3-LANE HIGHWAY WITH A 55 MPH SPEED LIMIT AND COULD HAVE EASILY CAUSED ADDITIONAL ACCIDENTS. THE TIMING BELT FAILURE CAUSED EXTENSIVE, ADDITIONAL DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE THAT IS ESTIMATED TO COST ABOUT $5,000-$6,000 TO REPAIR. MY AUDI A4 HAS THE SAME 1.8 T ENGINE AND ITEM (TIMING BELT) AS IN THE 2001 VW 1.8 T AND THAT ITEM HAS BEEN RECALLED. THE TIMING BELT DEFECT IN THE 2001 A4 APPEARS TO BE QUITE WELL KNOWN TO THE TWO AUDI DEALERS THAT I FREQUENT. SINCE I BRING MY AUDI IN FOR SERVICE AT THE REGULAR INTERVALS - AND SINCE THE TIMING BELT ISSUE IS WELL KNOWN TO AUDI - I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED THE AUDI DEALERS TO BRING THIS ISSUE TO MY ATTENTION SO THAT WE COULD HAVE REPLACED THE BELT AS PART OF REGULAR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE. THE FACT THAT THIS WELL KNOWN PROBLEM WAS NOT HANDLED IN PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE LED TO A VERY DANGEROUS TRAFFIC INCIDENT AND CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE'S ENGINE. *JB

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 50 MPH ON THE INTERSTATE, THERE WAS A POPPING NOISE FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT FOLLOWED BY A LOST OF ALL POWER. THE CONTACT MANAGED TO PULL OVER WITHOUT INCIDENT. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RESTART AND THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION. THE DEALER DETERMINED THERE WAS A HOLE IN THE ENGINE AND WAS UNABLE TO IDENTIFY WHAT CAUSED THE HOLE, HOWEVER A NEW ENGINE REPLACEMENT WAS NECESSARY. UPDATED 5/10/2006 - *NM

I HAVE AN AUDI A4 1.8 T AND THE HYDRAULIC TIMING BELT TENSIONER LOST ITS PRESSURE WITCH MADE THE TIMING BELT SLIP, FORCING THE PISTONS INTO THE VALVES AND BENDING THEM, CAUSING THE ENGINE TO BASICALLY SELF DESTRUCT AFTER ONLY 89000 MILES WHEN THE OWNER'S MANUAL ONLY RECOMMENDED CHANGING THE TIMING BELT AFTER 120000 MILES. I CALLED AUDI, AND THEY TOLD ME THEY WOULD FIX IT FOR $5,000 AND DON'T FEEL I SHOULD BE THE ONE PAYING FOR THIS WHEN THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD HAVE DONE TO PREVENT THIS PROBLEM. *AK

A4'S HAVE A POORLY DESIGNED CAM TENSIONER THAT EVENTUALLY LEAKS OIL. THE COST TO REPAIR THE ITEM IS APPROXIMATELY $1000. THE DEALER (CAROUSEL AUDI) EVEN ADMITS TO THE FACT THAT IT IS A POOR DESIGN AND THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT IT AT THE DEALER. I'VE ALSO READ NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS ABOUT IT ON AUDI FORUMS. THE LEAK TYPICALLY FOUND SHORTLY AFTER THE WARRANTY PERIOD HAS EXPIRED. I FEEL STRONGLY THAT THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL ON ALL RESPECTIVE CARS TO HAVE IT REPAIRED! *NM

'01 A4 2.8: (1) DIGITAL DISPLAY IS BLURRY AND CANNOT FULLY UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THE COMPUTER IS DISPLAYING, (2) INTERNAL OIL SEALS HAVE BECOME DEFECTIVE CAUSING A FOUL BURNT-OIL SMELL WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE VEHICLE, (3) TRANSMISSION DOWNSHIFTS VERY HARD AND ROUGH, (4) VERY POOR DESIGN BY THE ENGINEERS TO PLACE A CUPHOLDER DIRECTLY OVER THE STEREO AND HEATER INSTRUMENTATION WHICH HAVE CAUSED MY BUTTONS TO STICK. HAVE TAKEN THE VEHICLE TO VARIOUS DEALERSHIPS AND SHOPS AND TECHNICIANS HAVE STATED THAT THE SEALS ARE OBVIOUSLY A DESIGN FLAW AND SO IS THE DISPLAY PANEL WITH HAS SOME SOFTWARE OR LCD PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. *AK

OIL LIGHT CAME ON. IMMEDIATELY PULLED OVER AND CHECKED ENGINE OIL LEVEL. NOT LOW. TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP. ORIGINALLY DIAGNOSED AS NEEDING A NEW OIL PUMP DUE TO OIL SLUDGE. ON FURTHER INSPECTION THE DEALER FOUND SCARRING ON THE ENGINE BEARINGS AND WEAR ON THE CAMSHAFT. UPON FLUSHING ALL THE PRE-EXISTING OIL OUT OF THE ENGINE, METAL FILINGS WERE FOUND. NEW DIAGNOSIS: COMPLETELY NEW ENGINE REQUIRED. AUDI, USA KNOWS THIS IS A PROMBEM WITH A4 1.8T. THEY'VE EXTENDED WARRANTIES AS A DIRECT RESULT. YET BECUASE I'M THE SECOND OWNER AND CAN'T PRODUCE ALL PREVIOUS OIL CHANGE RECEIPTS, I'M BEING REQUIRED TO PAY FOR THE NEW ENGINE. THIS IS A POOR ENGINE DESIGN THAT I SHOULDN'T BE HELD LIABLE FOR.*AK

MALFUNTION INDICATOR HAD BEEN ON BEFORE I DEPLOYED TO IRAQ AND WAS STILL ON WHEN I CAME BACK. I BROUGHT IT TO THE DEALOR FOR THE $50,000 MILE SCHEDULED MAINT. LESS THAN 2 MONTHS LATER, I STARTED THE CAR AT A STORE AND HEARD A LOUD POP, THE ENGINE STARTED IDLING HARD AND WAS VERY NOISY. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE IN FIRST GEAR THE TWO BLOCKS TO MY HOUSE BUT THE CAR WAS VERY SHAKY. THE SPARK PLUG HAD SHOT OUT, THERE WAS OIL AND GRIME ALL OVER IT AND THE THREADS OF THE CYLINDER WERE STRIPPED. MY FRIEND IN THE CAR, WHO HAS WORKED ON PORSHES BEFORE, SAID I WAS LUCKY THIS HAPPENED WHEN IT DID BECAUSE IF I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT A HIGH SPEED, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT IN AN ACCIDENT. THE COST OF REPAIR IS ESTIMATED AT $5100 AND THE DEALOR SAID THAT THERE WAS NO TAMPERING WITH THE SPARK PLUGS FOR ALMOST A YEAR SO THIS "JUST HAPPENED" DUE TO "WEAR AND TEAR." THE CAR IS 3 YEARS OLD AND MOST THE MILES ARE HIGHWAY MILES DUE TO SEVERAL TRIPS CROSS COUNTRY. I AM NERVOUS TO THINK WHAT WILL GO WRONG WHEN THE CAR GETS A LITTLE OLDER. *AK