2006 Audi A4

RIGHT AND LEFT DIPPED HEADLIGHT WARNINGS APPEAR FREQUENTLY SINCE THE YEAR I PURCHASED THIS CAR. THE HEADLIGHT FLICKERS/PULSES, THEN GOES OUT AND THE WARNING APPEARS. TURNING LIGHTS TO THE OFF POSITION AND BACK ON GENERALLY BRINGS BOTH HEADLIGHTS BACK ON BUT THE SAME HEADLIGHT OR OTHER SIDE WILL OFTEN FAIL MOMENTS LATER. ONCE, BOTH HEADLIGHTS FAILED WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY; MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. THIS HAPPENS IN ALL WEATHER CONDITIONS AND AT ALL DRIVING SPEEDS. *TR

MY 2006 AUDI A4 JUST DIED ON THE ROAD THE DAY AFTER I DID THE 95K SERVICES.. COULDN'T START UP THE CAR AFTER MANY ATTEMPTS AND FINALLY WHEN I COULD, IT WAS VERY LOUD AND SHAKY.. GOT SOME SMELLS FROM THE FRONT ALSO BUT I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS WRONG. I SENT IT BACK TO THE DEALER RIGHT AWAY AND GOING THROUGH SOME DIAGNOSIS, WE NEED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE BECAUSE THE CRANKSHAFT INSIDE THE ENGINE'S GOT BROKEN SLEEVES. PRIOR TO THIS, THERE WERE RECALLS ON MY CAR, MY SERVICE LIGHT WAS ON FOR A WHILE AND IT WAS LINKED TO THE RECALL, THEY REPLACED THE BREATHER, BUT DID NOT HAVE TO REPLACE THE TURBO PIPE.. WHEN MY CAR DIED ON THE ROAD, I WAS LUCKY THAT JUST TURNING OUT FROM DUNKIN DONUTS FOR AN VERY EARLY MORNING COFFEE (5AM), BECAUSE IT WAS SO EARLY, THERE WEREN'T MANY CARS, OTHERWISE THERE WOULD VERY LIKELY BE A CRASH. *TR

WHEN CAR HITS A BUMP OR DIP IN THE ROAD, THE RIGHT FRONT SELF-LEVELING HEADLIGHT SYSTEM STICKS AND SHUTS OFF THE HEADLIGHT, AND SHOW A "RIGHT DIPPED HEADLIGHT" MESSAGE ON DASH. STOPPING THE CAR, SHUTTING OFF THE LIGHTS, AND RESTARTING USUALLY RESETS THE LIGHTS BUT IT USUALLY HAPPENED AGAIN SOON AFTER. THIS FREQUENT OCCURRENCE IS A SAFETY ISSUE SUDDENLY BEING WITHOUT ONE HEADLIGHT DRIVING AT NIGHT. *TR

ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM WORK ON OCTOBER 17, 2012, THE 2006 AUDI A4 THAT I WAS DRIVING WENT INTO UNCONTROLLED ACCELERATION. THE FIRST INSTANCE OCCURRED ABOUT 5:30 PM WHILE I WAS ACCELERATING FROM A DEAD STOP, AFTER A STOP LIGHT TURNED GREEN, TO A SPEED OF 55 MPH (WHICH WAS THE MAXIMUM SPEED ALLOWED). AS I LIFTED MY FOOT OFF OF THE ACCELERATOR AS THE VEHICLE APPROACHED THE 55 MPH SPEED LIMIT, THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE - EVEN THOUGH I HAD RETRACTED MY FOOT FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. TO GET THE VEHICLE UNDER CONTROL I QUICKLY AND FIRMLY TAPPED THE BRAKE. THE VEHICLE THEN SLOWED DOWN. ABOUT 15 MINUTES LATER, I WAS REQUIRED TO COME TO A COMPLETE STOP AS CARS IN FRONT OF ME MADE A RIGHT HAND TURN. AFTER THE (3) VEHICLES MADE THEIR TURN, I THEN QUICKLY ACCELERATED THE CAR UP TO THE 45 MPH SPEED LIMIT. AS MY CAR REACHED THE 45 MPH LIMIT I LIFTED MY FOOT OFF OF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. BUT. THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. I THEN CHANGED THE GEAR SHIFT FROM "DRIVE" TO "NEUTRAL". THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO INCREASE IN SPEED (THE ENGINE WAS "SCREAMING" AT MAXIMUM RPM) BUT I WAS ABLE TO SLOW THE CAR DOWN WITH THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE ENGINE CONTINUED TO "SCREAM" AT MAXIMUM RPM'S UNTIL I TURNED THE KEY TO THE VEHICLE TO THE "OFF" POSITION. BASED ON THE ABOVE, MY WIFE WILL NOT LONGER DRIVE OUR AUDI A4. *TR

SEVERAL YEARS AGO WHEN I FIRST PURCHASED THIS AUDI, ONE OF MY HEADLIGHTS WOULD OCCASIONALLY FLICKER WHILE I WAS DRIVING, AND THEN PRODUCE AN ERROR CODE: "LEFT DIPPED HEADLIGHT." THE PROBLEM EVENTUALLY WENT AWAY. NOW, TWO YEARS LATER, WITH THE BULBS STILL PRODUCING LIGHT, WHILE DRIVING BOTH HEADLIGHTS WILL FLICKER, GENERALLY WHEN ASSOCIATED WITH A BUMPY ROAD, AND THEN WILL SUDDENLY TURN OFF, PRODUCING TWO ERROR CODES "RIGHT DIPPED HEADLIGHT" AND "LEFT DIPPED HEADLIGHT". THE BULBS ARE SOMEWHAT NEW AND ALL THE HEADLIGHT PARTS ARE OEM, AND THIS BECOMES EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AS IT WILL HAPPEN WHILE I'M DRIVING AT NIGHT IN THE DARK. I UNDERSTAND FROM ONLINE BLOGS THAT SEVERAL OTHER 2006 AUDI A4 OWNERS HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, WHICH TIES BACK TO THE HEADLIGHT ASSEMBLY. I FEEL STRONGLY THAT NHTSA SHOULD LOOK INTO THIS ISSUE GIVEN THAT HEADLIGHTS ARE AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION OF A CAR WHILE AND THIS IS A SERIOUS HAZARD FOR BOTH THE DRIVER AND OTHER DRIVERS WHEN DRIVING IN THE DARK. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. *TR