2006 Audi A4

INTERMITTENT HEADLIGHT MALFUNCTION. OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR AND A HALF OF OWNERSHIP, THE RIGHT HEADLIGHT HAS MALFUNCTIONED (TURNED OFF), WITH NO CONSISTENT CAUSE APPARENT. THE SPECIFIC ERROR MESSAGE THAT APPEARS IN THE DRIVER INFORMATION SCREEN IS "RIGHT HEADLIGHT DIPPED". THIS CONDITION IS BOTH UNSAFE, AND ILLEGAL - AS MANY STATES WILL ISSUE A TRAFFIC VIOLATION FOR DRIVING WITH A NON-FUNCTIONING HEADLIGHT. IT HAS HAPPENED ABOUT 35 TIMES, THE HEADLIGHT FLICKERS, THEN GOES OUT, BUT WILL COME BACK ON WHEN THE CAR IS RESTARTED, THEN BE FINE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS AT A TIME. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM ON AT LEAST 3 VISITS, AND HAS CLAIMED THAT EVERYTHING IS FINE AND THEY CAN NOT REPRODUCE. THEY HAVE SUGGESTED/GUESSED THAT IT IS THE XENON LIGHT BULB ITSELF, HOWEVER IT HAS CHECKED OUT FINE EACH TIME, AND AS MENTIONED, HAS FUNCTIONED FLAWLESSLY AFTER EACH OCCURRENCE WITH MERELY A RESTART OF THE VEHICLE. NO PARTS HAVE BEEN REPAIRED OR REPLACED, HOWEVER THEY HAVE CLAIMED TO PERFORM A VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS ON AT LEAST ONE VISIT. ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE (CONVERSATIONAL, AND VIA INTERNET OWNERS' FORUMS) SUGGESTS THAT THE PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD AMONG A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF AUDI'S MODEL RANGE AND YEARS. *TR

LEFT OR RIGHT XENON HID HEADLIGHT FLICKERS AND GOES OUT, DASHBOARD WARNING SAYS "XX HEADLIGHT DIPPED" (XX= LEFT OR RIGHT, DEPENDING ON SITUATION). HEADLIGHT MAY OR MAY NOT REIGNITE BY SWITCHING LIGHT SWITCH TO OFF POSITION, THEN BACK ON. THIS PROBLEM HAS OCCURRED DOZENS OF TIMES, ONCE BOTH WENT OUT TOGETHER! WHEN TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP, TECH CAN NEVER FIND THE PROBLEM (NTF). *TR

WITHIN THE FIRST MINUTE OF TURNING HEADLIGHTS ON, HEADLIGHTS BEGIN TO MALFUNCTION. MOST APPARENT AT NIGHT SINCE THERE IS A LOSS OF VISION WHEN HEADLIGHTS MALFUNCTION. MALFUNCTION OCCURS WHEN VEHICLE IS STOPPED OR IN MOTION. THE HEADLIGHTS WILL FLICKER ON AND OFF. FLICKERING OCCURS ALMOST EVERY TIME HEADLIGHTS ARE TURNED ON. ON OCCASION, THE DRIVER'S SIDE LOW BEAM HEADLIGHT WILL COMPLETELY TURN OFF AFTER FLICKERING FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. BOTH FAILURES APPEAR TO OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY IN COLD TEMPERATURES. SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE LOW BEAM LIGHT TURNING OFF ON ITS OWN, A WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATES ON THE DASH BOARD STATING "LEFT HEADLIGHT DIPPED". MALFUNCTIONS CAUSE DRIVER TO LOSE FULL VISION OF OUTSIDE SURROUNDINGS AT NIGHT AND WHILE DRIVING IN POOR ROAD CONDITIONS. MALFUNCTIONS CAUSE A SEVERE SAFETY HAZARD. FLICKERING ALSO CAUSES A DISTRACTION TO ON-COMING VEHICLES AND VEHICLES TRAVELING AHEAD IN THE SAME LANE. NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO PERMANENTLY CORRECT THE MALFUNCTIONS. WHEN THE DRIVER'S SIDE HEADLIGHT INVOLUNTARILY SHUTS OFF, THE PROBLEM CAN BE TEMPORARILY CORRECTED BY TURNING THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH OFF AND ON AGAIN. I HAVE NOT IDENTIFIED A SOLUTION TO THE FLICKERING HEADLIGHT PROBLEM. I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING THE MALFUNCTIONS TO DETERMINE IF ANYONE ELSE HAS IDENTIFIED PERMANENT SOLUTIONS TO THE FLICKERING AND HEADLIGHT FAILURE PROBLEMS. I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THE PROBLEMS ARE COMMON AMONGST AUDI A4 OWNERS (2005 AND 2006 MODELS). OTHER OWNERS HAVE SOLVED THE PROBLEM BY REPLACING THE HEADLIGHT IGNITER OR BALLASTS. *TR

INTERMITTENT HEADLIGHT MALFUNCTION. OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR AND A HALF OF OWNERSHIP, BOTH THE LEFT AND RIGHT HEADLIGHTS HAVE MALFUNCTIONED (FLICKERED AND THEN TURNED OFF), WITH NO CONSISTENT CAUSE APPARENT. THE SPECIFIC ERROR MESSAGE THAT APPEARS IN THE DRIVER INFORMATION SCREEN IS "LEFT/RIGHT HEADLIGHT DIPPED". THIS CONDITION IS BOTH UNSAFE, AND ILLEGAL - AS MANY STATES WILL ISSUE A TRAFFIC VIOLATION FOR DRIVING WITH A NON-FUNCTIONING HEADLIGHT. IT HAS HAPPENED OVER 10 TIMES, THE HEADLIGHT FLICKERS, THEN GOES OUT, BUT WILL COME BACK ON WHEN THE CAR IS RESTARTED, THEN BE FINE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS AT A TIME. THE DEALERSHIP HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THE PROBLEM ON AT LEAST 2 VISITS, AND HAS CLAIMED THAT EVERYTHING IS FINE AND THEY CAN NOT REPRODUCE. THEY HAVE SUGGESTED/GUESSED THAT IT IS THE XENON LIGHT BULB ITSELF, HOWEVER IT HAS CHECKED OUT FINE EACH TIME, AND AS MENTIONED, HAS FUNCTIONED FLAWLESSLY AFTER EACH OCCURRENCE WITH MERELY A RESTART OF THE VEHICLE. NO PARTS HAVE BEEN REPAIRED OR REPLACED, HOWEVER THEY HAVE CLAIMED TO PERFORM A VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS ON AT LEAST ONE VISIT. ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE (CONVERSATIONAL, AND VIA INTERNET OWNERS' FORUMS) SUGGESTS THAT THE PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD AMONG A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF AUDI'S MODEL RANGE AND YEARS. *TR

2006 AUDI A4 HEADLIGHTS INTERMITTENTLY SHUT OFF WHILE DRIVING. THIS VERY DANGEROUS CONDITION OCCURS DAILY AND SOMETIMES THREE OR FOUR TIMES DURING A 45 MINUTE COMMUTE. THE HEADLIGHT SWITCH HAS TO BE MOVED TO THE OFF POSITION THEN BACK TO ON AND USUALLY THAT RESTORES THEM, OTHERWISE CAR MUST BE STOPPED AND SHUT OFF THEN TURNED BACK ON. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY PROBLEM. *TR

IT HAS HAPPENED SINCE I FIRST GOT THE CAR IMPLYING THAT THIS IS A MANUFACTURER DEFECT. CONSTANTLY WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT AS SOON AS I TURN ON ONE OF MY HEADLIGHTS I GET A "RIGHT DIPPED HEADLIGHT" ERROR AND MY HEADLIGHT FLICKERS AND GOES OUT. THE BULB FIRES AND IGNITES JUST FINE, BUT IMMEDIATELY AFTER SEEMS TO FLICKER AND GO OUT, ALWAYS GET THE ERROR AS SOON AS THEY TURN ON. THE DEALERS WON'T FIX THIS PROBLEM AS THEY SAY IT'S MOST OFTEN REPLICATE. THE TIMES THEY'VE ATTEMPTED TO FIX OTHER VEHICLES BY SWITCHING THE BALLAST AND THE BULB ALMOST NEVER WORKS IMPLYING THAT IT COULD BE A SOFTWARE OR DESIGN ISSUE. THIS IS A MAJOR CONCERN FOR PEOPLE THAT OWN THIS CAR. A SIMPLE ONLINE SURVEY POLL OF 83 OWNERS OF THIS VEHICLE, 68% OF THEM HAVE HAD THIS ISSUE. OUT OF 83 VOTERS, 49% OF THEM STILL HAVE THIS ISSUE AFTER TRYING TO FIX IT. THAT TELLS YOU HOW WIDESPREAD THIS PROBLEM IS. IT'S A HEADLIGHT, IT'S A VERY CRITICAL COMPONENT FOR DRIVING SAFELY AT NIGHT AND IS ILLEGAL TO DRIVE WITH ONLY A SINGLE HEADLIGHT IN MOST STATES. THIS HEADLIGHT ISSUE NEEDS TO BE A RECALL FOR AUDI TO FIX THIS ISSUE.*TR