2001 Audi S4

THE LED CENTER DISPLAY IN THE DASHBOARD CLUSTER IS FAILING ON MY 2001 AUDI S4. THE CLUSTER WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY BY THE DEALER, BUT IS FAILING AGAIN. THE CENTER DISPLAY IS USED TO SHOW IMPORTANT SAFETY MESSAGES SUCH AS DANGEROUSLY LOW OIL LEVELS, BRAKE PADS NEEDING REPLACEMENT, ETC. AUDI WILL ONLY REPLACE THESE FOR FREE UNDER WARRANTY AND CHARGES AN ARM AND A LEG TO REPLACE OUT OF WARRANTY. APPARENTLY THE CENTER DISPLAY IS NOT SEPARATELY REPLACEABLE AND THE WHOLE GAUGE CLUSTER NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. THIS ALSO WAS AN ISSUE ON MY 1998 AUDI A4, BUILT ON THE SAME 'B5' PLATFORM AS MY CURRENT S4. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE ON MANY MODEL YEARS THAT AUDI OF AMERICA IS CHOOSING TO IGNORE AND HOPE THAT IT WILL GO AWAY AS THESE CARS AGE. UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S ONLY GETTING WORSE AS MORE AND MORE CLUSTERS GO BAD. *TR

MY VEHICLES INSTRUMENT CLUSTER DOES NOT WORK! IT IS CLEARLY STATED IN THE USER MANUAL THAT IT SHOULD BE REPLACED BECAUSE IT IS FOR MY CONVENIENCE AND SAFETY TO PREVENT CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO MY VEHICLE DUE TO CERTAIN MALFUNCTIONS. I WOULD SAY THAT 90% OF AUDI OWNERS I KNOW, CONSTANTLY COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR INSTRUMENT CLUSTERS EITHER FADING OR GOING COMPLETELY OUT. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT THIS. I CANT EVEN SEE VITAL FUNCTIONS THAT MY CAR IS TELLING ME, I HEAR BEEPS SIGNALING SOMETHING IS WRONG, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS AND HAVE TO CONSTANTLY GO TO THE SHOP TO HAVE A DIAGNOSTIC SCAN ON MY CAR SINCE NOT EVEN THE SHOP CAN JUST LOOK AT IT AND TELL ME WHAT IS WRONG. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN ONGOING SINCE MID JULY AND BELL AUDI IN RAHWAY WANTS TO CHANGE ME $800.00 TO FIX SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE RECALLED DUE TO SAFETY. *TR

(1) USUALLY IN HOT WEATHER (2) THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER (DRIVER INFORMATION) DISPLAY IS UNREADABLE. THIS DISPLAY PROVIDES AUTO-CHECK SYSTEM INFORMATION. MALFUNCTIONS OR URGENT REPAIRS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DISPLAYED BY RED (PRIORITY 1) OR YELLOW (PRIORITY 2) LIGHT SYMBOLS IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THESE NOTIFICATIONS ARE THERE TO REMIND THE DRIVER THAT A PROBLEM EXISTS WHICH SHOULD BE CORRECTED FOR BOTH CONVENIENCE & SAFETY, AND TO PREVENT THE RISK OF CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE. A PERSON COULD GET STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, OR WORSE GET INTO AN ACCIDENT, IF NOT NOTIFIED IN THE CORRECT MANNER. (3) NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE YET TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. THE UNIT REPLACEMENT COSTS AROUND $700-$900. I HAVE SEARCHED ON FORUMS, IT SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS PARTICULAR MODEL, REGARDLESS OF THE MILEAGE ON THE VEHICLE. AUDI OF AMERICA SHOULD CONSIDER RECALLING AND FIXING THIS EQUIPMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. *JB

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 AUDI S4. THE ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENT PANEL WARNING INDICATOR LIGHTS WERE PARTIALLY READABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE PIXELS ON THE PANEL FAIL TO PROPERLY ILLUMINATE, HOWEVER, THE SPEEDOMETER IS WORKING NORMALLY. THE FAILURE HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED BY A DEALER. THE FAILURE HAS BEEN OCCURRING SINCE JUNE OF 2007. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 62,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 79,655.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 AUDI S4. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL HAS A LCD DISPLAY SCREEN WITH LINES GOING THROUGH IT, WHICH PREVENTS HIM FROM READING THE GAUGES. AFTER A FEW DAYS, HIS VISIBILITY WAS ZERO. THE DEALER STATED THAT THE ENTIRE INSTRUMENT PANEL CONTROL CLUSTER WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 78,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 70,000.

2001 AUDI S4 WITH GAUGE CLUSTER PROBLEMS**NAR**CC THIS PROBLEM SURFACED JUST AFTER THE WARRANTY EXPIRED IN 2004. THE PROBLEM HAS SINCE GROWN PROGRESSIVELY WORSE, CAUSING A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE WITH OPERATING THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER INDICATED THAT AUDI HAS BEEN AWARE OF THE PROBLEM FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND AUDI UK HAS REPLACED THE FAILED CLUSTER FREE OF CHARGE. THE CONSUMER REQUESTED THAT THE MANUFACTURER REPLACE THE GAUGE CLUSTER AT TO COST TO HIM SINCE THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM. *NM

MY GRIEVANCE RELATES TO THE RELATIVE EASE THAT MY VEHICLE WAS STOLEN ON A SUNDAY FROM A STREET PARKING SPACE IN MANHATTAN, BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9 AM AND 5 PM, WHILE LOCATED ON A MAIN THROUGHFARE THAT IS REGULARLY TRAVELED BY BOTH PEDESTRIANS & VEHICLES. THAT THE VEHICLE'S FACTORY INSTALLED THEFT-DETERRENT WAS DEFEATED OR FAILED TO OPERATE, GIVEN ITS HIGH VISABILITY ON A MODERATELY TO HEAVILY TRAVELED STREET, SHOULD WARRENT, AT THE VERY LEAST, AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTIVENESS AND PROPER FUNCTIONING OF ALARM SYSTEM OPERATION AS REPRESENTED BY THE MANUFACTURER. WHILE THE THEFT INCIDENT STATS KEPT BY AUDI, AND THEIR US SUBSIDERY, AUDI OF AMERICA, SHOW THEFT TO BE INSIGNIFICANT, THE DATA PROVIDED BY OTHER NATIONWIDE DATABASES IS ANOTHER MATTER ALTOGETHER. IN 2002, THE S4 WAS THE 25TH MOST STOLEN CAR IN NJ (ALL INTENTS& PURPOSES: THE TRI-STATE AREA, NY, NJ, CONN). THIS PARTICULAR SUBMODEL (S4 SEDAN & WAGON) WAS MANUFACTURED B/WN 2000-2002, IN FAIRLY LIMITED PRODUCTION NUMBERS. ITS STATUS AS 25TH MOST-STOLEN CAR SEEM TO INDICATE AN EXPLOITABLE FLAW IN ITS THEFT ALARM/PROTECTION. *AK