Audi · NHTSA safety record
Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.
Owners have filed 60 safety complaints about the 2010 Audi S4 with the US government. Of those, 2 describe a crash and no death is recorded. No recall campaign has been matched to this year, make and model.
The most complained-about system is the power train, named in 42 complaints, 70% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 58,950 miles, the median across the 54 complaints that gave an odometer reading.
Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers August 2010 to September 2025 · How this is counted
60
Complaints
2
Describe a crash
0
Mention fire
0
People injured
0
Deaths
A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
No recall campaign was matched to this year, make and model. That is not the same as a clean vehicle: recalls are issued against production ranges, and the only reliable check is your own VIN.
One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 60.
By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2016 at 12.
This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2010 to 2025.
NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2010 Audi S4, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.
| Test | 4-DR. w/SAB |
|---|---|
| Overall | Not rated |
| Frontal crash | Not rated |
| Frontal, driver | |
| Frontal, passenger | |
| Side crash | Not rated |
| Side barrier | Not rated |
| Side pole | Not rated |
| Rollover | |
| Chance of rollover | 9.9% |
NHTSA made its frontal crash test harder for the 2011 model year, and says ratings from before that change should not be compared with ratings after it. A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.
Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.
crash · 68,000 miles
AUDI S4 2010, ELECTRONIC PARKING BREAK RANDOMLY DISENGAGED WHILE PARKED IN A SLOPED PARKING LOT. CAR ROLLED BACK INTO ANOTHER VEHICLE CAUSING 1800 DOLLARS OF DAMAGE.
NHTSA complaint 10894981. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
crash · 68,000 miles
FOLLOW UP ON AUDI S4 2010: ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE DISENGAGED WHILE PARKED IN SLOPED PARKING LOT. CAR ROLLED BACK INTO ANOTHER PARKED VEHICLE CAUSING 1800 DOLLARS WORTH OF DAMAGE. CALLED THE AUDI DEALERSHIP ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND THEY CLAIM "THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF IT. " I DID SOME RESEARCH AND APPARENTLY THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN REPORTED BY APPROXIMATELY 6 OTHER PEOPLE ON AUDI FORUMS SUCH AS AUDIFORUM.COM
NHTSA complaint 10894986. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
Unknown
NHTSA complaint 11688973. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
ONCE CAR IS PUT INTO REVERSE IT LAUNCHES BACK ? ALSO IN FIRST ONE PUT IN COST IT WANTS TO MOVE PRACTICALLY FORWARD .
NHTSA complaint 11320167. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
102,998 miles
CAR SLAMMED INTO DIFFERENT GEAR, WASN'T ABLE TO SHIFT INTO 2ND AND THREW GEARBOX MALFUNCTION AND TPMS ERRORS. THANKFULLY I WAS NEAR HOME AND ABLE TO MAKE IT THERE WITHOUT AN ACCIDENT OR BEING STRANDED, BUT MY CAR IS NOW IMMOBILE. I SPOKE WITH AUDI AND THEY SAID IT WILL LIKELY BE A $4K REPAIR (MECHATRONICS UNIT). AFTER RESEARCHING THIS MORE, IT SEEMS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS. IT CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME AND CAN BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. THERE'S ALSO A PENDING CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT TO GET AUDI TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND RECALL THESE CARS AND FIX THEM.
NHTSA complaint 11320125. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
99,000 miles
MY CAR FLASHED GEARBOX MALFUNCTION WHILE DRIVING DOWN INTERSTATE I-264 IN LOUISVILLE KY. CAR SEAMED FINE FOR ABOUT 2 MILES AND THEN SUDDENLY WENT LIMP AND I HAD NO GEARS. HAD TO HIT FLASHERS AND COAST INTO MEDIAN. WAS ALMOST HIT BY SEMI TRUCK. REPAIR SHOP COULD NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG. HAPPENED AGAIN 1 DAY AFTER GETTING IT BACK FROM SHOP. TAKING IT TO AUDI NOW. I HAVE READ THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM.
NHTSA complaint 11270568. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
79,000 miles
MECHATRONIC ISSUES.
NHTSA complaint 11251998. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
72,000 miles
THE WHOLE CAR JERKED WHEN GOING TO 2ND GEAR AND THEN THETPMS, NO REVERSE, AND GEAR MALFUNCTION LIGHTS COMES ON. 2ND, 4TH, 6TH, AND REVERSE GEAR ARE GONE. RESTARTING THE CAR CLEARED THE WARNING AND DROVE FINE FOR 10 MILES BEFORE IT HAPPENS AGAIN. TRY RESTARTING AGAIN TO CLEAR THE WARNING BUT LIGHT WILL COME BACK ON WHEN GOING TO 2ND OR REVERSE.
NHTSA complaint 11232383. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
Complaints on file, same model year.
Every Audi on this site — 155 vehicles.
If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.
A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst