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Audi · NHTSA safety record

2013 Audi S4

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 33 safety complaints about the 2013 Audi S4 with the US government. Of those, no death is recorded. One recall campaign is open against it, covering the air bags.

The most complained-about system is the steering, named in 19 complaints, 58% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 5,100 miles, the median across the 29 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers January 2013 to August 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

33 complaints on file

33

Complaints

0

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.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
STEERING 19 · 58%
POWER TRAIN 9 · 27%
ENGINE 4 · 12%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 2 · 6%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 · 3%
0 8 15

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 33.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2013 at 15.

16 12 8 4
13 14 15 16 17 19 20 22 24 25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2013 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2013 Audi S4, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test 4 DR AWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 9.9%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

1 on file

AIR BAGS

14V667000 · October 24, 2014

The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Audi A4 and S4 vehicles manufactured February 16, 2012, to October 21, 2014, and 2013-2015 Audi Allroad vehicles manufactured March 12, 2012, to October 21, 2014. Due to an improper algorithm in the air bag control module, if a crash necessitates deployment of the side air bags, a second impact to the front of the vehicle may not command the front air bags to also deploy.
The risk
If the front air bags do not deploy in the event of a secondary impact to the front of the vehicle, there is an increased risk of occupant injury.
The remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and Audi dealers will update the air bag control unit software, free of charge. The recall began on November 14, 2014. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-822-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69K5.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 101,938 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

POWER TRAIN
Transmission fail while driving and stationary at traffic light. Main DTC: P179F00 - Drive sensor position: malfunction Additional DTC: P179E00 - Drive sensor position: electrical malfunction ABS: 00473 Parking brake: U111300 TCM: 01315 This situation occurred 3 times in the past 3 weeks while driving or being stationary at a traffic light. Event triggers loud warning sounds, red flashing lights/icons in dashboard, total loss of power while engine still running. At this time, this problem creates highly dangerous driving conditions with random total loss of power. The situation is temporarily remedied if engine is shut off and restarted.

NHTSA complaint 11759753. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Engine mount failure at 60,000 miles

NHTSA complaint 11638289. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN
At times Vehicle suddenly loses power and displays “transmission malfunction:you may continue driving” but then fails to accelerate to or maintain highway speeds. Other times when vehicle is stopped in traffic the transmission delays engaging when pressing in the accelerator and thus causes an unexpected delay to movement or if on an incline will roll backwards.

NHTSA complaint 11627233. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My MMI 5F module went out right after an oil change service on Nov 12, 2022 I called them as soon as I got home to inform Leader automotive in Normal Il. I was told I would not be able to be seen until January 5 2023 at 1:pm. I then called back a few days later and was able to move that appointment to Dec 16 at 10:00am. I paid $179.11for them to inspect and locate the issue: according to leader automotive the 5f module is bad and needs replaced. In my print out it states it is no longer in production. This part # 8RI-035-746-C is my entire control module that controls all my safety sensors, fluid levels, tire pressure, suspension control, navigation, hands free technology etc... I contacted

NHTSA complaint 11499556, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN

36,000 miles

DSG ISSUES. CLUNKING WHEN DOWNSHIFTING INTO 1ST / 2ND WHEN STOPPING. SHIFT HESITATION ON UPSHIFT AS WELL .

NHTSA complaint 11363839. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

POWER TRAIN

33,000 miles

TRANSMISSION SHIFTS STRANGE WHEN COLD. ACTS LIKE IT LOOSED POWER EVERY SHIFT. STRANGE CLUNKING AS WELL ON SLOW SPEEDS OR NUMBER TO NUMBER TRAFFIC. SOMETIMES IT SCARED ME THAT IT WILL JUMP FORWARD AND HIT THE CAR ON FRONT OF ME.

NHTSA complaint 11280436. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Audi S4

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2020 16 3 —
2014 17 1 —
2012 22 1 —
2011 26 1 —
2010 60 0 —

Other 2013 Audi models

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.

Where these numbers come from

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
Independent developer and analyst