1999 Audi A4 problems
NHTSA has received 242 complaints about the 1999 Audi A4, and 42% of them involve brakes. After that come engine (12%) and cruise control (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 242 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 42% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 9 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 75,000 miles 121 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 5 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 50 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 20 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 14 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 121 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 75,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 82,000 miles (45 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 9 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 5 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 80% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1999 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Audi A4 with enough data (128 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
On 9/28/04 I was involved in an auto accident where another driver in a suburban failed to yield the right away, turned in front of me, I hit her with my 1998 audi avant wagon. The combined speeds of the two vehicles combined with where I hit the suburban, flipped the suburban. This driver was trapped in her vehicle. The fire department was involved in lifting her vehicle off of her arm. She subsequently received hundreds of stitches in her arm. In contrast, I shattered my right wrist scaphoid bone.
Consumer's vehicle rear ended another vehicle while driving at 25 MPH. Upon impact,frontal air bag failed to deploy. This resulted in the driver's head impacting the steering wheel. The vehicle had severe front end damage.
After starting the vehicle a fire broke out inside the engine compartment. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
The vw/audi 1.8t engine has been experiencing an alarming number of premature timing belt failures, causing instantaneous power failure and catastrophic valve train damage. (search audiworld.com for timing belt failure.) failures have occurred as low as 45k miles. Mine went at 90k miles although the service manual makes no mention of scheduled replacement. If this had happened while passing or on the interstate, a serious accident could have occurred.
I have been noticing rattle on front passenger sides wheel area. I took the car to mcgrath audi in glenview il for inspection, and had since recieved recall notice relating to tie rod problems. December 2004 dealer found no need for replacement. I then notified them about the recall, they said they were not aware of one ,and that they found no need to replace the tie rods and that I could do so at my expense when I insisted.