FaultScore

Worst years for a Audi A4

Owners have filed 3,677 complaints about the Audi A4 with NHTSA across model years 1995 to 2024. More of them are about the airbags than anything else.

Avoid

2002 Audi A4

218 complaints — the highest FaultScore of any year, mostly electrical system.

Cleanest on record

2022 Audi A4

10 complaints — the lowest FaultScore of the graded years.

Every Audi A4 year, graded

The grade compares each year against the rest of this model's own run — never against another car. Click any bar or row to open that year's report.

Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade: A B C D F ungraded
Year Grade Complaints Crashes Fires Median miles Most reported
2024 4 0 0 Engine & Cooling
2023 C 19 3 0 Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance
2022 A 10 0 0 Engine & Cooling
2021 C 19 5 0 Driver Assist & Collision Avoidance
2020 C 230 1 0 Electrical System
2019 C 16 4 0 Electrical System
2018 B 80 1 0 14,000 Other & Unspecified
2017 C 75 6 0 36,500 Engine & Cooling
2016 A 18 0 1 Engine & Cooling
2015 B 24 1 0 42,000 Engine & Cooling
2014 A 38 0 0 80,000 Engine & Cooling
2013 B 28 1 2 101,000 Steering
2012 A 23 0 1 120,000 Engine & Cooling
2011 A 17 0 0 105,500 Engine & Cooling
2010 A 77 0 0 79,000 Engine & Cooling
2009 C 150 7 7 62,000 Engine & Cooling
2008 D 204 11 1 62,000 Airbags
2007 D 226 6 0 73,250 Airbags
2006 D 343 8 5 60,500 Lights
2005 D 267 13 5 59,000 Lights
2004 D 225 10 6 59,120 Fuel & Propulsion
2003 D 282 11 14 63,000 Fuel & Propulsion
2002 F 218 15 13 22,000 Electrical System
2001 C 153 5 9 60,007 Brakes
2000 C 115 7 4 62,000 Brakes
1999 C 242 9 2 75,000 Brakes
1998 D 321 9 2 82,000 Brakes
1997 C 119 9 3 92,457 Electrical System
1996 B 133 4 1 68,000 Electrical System
1995 1 0 0 Acceleration & Cruise Control

What breaks on a Audi A4

Across every model year on file. Follow a row for that part's complaints and the year it was worst.

Airbags 520 14.1%

Worst in 2007

Engine & Cooling 489 13.3%

Worst in 2009

Electrical System 483 13.1%

Worst in 2020

Brakes 402 10.9%

Worst in 1998

Lights 375 10.2%

Worst in 2006

Worst in 2004

Worst in 2003

Worst in 2020

Steering 131 3.6%

Worst in 1998

Worst in 2003

Suspension 109 3.0%

Worst in 1998

Worst in 2003

Worst in 2020

Tires 63 1.7%

Worst in 2004

Exactly what failed on a Audi A4

The named sub-assemblies behind those complaints, across every model year.

Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip 155 24.3%
Ignition 96 15.0%
Engine 80 12.5%
Automatic Transmission 63 9.9%
Switch 54 8.5%
Fuel Pump 44 6.9%
Control Unit/Module 40 6.3%
Warnings 38 5.9%
Disc 38 5.9%
Frontal 31 4.9%

Complaints filed over time

Every complaint about every Audi A4, by the month it reached NHTSA.

Dec 1996 peak 118 Aug 2026

Audi A4 problems by state

Where owners filed from. Heavier states are usually just bigger markets, but a part that fails in heat or salt shows up here first.

Compare the Audi A4

Side by side on complaint history. Remember that raw totals track how many were sold as much as how good they were.