- The problem
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2009 Audi A4 Cabriolet, S4 Cabriolet, A6 Avant, A6 Sedan and S6 Sedan vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, or "Zone B." Additionally, unless included in "Zone B" above, Volkswagen is recalling certain 2005-2008 Audi A4 Avant, A4 Sedan, A6 Sedan, S4 Avant and S4 Sedan vehicles, 2007-2008 A4 Cabriolet, RS4 Sedan, S4 Cabriolet and S6 Sedan vehicles, and 2006-2008 A6 Avant and 2008 RS4 Cabriolet vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
- The risk
- An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- The fix
- Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 30, 2018. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Note: This recall has been superseded by recall number 18V427.
Vehicle safety record
2009 Audi A4 Problems, complaints & recalls
Owners have filed 142 complaints about the 2009 Audi A4 with NHTSA, most often about the airbags (51) and the engine & cooling (51). Those complaints describe 6 crashes, 3 fires and 3 injuries. It is covered by 2 recalls, the latest in January 2017 for the inflator module. For comparison, the 2008 has 191 and the 2010 has 64.
NHTSA data checked
DMore problems than a typical A4 year, for its age
#65 most complained-about 2009 vehicle
- Complaints
- 142
- Recalls
- 2
- Crashes
- 6
- Fires
- 3
- Injuries
- 3
- Deaths
- 0
Most common 2009 Audi A4 problems
Share of all 142 complaints. One complaint can name more than one area. Tap an area for its complaints and recalls.
2009 Audi A4 recalls 2
Recall repairs are free. Your dealer fixes them whether or not you bought the car there - check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see if yours is done. What to do
- The problem
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VW) is recalling certain model year 2008-2009 Audi A4, A5, and Q5 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the air bag control units may corrode and fail.
- The risk
- If the air bag control unit fails, the air bags may not deploy in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of occupant injury.
- The fix
- Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the air bag control unit, free of charge. The recall began October 2016. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69O1.
What owners say
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142 complaints about the 2009 Audi A4
Newest first, as filed with NHTSA by owners. Page 1 of 6.
I own a 2009 audi a4. On the Month of october 2024 my transmission failed. I towed my car to a mechanic who then replaced my transmission i picked up my car on December 11 2024 at 7 am from audi of fresno. I have had no prior issues and like always i expect a dealership to inspect a new vehicle that comes in ,as i have never been able to get work done with out them always doing their own diagnostic. Any ways . On the morning of [[redacted]] at [[redacted]] i went to pic up breakfast from carls jr with my boyfriend...
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. As i placed my order and drove up to the window without a single warning my car engulfed in flames from the front driver side . I turned my car off jumped out called. The fire department and watched as my car continued to build flames until the fire department finally showed up. Had i taken the freeway that day instead of the streets i wouldnt have noticed the fire until it was to late. . Im in shock and also just [[redacted]] that something like thus happened. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The negligent driver yielded to the flow of traffic without stopping. When he collided with us, the airbags (exploded) deployed so strongly that they damaged the windshield and our bodies: face, neck, etc. Our beloved Audi A4 2009 was totaled and after that we had several operations: 2 eye operations (need 2 more), dental surgeries, 3 neck surgeries ... multiple unpaid medical expenses.
The turbo sounds like it's not going in/out of gear, oil going into spark plugs, radiator fluid leaking system getting real hot. Low engine poer picking up speed an issue. Air bag rear brake light malfunction, oil pressure not correct
On Sunday December 19, 2021, while driving home the warning light for the battery/alternator flashed on with an associated beep warning. An estimated 30 miles later all electrical and motor functions died while I was in heavy traffic. I was able to pull off onto a narrow shoulder up a steep hill and park. All functions quit, I could not come out of "Park", the emergency brake switch would not release, the emergency flashers did not function. Nothing responded. I called AAA Towing service to be taken to an Audi...
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service repair shop. The towing service had to use a jumper to provide electrical power to release the emergency brake and take the transmission out of "park." The repair service was the "Sport Hous Reno" where the alternator and the battery were replaced. Invoice # 4791, 12-21-2021, total $1,709.12. I do not expect the battery to be covered since it is expendable. However, the alternator malfunction and this model of Audi completely dying placed me in a dangerous situation where I or my family could have been seriously injured. This is not my first Audi, I did have a similar occurrence with another model and when the battery caused a malfunction the Audi computer went in "Limp Mode" and I was able to drive slowly to the dealership. This was not the case, when the electrical system failed it did not go into "Limp Mode," it completely "Died" placing me and my car in a dangerous position.
I bought the car recently and drove it on the freeway, on the way back home I noticed a shaking/Vibration coming from the right side of the vehicle. It made the car very hard to control and staying in one lane was almost impossible. It swerves left to right uncontrollably at random times. I haven't taken it in to any dealership or manufacturer to check it out for me, also there's no warning lights on the dashboard at all. And I believe the owner I bought it from knew of this issue but didn't let me know so I'm really just as in the Blind as well. I don't know what else to do because I can't keep driving the car with uncontrollable force and putting kids in danger or anybody else's.
Purchased vehicle 8/15/19 at select motors inc, smyrna tn. Clean car fax report. Ongoing oil consumption issues. Intake camshaft locked up following oil consumption test at audi of nashville. Not driveable now. Audi of nashville quoted cylinder head and associated parts, timing chain, tensioner, cam adjuster and pistons. Tsb-2027731-8 brought to my attention. Engineering defect with pistons a known issue. Contacted audi of north america. Unwilling to provide financial assistance. Car beyond the 8year/80,000 mile...
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extended warranty they offered following a class action lawsuit. Paid cash at purchase, put roughly 2,000 miles on the car and and being told will need to spend an additional $10,000-$13,000 to get the car running again for a known engineering defect with the pistons audi is unwilling to classify as a recall.
Engine coolant and engine light etc came on. The vehicle was on the highway. I have a small child. Based on the audi message my vehicle could catch on fire.Please send me info to have this problem corrected.
Driving vehicle and it started shaking. Got the car home and when I shut it off and turned it back on it rattled and sounded like metal. I was able to get it to the dealership. I had it checked by mechanic and he told me that the timing chain and tensioner were the problem and I was just two months out of warranty. The next day the dealership called to tell me I needed new cylinders because the car would not start. Quoted me $7,500 to repair. I do not qualify for the class action suit because my car did not break until after the window closed. Audi knew about the failure and did nothing to warn owners.
Takata inflator: for at least 2 years, if not more, we have received recall notices from audi usa to call our local service agent and make an appointment to go in and have the airbags changed. We have contacted them asking for an appointment to have this work done on an almost monthly basis and they never have the replacement part. The a4 has been located in humid south florida for all it's life and it is now 10 years old. Most importantly, we'd like to hand it down to our teenage daughter, however, we are reluctant until it is fixed. The collection, our local audi dealership has not been able to provide us with the replacement airbags.
Gas smell upon starting engine, continuing entire time car is driven. As long as the car was on, still or running, you can smell gas.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2009 audi a4. The contact stated that the recall notices for nhtsa campaign numbers: 18v427000 (air bags) and 18v082000 (air bags) were received in 2018. After contacting the dealer (dch millburn, 2211 millburn ave, maplewood, nj) on multiple occasions, the contact was informed that the parts needed to repair the defect were not available. The manufacturer was not notified. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
I purchased from a dealership with warranty and with in the week the car needed a quart of oil, I come to find out the car has been to audi dealership and it was advised the vacuum pump needs to be replaced and that the engine is consuming oil, the dealership that sold this car in auction to the dealership I bought the car from was fully aware of this issue since audi diagnosed it for them and no work had been done. Audi had a call back for this issue and had refused to address the issue when the dealership brought it to their attention and now I am stuck with a car loan on a car that need over $6k in repairs to the engine it self.
Audi. Consumer writes in regards to takata safety recall. *Ld *tr
Oil consumption is horrible I'm refilling a quart of oil every few hundred miles. I bought the car used and I did receive notice of a recall on the vehicle regarding the oil consumption issue.
Takata recall -- since october 2018, I have been receiving messages from audi that the repair is available and that I should schedule an appointment immediately for my safety and the safety of my family. Since then, I have made several appointments with my local dealer only to have each of them canceled due to the airbag being on backorder or otherwise unavailable. On january 24, I called both my local dealer, audi eatontown, and audi customer experience. The former told me that there isn't a single replacement airbag in nj while the latter then extended the lack of airbag replacements to the entire us.
Oil consumption I had this car since 2012 and found out recently about oil consumption class action lawsuit through the internet, when my car started consuming copious amounts of oil. The owner manual says a quart per ~1,200 miles, but I'm getting oil light at about 400 miles after service at the dealership. I spoke with multiple dealerships including the dealership I'm currently doing every 10k maintenance with and none have actually helped me out since I'm out of warranty of 80k. I spoke with audi corporate...
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and they say they will review when they get to my case which is pretty much never. They keep telling me to take my car in to do phase 2 oil consumption which is going to be a several grand repair. I did phase 1 out of pocket roughly 1,700 and they fixed pcv breather valve, seal and updated software after I replaced the pcv breather valve recently, but they said the valve is old, so they replaced with newer one, but still pretty much doing the same thing and that's consuming oil. Audi corporate say they will "review" my case which pretty much means I pay out of pocket and then they'll see which I doubt. This car is literally a headache never buying an audi again. Audi is crooked and they do not want to repair even though they know about these problems. I know they're trying to bait me into repairing the car further which will ultimate lead to a 10k engine replacement and that's not going to happen not on my dime.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2009 audi a4. The contact stated that the manufacturer failed to provide the remedy and the part within a reasonable timeframe for nhtsa campaign number: 18v082000 (air bags). In addition, the front passenger side air bag recall repair for nhtsa campaign number: 18v427000 (air bags) took an extended period of time. The repair was performed by audi nashville (1576 mallory ln, brentwood, tn 37027, (866) 939-7610), but the contact was uncertain if the front passenger side air bag...
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inflator was replaced. The contact was waiting to determine when the manufacturer would provide the remedy and part for the driver's side air bag. The dealer stated that they did not extend the courtesy of a waiting list to provide the part and was uncertain when an appointment would be scheduled. The manufacturer was contacted. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Sharp metal pieces could explode from the airbag we have called audi of bridgewater - 908-800-9000
Takata recall. I have contacted classic audi dealer in eastchester, ny several times by phone, email, and chat. They have been unresponsive. To date I have not been offered an appointment to replace both airbags. I called the audi advocate in michigan, and she promised to help by contacting classic audi and provide me with information about when classic audi will schedule an appointment. This is taking too long.
This car is burning oil in a extremely danger speed
Takata recall I have been informed by mail, for several years now, that the airbags in my car needs to be replaced due to the recall. The passenger side has been replaced, yet the driver side airbag has not. I am constantly after my dealership to inform me as to the time frame for replacement, but they never have any information. This has been ongoing now for several years. Can anything be done to speed up the process.
My car was over heating due to a water pump and my timing chain is going and I got a recall letter 2 days later on the timing chain and now my alternator is going out
I have been receiving notifications for the takata psdi-5 driver frontal airbag inflator since april 2017 or earlier, and there is still not a remedy for this. I'm told the replacement parts are still not available. There is grave danger with the current airbag situation and I do not feel they are taking the appropriate steps to replace the parts to ensure a safe vehicle. This needs to be taken care of. Please help push them!
At 70k car was consuming oil every 1k having to top off a liter of oil. Dealer adv this was normal because of turbo engine. Ignored the issue until got worst topping off every 750mi's then to every 200-300mi. Dealer checked & adv needed turbo assy replacement before they would check on the oil consumption issue. Cost to repair $3,925+ tax. Couldn't afford that so lived w/issue for a while. Doing research on internet I found this was a very common problem w/this car/year and there was a class action lawsuit & audi...
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had to pay to repair for this oil consumption issue for free but only if you put the claim in by a certain date.I didn't know of this so I complained to the audi dealer but it was too late for my car to be honored. The dealer then would perform a oil consumption test for $300 with a few new seals and bolts.If after the test it still consumed oil rapidly they advised maybe audi corp would honor the repairs or at least help cover a partial amount since I was a dedicated customer getting all my services done at audi. After testing it failed & was diagnosed that I needed new pistons/turbo etc.To fix this. Basically sounded like a new engine.Went to audi corp. & Submitted the complaint & all showed all receipts of services done to the car to see if they would help honor the repair but end results they didn't do much & was advised by dealer it would cost me $7000 to fix. I ended up declining service from the audi dealership & went to a local audi mechanic shop to at least perform the turbo repair & that cost me near $5k. This is a lemon of a car & audi knows it! There should of been a recall for this fix but instead let their customers suffer spending loads of money on repairs.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2009 audi a4. The contact stated that nhtsa campaign numbers: 18v082000 (air bags) and 18v427000 (air bags) exceeded a reasonable amount of time for repairs. The contact received the recall notifications several months ago. An unknown local audi dealer was contacted and stated that the parts were unavailable. The manufacturer was also contacted and confirmed that the parts were unavailable. The contact had not experienced a failure. Vin tool confirms parts not available for nhtsa campaign number: 18v082000 (air bags) and parts distribution disconnect for nhtsa campaign number: 18v427000 (air bags).
Audi A4: every year compared
| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 111 | 0 | C |
| 2012 | 26 | 0 | A |
| 2011 | 32 | 0 | A |
| 2010 | 64 | 0 | B |
| 2009 | 142 | 2 | D |
| 2008 | 191 | 4 | D |
| 2007 | 0 | 3 | A |
| 2006 | 298 | 3 | F |
| 2005 | 219 | 4 | F |
2009 Audi A4 vs rivals
| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Grade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 Audi A4 | 142 | 2 | D | |
| 2009 Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 670 | 0 | F | Compare |
| 2009 BMW 3 Series | 388 | 2 | F | Compare |
| 2009 Lincoln MKZ | 114 | 7 | C | Compare |
| 2009 BMW 5 Series | 112 | 4 | F | Compare |
| 2009 Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 86 | 0 | A | Compare |
| 2009 Audi A6 | 21 | 4 | B | Compare |
| 2009 Volvo S60 | 7 | 3 | A | Compare |
| 2009 BMW 330I | 0 | 3 | B | Compare |
More sales usually means more complaints, so compare similar vehicles of the same year. The grade compares each vehicle with its own model's other years.
Questions about the 2009 Audi A4
Does the 2009 Audi A4 have any recalls?
Yes - NHTSA lists 2 recalls for the 2009 Audi A4: inflator module (January 2017); air bags (May 2016). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see whether yours has been fixed.
What are the most common problems with the 2009 Audi A4?
By the complaints owners filed with NHTSA, the most common problem areas are the airbags (51), engine & cooling (51), steering (15).
How many complaints has the 2009 Audi A4 had?
142 complaints have been filed with NHTSA, the first on May 26, 2009 and the latest on December 23, 2024. Of these, 6 describe a crash and 3 a fire, and together they report 3 injuries and 0 deaths.
Is the 2009 Audi A4 a reliable vehicle?
Its Safety Index is 34 out of 100 (grade D: more problems than a typical Audi A4 year, for its age). The index weighs complaints, crashes, fires, injuries, deaths and recalls against how long the vehicle has been on the road, compared with the same model's other years. It is not a measure of every repair - read the complaints and owner experiences, and have any used vehicle inspected before you buy.
Which Audi A4 years have the most complaints?
2006 (298), 1998 (258), 2005 (219). See every Audi A4 year compared.
What should I do if my 2009 Audi A4 has a problem?
If it is a safety problem, stop driving it if it is unsafe and contact your dealer. Report it to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/report-a-safety-problem - enough reports start investigations and recalls - and share your experience here so other owners know what to look for.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data