2004 Audi A4 Cabriolet with Quattro review from North America

This car has a problem with ignition coil failure. The first failure occurred at 36000 miles. The car died on the freeway (in a bad part of town) and needed to be towed to the dealer for repairs. The dealer replaced the (one) coil that failed under warranty at no charge - but we had to pay for the tow.

At 52000 miles, the second coil failed. The car died on a city street in the bad part of town again (woman driver). Again, it had to be towed to the dealer for repairs. This time, after the warranty expired, we were told by both the Service Mgr at the dealer and confirmed by the Audi Customer Service Rep that Audi recommends that all six coils be replaced when one fails. Thus, they replaced all five original equipment coils and charged us about $500 for the parts and labor work. Cute!

We wrote to the dealer and Audi and complained. We requested reimbursement for the $700 out of pocket expense for the work and second tow that would not have been required if they had followed the manufacturer's repair recommendations for this failure when it occurred the first time - while the car was under warranty. Guess what their response was? Zip - Nada - Zero.

I said to Audi that you just lost a great customer who cannot afford to drive an unreliable car that leaves his family stranded. I highly recommend that you reconsider if you are thinking of buying an Audi. This could be your story - after laying out $46K for a high-end car. Toyota is our next stop.