I have had 5 (five) coils fail in 18 months.
Car is nice. However, the coil problem makes the overall reliability record abysmal. 5 times it has broken down and left me stranded.
I can never feel confident of completing a journey in the A4. It is quite unsafe to drive as an immediate loss of power occurs when a coil "goes".
Currently off the road for a fifth time waiting for parts to arrive. Have been told it could be a week before they arrive - but it could be a month.
Audi customer "service" do not even reply to correspondence regarding to coil problem. It is being hushed up - big time.
Over 4,000 UK A4s are off the road at 8th Feb 2003 awaiting replacement coils. Trouble is, the replacements fail in time anyway!
Be warned. Avoid.
Have heard of many such similar problems with petrol A4s and A6 cars. The company I work for have a number on fleet ranging from 1.8Ts to 2.4 petrols and there has been a common theme in relation to coils failing. I have a TDI and so far, have not had this problem. I might also add that Audi service levels in the republic of ireland have generally been found seriously lacking and well below what one would expect from a 'premium' car maunfacturer. This may be ironic, but particularly bad are the Dublin garages (MSL) which are owned by the distributor.