2003 Audi A4: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Jun 22, 2016 · Lights · 80,000 miles · FL

I bought the vehicle last year when it had 78,000 miles on it. Only 4 months after having purchased the car, I got a message on the trouble light warning system that I had a "dipped light". I had to google other audi owners to find out what a dipped light was, as I never heard of a burned out headlight termed as a "dipped light" before. I can only drive it during the day now, as I have heard in car forums that fixing it can be quite a long and expensive process. I am afraid that it may affect my driving safety even when driving during the day, because in florida we have a lot of stormy weather during the rainy season and the sky gets very dark right before the storms come in. I am also concerned that other motorists cannot see me coming in bad weather and I had a near accident today, when another motorist came flying out of a parking lot in front of me as I was driving down the road, and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid a collision with their vehicle.

Filed Jul 30, 2012 · Electrical, Lights · 133,000 miles · PA

Headlight keeps going out and blowing the ballast causing headlight not to work at all. Replaced this expensive part multiple times and still breaks. Not a cheap part and a safety hazard.

Filed Apr 30, 2012 · Lights · 60,000 miles · NJ

Headlight driver side fogged up there is a recall same car and year but different head lights bad vision can cause a accident.

Filed Jan 9, 2012 · Lights · 65,000 miles · MI

Headlights flicker and go out momentarily while driving, especially after hitting a dip in the road or a bump. Dash reads "right/left dipped headlight". Extremely dangerous to have headlights go out at night.

Filed Nov 19, 2011 · Lights · 89,000 miles · CA

A warning reading "left dipped headlight" appeared on my instrument gauge. The issue went away by itself but has now returned. I get the same message now and my front left headlight turns off by itself. Sometimes it comes back on or I have to manually shut off my headlights and turned them back on. The same message comes back on after minutes of driving.

Filed Jan 6, 2011 · Lights · 92,000 miles · CO

Right headlight stopped working - changed the bulb but still will not work. Error message says "right dipped headlight".

Filed Sep 19, 2010 · Lights · CA

I have a 2003 audi a4 1.8t quattro. A message came on my dashboard stating that there is a left dipped headlight problem. When researching, it seems a large amount of other audi a4s have had this issue. This seemingly widespread problem should be investigated as it is very unsafe not only for the operator, but for oncoming traffic and pedestrians. The bulb is not "burned out" as it has worked sporadically since the first warning came on.

Filed Aug 24, 2010 · Lights · 71,000 miles · VT

Headlights fail very frequently.

Filed Jun 25, 2010 · Lights · 63,000 miles · AK

The headlights on 2002 through 2007 (and possibly to current) audi a4's have been known to go out randomly. Often times it is just the single left headlight, or right headlight, which goes out. This is accompanied by the error message "left/right headlight dipped" on the driver information screen located on the dashboard. This can occur from the following circumstances: -heavy or sudden chassis vibration (such as hitting a pothole or even someone physically striking the headlight) -cold weather (examples have occurred in as little as 35 degrees fahrenheit) -water or moisture in the electrical wiring this failure causes a sudden loss of headlight output, endangering both the driver and occupants or other drivers and pedestrians if this occurs at night or in poor weather. Since a common cause is poor weather/cold weather, often at its worst at night, this is a significant risk. Audi of america has not acknowledged this as an issue despite spanning several years of vehicles. The local dealership here has replaced the bulbs three times (which were fine to begin with), the headlight once, and run several electrical diagnostics - all at owners expense. The problem goes away briefly and then comes back. Currently the left headlight of my 2003 audi a4 has been out for 4 months without recovering. There are multiple examples of this same issue all over the internet, a simple google search will provide more examples. There was no crash associated with this failure.

Filed May 9, 2010 · Electrical, Lights · 98,000 miles · PA

Car left headlight failure (hid/xenon). Fault not with bulb or fuse.

Filed Apr 22, 2010 · Lights · 60,000 miles · FL

Headlight failure. The car gives a warning that the "front dipped headlight" is turning off. This failure occurs every time I start the car. I have replaced the headlight 3 times but it is a faulty ballast, which is defective.

Filed Apr 7, 2009 · Lights · 75,000 miles · DE

Hi, I am an owner of an audi a4 2003. I am not too sure if its the "right place" to complaint about my car's safety. My car's headlights are going out the whole time while I am driving and I have to reset them by turning the switch off and then back on in order to keep them working for couple minutes. After some minutes the same procedure. I went to an audi dealer and they wont "reproduce" the error. They say that once we connect it to our database and we read no error there is nothing we can do. I looked into it (online) for couple weeks now and I read the same stories over and over again from people that they own cars from years 2000- 2006 . They said they contact audi and audi ignores them. That's why I am coming to you. It is so dangerous the lights to go out while we re driving and yet nobody can help us to solve the problem. Thank you in advance.