Check a VIN

Audi A4 won't start problems

30 of the 2,899 owner complaints about the Audi A4 describe won't start, most of them for the 2004 model year.

owner complaints
30
worst model year
2004
typical repair cost reported
$3,729
typical mileage
77,000
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below

By model year

  • 2017
    2
  • 2015
    1
  • 2013
    1
  • 2010
    2
  • 2009
    3
  • 2008
    3
  • 2007
    1
  • 2005
    1
  • 2004
    7
  • 2003
    3
  • 2000
    1
  • 1999
    1
  • 1998
    1
  • 1997
    2
  • 1996
    1

What owners say

Filed Jun 20, 2024 · Electrical, Engine · CA

Bought this car from a guy add said car runs great has smog, reg ,ac works great (not )my boyfriend before I could say anything gave guy money and I signed the bill of sale I said should test drive it so drove to my mechanic in vista ca and he said a German car oh boy and I said ouch so he said to bring it back by after checking it out so he could look in to it further so got in car that had spiderwebs on the motor my guy don't know much about cars so we went back and car stopped steering locked up ignition locked up car shut down in middle of busy traffic and would not turn over nothing so called my apt manager thought out of gas so he got some gas put it in and it started after 1 and a 1/2 hours got to gas station filled it up and started up and got back was scared because of this car people don't care almost got hit a few times so went back to seller gone so tried to find a number none text on face bk market place said this car has problems almost killed us just stopped and nothing worked went to Walmart to get some break fluid and coolent car hot and ac didn't work and something leaking it was brake fluid then check engine light on friend came and checked it and the little thing that hook up see what codes for diagnoses or why check engine light on was throwing codes misfire and fuel pump and more don't remember but my guy took pictures of the codes went back Monday cause got car [XXX] and the guy sent my guy a message bring it by and I'll look at it the car runs great he said master cylinder leaking coolent leaking oil was old how did this car even pass smog with it misfiring and shutting down once in street and at Walmart it just shut off now told fuel pump coil wires were cracked two relay switches were broken fixed one and car misfiring hole in the mast cylinder and fluid leaking and this seller calls him self a mechanic very sad have put over 100.00 dollars the guy fixed the ac and gave my guy 40 dollars I paid 55.00 seller their car at my mechanics. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORM

Filed Mar 21, 2024 · Engine · NJ

I experienced similar undesirable engine behavior on two occasions. Upon coming to a stop, the auto start/stop system stopped the engine. Shortly after, when attempting to drive away, the stop/start system attempted to start the engine, but failed; the starter briefly activated to turn over the engine, but the engine did not start and continue running. The car was left in the following condition: Engine off. Gear indicator showing "D". Accelerator pedal unresponsive. Regaining engine power required turning the car off, applying the brake pedal, turning the car on, and selecting "D" with the gear selector. This behavior occurred on two occasions on different days; once on 16 March 2024 and the first time within several days prior. Both occasions occurred before the engine was at full operating temperature, and while the car was on a slight uphill slope. Ambient temperatures were in the high 40's or 50's Fahrenheit. By luck, neither occasion resulted in an unsafe traffic condition.

Filed Feb 16, 2023 · Airbags · FL

My 2007 Audi A4 is part of the Takata airbag lawsuit so I scheduled an appointment to have it repaired at Audi of Tampa. I had my car towed there because the battery recently died and I was told I needed to have the key reprogrammed because it would not start after replacing the battery and figured I could have both repairs done at the same time. My appointment was at 7pm but when I arrived nobody had any knowledge of my appointment and was told they do not make appointments that late in the day but a technician would give me a call. I leave my car there and receive a call today from the repair technician Tyler King who proceeded to tell me that prior to doing anything to the car he'd have to run a diagnostics test that would cost me $500! WHAT? Just to give a diagnosis that I've already been given? Insane. So now that I do not have that kind of money what am I supposed to do? Tow it back home and have a locksmith reprogram the key and ignore the airbag issue? I feel unsafe in the Audi I once loved and relied on daily and don't know how I am supposed to proceed with this.

Filed Feb 10, 2023 · MN

My Audi A4 failed to start on the coldest day of the year when my daughter was out doing errands and left it for an extended time parked outside. When she returned and tried to start the car, she got an error message: "Steering defective! Do not drive vehicle!" She re-tried over a dozen times, leaving the vehicle and returning to try again....to no avail. It was extremely cold so she retreated into the building and searched the internet and found others who had had this same problem. She finally called a friend who came to pick her up and take her home. I called Audi, and they confirmed that it's a know problem that occurs in extreme cold and there's no way to get it started until things warm up. We waited until later in the day before my son and I drove over and successfully got the car started. Luckily my daughter could get warm refuge in a nearby building. But it is easy to imagine other circumstances, say, someone who lives in the country who stops at the side of the road for whatever reason and might freeze because the car won't start. Although Audi has known about the problem, they have chosen not to issue a recall but instead an extended warranty that had expired a month or so before this incident. Surprisingly, they refuse to fix the problem because it is beyond that extension date even though we brought the car to the dealer and they confirmed the error was recorded 18 times which might match my daughter's desperate but failed attempts to start the car. This is not an optional fix. It is a danger that should be addressed by recall. This is the first time we had this problem or even knew to be concerned. Furthermore, the notice for extended warranty (see attached) was not even addressed to me but, instead, to my teenage son who clearly didn't understand how important it was to get it fixed.

Filed Oct 23, 2022 · Fuel system, Transmission · VA

2021 I brought an Audi A4 Quattro 2.0 2008 after having a test drive and haven't looked over the mechanic just said it was the fuel pressure high pressure sensor that was not a big deal after an hour buying it it took it to see my mom and it quit on me I had to have it towed home it would not start I took it to the mechanic and the mechanic said the same thing that it was a high pressure fuel pressure sensor so I purchased one and put on it couple months later it did the same thing the check engine light came on and it was told it was fuel pressure high pressure sensor again so I changed a fuel sensor two fuel pumps in the engine to electrical fuel pumps in the back four sensors camshaft sensor the cam follower PPC valves body throttle can follower engine light still comes on the car does not want to seem like it wants to accelerate when it gets to the normal temperature save your driving for 10 or 15 minutes still normal temperature not the radio the temperature it will start to cut off the RPM drops very fast I also have put in a fuel pressure regulator and a fuel pressure filter just the other day it came out again saying the same thing p0089 Dakota's always been throwing ever since I brought the car and p 02993 it says performance one and performance too I have put a lot of money in to get in this car fixed in the I believe there is something wrong with with the fuel system in the cars they need to be on a recall

Filed Jul 9, 2021 · Electrical · AL · 1 injury

The battery failed/malfunctioned and was leaking hydrogen sulfide gas into my car slowly for a long period of time. A month or two after I initially financed this used Audi A4 at Volkswagon in Dothan, AL, I started experiencing the side effects of low dose exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas. From that point until today my symptoms have been getting worse and worse. My asthma symptoms progressed. I caught walking pneumonia several times. My hair has been falling out in clumps and my kindneys are having serious issues. My pee started smelling very strange. Consistently, over the past year and a half, I have nearly passed out at the wheel of my car over and over. For a very long time, the gas was odorless and really couldn't be detected by smell. Five days ago I went to start my car and it wouldn't crank. I jumped it off and for the next five days following that the smell of rotten eggs got worse and worse....I'm lying in the bed right now bc my lungs feel like they're going to explode. I've felt this, along with my heart feeling like it was going to explode put of my chest, as well as my entire stomach/intestines feeling as if someone were stabbing me with knives. My doctors could not figure out why all of my hair was falling out or why I started to develop peripheral neuropathy. They even ran tests on me for Multiple Schlerosis. Found nothing. They did electrical pulse tests and cat scans and my dermatologist had no explanation for my hair just falling off my head in handfuls. I have a third of the hair on my head that I used to have. My skin and eyes consistently kept getting irritated by the gas as well....splotchy red exema like patches appeared all over me. I had a miscarriage because of this as well. I couldn't afford to get the car looked at, so it hasn't been taken anywhere. I received no warning of the problem until two days ago when my lights in my car and the air conditioner stopped working. The year of my life had been a living hell.

Filed Jun 9, 2021 · Engine, Fuel system · FL

While driving on the highway, there was a message that flashed on the dashboard about the coolant system, within a couple minutes, I felt like the car was shutting down while going 65 miles per hour. So I pulled over on the shoulder of the Turnpike Southbound in Miami. This cased a great safety problem for me, as this happened while I was driving on the highway then I had to be on the right shoulder of the highway and had to call for road ranger. When the road ranger came to inspect the car, he tried to add coolant and realized that there was a fuel leak, the car would not start, the coolant drained completely out of the car. I then had to call AAA to get the car towed.

Filed Feb 3, 2020 · Fuel system · 156,000 miles · CA

When engine is under load with a faulty fuel pump, the engine will stall whilst moving without turning motor off. Only remedy is to turn engine off and on, since the fuel pump will not start itself back on after the stall.

Filed Oct 11, 2019 · 99,872 miles · CO

My vehicle started up fine and I was driving to work, I was idling at the red light and my car shut off and signaled the battery light. We tried to jump it thinking it was the battery like it signaled, and it wasnt so we had to tow it. The car still doesnt start. It cranks but wont start and I was in the middle of an intersection, no warning lights before hand at all.

Filed May 13, 2019 · Engine · 97,000 miles · TX

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.

Related recalls

Engine and engine cooling: engine: engine control module (ecu/ECM)Reported May 23, 2022 · 72 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2022 Audi A6 Sedan, A4 Sedan, Q5, and Q5 Sportback vehicles. The semiconductor inside the engine control unit may short-circuit and cause an engine stall.
Risk
An engine stall can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the engine control unit, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 18, 2022. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1‑800‑253‑2834. Audi's number for this recall is 24iH.

Recall number 22V368000 · Recall details

Engine and engine cooling: cooling systemReported June 22, 1998 · 19,800 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles. If the engine backfires during a cold-start, an air screen which is loosely seated in the air flow meter can become damaged.
Risk
Screen pieces could enter the intake air flow system and prevent the throttle plate from returning to its full idle position.
Remedy
Dealers will install a retaining ring to hold the air screen in place.

Recall number 98V134000 · Recall details

Questions about the Audi A4 won't start

Which Audi A4 years have won't start problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2004 (7 complaints), 2003 (3 complaints) and 2008 (3 complaints).

How much does it cost to fix won't start on the Audi A4?

Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $3,729 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.

VIN decoder

See the problems and recalls for an exact car

Buying a used Audi A4?

Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.

Check its history