2010 Audi S4: harsh or hard shifting

8 of the 60 complaints about the 2010 Audi S4 describe harsh or hard shifting.

owner complaints: 8
of this car's complaints: 13%
typical mileage: 74,500
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 70 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Harsh or hard shifting by model year

2013
2
2012
2
2011
3
2010
8
2000
1

What owners say

Filed Sep 11, 2018 · Transmission · 125,000 miles · MN

Vehicle was at a stop at a traffic light with brake engaged and vehicle suddenly engaged into gear and tried to surge forward. Had to put the transmission into neutral to disengage gear. In other instances, vehicle will slam into gear abruptly when accelerating from a full stop, and also lunges forward unpredictably. These incidents are all related to a failing automatic dsg transmission.

Filed Oct 24, 2017 · Transmission · 98,000 miles · IL

Audi 7sp dl501 's-tronic' transmission for: 2010-2015 audi s4 and s5, 2013-2015 audi rs5, s6 and s7. Vehicles experience mechatronic unit failure and clutch faults. Resulting in: sudden shaking and violent 'juddering,' hesitation from the car when pressing the gas pedal, a 'surge' forward that feels like the car has been rear-ended, and hard downshifting or clunking when slowing down or driving at slow speeds. Also clunking and trouble shifting gears, difficulty engaging into drive or reverse. Vehicle showing "gearbox malfunction, you can continue driving" "gearbox malfunction, do not continue driving" vehicle going into "limp mode" in any driving situation. Clutches not engaging properly, slipping between gears. Issues can occur while trying to accelerate, merging into traffic, driving up a hill, shifting gears at a low speed. My experience: while switching vehicles in driveway, vehicle when into reverse and I backed up, then stopped, put transmission into drive and after a jolt forward, vehicle felt like it stalled, however engine was still running, but no forward gear, (epc light illuminated) vehicle then rolled backwards into parked vehicle, but could have been catastrophic had it jumped back into drive as 3rd car, father, and garage were in front path. 2nd time: vehicle could not reverse,(epc light illuminated) ran into parking curb while expecting to go backwards. 3rd time: after finally getting out of the parking spot (restarting car for the 4th time and epc lights) put into drive, vehicle surged forward, then transmission disengaged,(epc light illuminated) leaving me and vehicle vulnerable for rear collision,with leg out of the door I was able to push and coast my vehicle out of the way, just to miss being rear ended, as car would not engage in drive after 3 attempts of cycling ignition.

Filed May 13, 2017 · Transmission · 83,380 miles · MI

My s4 threw the "gearbox malfunction, reverse disabled" as well as a TPMS error code while in traffic, and went into limp mode and would not allow me to accelerate. Very dangerous, and inconvenient. Limped home at very slow speed while transmission clunked and struggled to change gears. The code has gone away since I restarted the vehicle, and now it lunges forward when you're coming to a stop, which makes you feel like you've been hit from behind. Taking off from a stop is bouncy and super jerky. If I hesitate before accelerating from a stop, it will sometimes go smoothly. The engine RPM's surge while coasting to a stop, or going down, hill especially with foot off the pedal.

Filed Jun 1, 2016 · Transmission · 61,700 miles · NJ

Hard clunk when selecting gears from p to r to d. When coming to a stop in traffic the car lurches forward like being rear ended. Sometimes after a complete stop has been made the car will surge forward a considerable amount which may possibly cause me to hit the car in front of me.

Filed Mar 17, 2016 · Transmission · 65,600 miles · CA

Hard clunk when selecting gears from p to r to d. When coming to a stop the car lurches forward almost like being rear ended. Sometimes after a complete stop has been made the car will buck forward slightly

Filed Sep 30, 2015 · Transmission · 74,500 miles · OH

At approx 55k miles, mechatronics unit failed. Extremely rough shifts from 1-2 and 2-1, lurching forward after coming to complete stop. Dealership replaced mecharonics unit. At 74k miles entire dsg gearbox failed, while on highway with virtually no power or ability to accelerate. Luckily traffic was at near stop due to rush hour, was able to make it to next offramp in what they call 'limp mode'. Dealership is replacing entire transmission.

Filed Sep 30, 2015 · Transmission · 70,000 miles · CA

The s-tronic/dsg transmission is having issues downshifting. It will rev up high when coming to a stop as well. There is also a harsh clunk when shifting from neutral-drive-park. Audi recommended replacing the mechatronics unit in the transmission. The mechatronics circuit board has already been replaced at owners cost and now they want me to replace the entire mechatronic unit at my cost ($3800+). This is a common issue with these cars and there needs to be a recall for these transmissions. It is known that these transmissions are faulty and audi does not want to take responsibility for these issues.

Filed Jan 29, 2014 · Transmission · 20,304 miles · GA

Mechatronics unit failure in dsg transmission. Hard shifts from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 1st while stopping. (vehicle makes loud drivetrain bang noise, shakes and stops abruptly when slowing down and trying to come to a stop, almost as if you slowed down to 5-10mph and then slammed on the brakes.)