NHTSA Complaint #10004918 — 2002 AUDI A4

AUDI A4 (1.8T) WAS "MISSING" ON STARTUP, SHAKING, SEVERE LOSS OF POWER. I TRIED DRIVING TO THE DEALERSHIP BUT HAD TO TURN AROUND AND PARK IT AT HOME, FOR SAFETY. WAS TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP, WHERE I LEARNED IT WAS A FAILED IGNITION COIL PACK, AND I SOON LEARNED I WAS IN GOOD COMPANY: TECHNICIAN THERE ESTIMATED THERE WERE AT LEAST 85 CARS -- ALL 1.8TS OF AUDI AND VW -- IN SEVERAL NEARBY LOTS WAITING FOR REPLACEMENT IGNITION COILS. GERMAN PRODUCTION WAS ON 3 SHIFTS TO CRANK THEM OUT, WORLDWIDE. I ENJOY THIS CAR BUT CAN NO LONGER RELY ON IT UNTIL ALL OF THE ORIGINAL IGNITION COILS -- ENDING WITH AN "-H" PART-NUMBER SUFFIX -- ARE REPLACED WITH THE CURRENT, UPDATED ONES ENDING WITH A "-J." I'M EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED (AS ARE U.S. AUDI DEALERS, I'VE SINCE LEARNED) THAT VW WON'T RECALL ALL 1.8TS TO REPLACE THE BAD COILS, WHICH ARE DESTINED TO FAIL AT SOME POINT. UNLESS THERE'S A RECALL, I'LL NEVER BUY ANOTHER AUDI OR VW AND WARN AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN TO AVOID THEM. THIS IS SHODDY CUSTOMER CARE AT BEST, AND A DISREGARD FOR MY SAFETY AT WORST.