NHTSA Complaint #10005244 — 1998 AUDI A4

THE PROBLEM: IGNITION SWITCH RETURN SPRING THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH MY IGNITION SWITCH. AFTER STARING THE ENGINE, THE RETURN SPRING DOES NOT FULLY RETURN THE KEY TO THE RUN POSITION, CAUSING A MALFUNCTION OF THE HEADLIGHTS AND CLIMATE CONTROL. I HAVE FOUND A RECALL NOTICE (NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NO. 97V115000) DESCRIBING THIS EXACT PROBLEM FOR AUDI A4 VEHICLES WHICH AFFECTS VEHICLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN 10/1995 AND 8/1997 (MY VEHICLE WAS BUILT WITHIN THIS TIME PERIOD, ON AUG 13TH, 1997). I REPORTED THIS INFORMATION TO AUDI CUSTOMER ASSURANCE AND THEY REFUSED TO PERFORM THE RECALL BECAUSE THE RECALL NOTICE DOES NOT SPECIFY "MODEL YEAR 1998". PLEASE CONSIDER EXPANDING THE EXISTING RECALL TO COVER 1998 VEHICLES. COMMENT: OBVIOUSLY, CONTAINMENT OF THE FAULTY IGNITION SWITCH WAS NOT LIMITED TO 1997 VEHICLES (NOTE- THE PROBLEM WAS NOT CALLED TO THEIR ATTENTION UNTIL OCT 24, 2000. HOW CAN CONTAINMENT HAPPEN EFFECTIVELY LONG AFTER THE VEHICLES ARE DELIVERED TO CUSTOMERS?). AUDI HAS NOT CONTAINED THE FAULTY SWITCH TO THE VEHICLES SPECIFIED IN THE RECALL.