NHTSA Complaint #10471969 — 2000 AUDI S4

THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ON ALL THE AUDI S4S AND ALSO ON VW LOOSE PIXELS ON THE DASH AND IT GOES OUT, IT IS A HAZARD BECAUSE THIS IS A GAUGE THAT DOES A SYSTEM CHECK EVERY TIME YOU START THE VEHICLE, THE CAR TELLS THE DRIVER IF THERE ARE BRAKE PROBLEMS, ENGINE PROBLEMS, ALSO IF LIGHTS ARE OUT I.E. BRAKE LIGHTS TURN SIGNALS, AND ALSO FLUID STATUS OF THE CAR. WHEN THIS INSTRUMENT CLUSTER GOES OUT OR AS AUDI CALLS IT LOSES PIXELS, THE DRIVER DOES NOT KNOW THE STATUS OF THE CAR WHICH COULD CAUSE SAFETY AND HARM TO THE OPERATOR. IT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED MANY TIMES AND HAS BEEN REPLACED ON MY CAR OVER 4 TIMES AND IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE WITH OTHER AUDI OWNERS. ALSO THE WINDOW REGULATOR CLIP THAT HOLDS THE WINDOW BREAKS AS WELL, AUDI AND VW DID A RECALL VIN SPECIFIC MODELS OF THE BEETLE JETTA AND A4 BUT NOT THE S4, THE CLIP IS THE SAME DESIGN THAT IS USED IN MY VEHICLE. IT ALSO HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED MANY TIMES OF FAILING AND CAUSES ANOTHER SAFETY ISSUE, IF THE CLIP BREAKS THE WINDOW WILL ROLL DOWN UNEXPECTEDLY, I.E. CAUSING THE WINDOW TO BREAK WHICH THROWS GLASS ALL OVER THE OCCUPANTS IN THE CAR AND ALSO EXPOSES LIMBS TO OBJECTS OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. MANY COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN MADE ABOUT THIS DESIGN FLAW. I HAVE TRIED TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES WITH AUDI MULTIPLE TIMES AND PHONE CALLS AND MULTIPLE EMAILS, REGARDLESS OF THE AGE AND MILES ON MY CAR, IT IS THE SAME THINGS THAT KEEP BREAKING, CAUSING THESE SAFETY ISSUES. BOTH OF THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM FROM DAY ONE WHEN THESE DESIGNS WERE PUT ON THE MARKET. AND REPLACING THESE ITEMS IS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF MY OCCUPANTS AND MYSELF. THEY NEED TO BE REDESIGNED AND REVAMPED TO SOLVE THESE ISSUES. REPLACING THEM EVERY SINGLE YEAR IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. AND EVEN MORE SO WHEN SOMEONE'S LIFE IS AT RISK, DUE TO A BAD AND CARELESS DESIGN. *TR