NHTSA Complaint #11152418 — 2013 AUDI A8

DRIVING AT SPEED LIMIT ON US HIGHWAY IN HEAVY TRAFFIC IN THE NEAR NORTHERN SUBURBS OF CHICAGO, EXPERIENCED SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER. VEHICLE BEGAN RUNNING VERY ROUGH AND EVENTUALLY STALLED IN LEFT LANE. SUDDEN LACK OF POWER, STALL AND UNANTICIPATED LOSS OF SPEED NEARLY CAUSED ACCIDENT AND DID CAUSE MAJOR TRAFFIC BACK UP. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO LOCAL SHOP. DIAGNOSIS DETERMINED CAUSE OF SUDDEN POWER LOSS WAS DAMAGED TURBOCHARGERS (X2). TURBO IMPELLER BEARINGS WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED DUE TO LUBRICATION STARVATION, WHICH CAUSED DISINTEGRATION OF TURBOCHARGER IMPELLERS. SHOP INDICATED THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE AUDI (VAG) 4.0 TWIN TURBO V-8 ENGINES. SUPPORTING THIS NOTION, THE DEALER HAD THE TURBOS AND ASSOCIATED REPAIR PARTS IN STOCK (OVER $6,000 OF PARTS). VEHICLE IS METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED BY CERTIFIED AUDI DEALER. VEHICLE INDICATED ABOUT 63,000 MILES ON ODOMETER AT TIME OF INCIDENT. VAG USES THIS ENGINE IN SEVERAL MODELS ACROSS THE AUDI LINE: S6, S7, RS7, A8, AND S8 (SOME MODIFICATIONS BETWEEN SOME MODELS).