NHTSA Complaint #11271520 — 2014 AUDI A4 ALLROAD

ON SATURDAY 10/26/2019 AS I LEFT MY OFFICE TO HEAD HOME THAT DAY FROM WORK MY EPC LIGHT AND ENGINE MIL LIGHT IN MY DASHBOARD CAME ON AND THE CAR WOULD NOT START. I STARTED TO SMELL GAS FUMES IN THE CAR AND SMOKE COMING FROM THE BACK SEAT LIKE A FIRE HAD STARTED. I SHUT OFF THE CAR, GOT OUT AND OPENED ALL THE DOORS AND AS I APPROACHED THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE I SPOTTED LARGE AMOUNTS OF FUEL LEAKING FROM UNDERNEATH WHERE THE FUEL PUMP IS LOCATED. I CALLED MY AUTHORIZED MECHANIC AS HE HAS DEALT WITH MY VEHICLE BEFORE AND HE CAME AND DIAGNOSED THE VEHICLE, HOOKED IT UP TO HIS COMPUTER AND GAVE HIM A FEW ERROR CODES. 1 WAS FOR THE FUEL PUMP, ANOTHER FOR THE AFTER RUN COOLANT PUMP. HE INFORMED ME THAT THERE WAS A MALFUNCTION WITHIN THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP ITSELF THAT'S CAUSING THE ISSUE AND THAT'S WHY FUEL STARTED LEAKING ALL OVER THE FLOOR UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE WHERE THE FUEL PUMP IS LOCATED. HE ALSO ALERTED ME TO A SERVICE BULLETIN THAT SHOWED UP ON HIS COMPUTER THAT SHOWED A RECALL FOR THE SAME FUEL PUMP ISSUES RELATED TO MY VEHICLE AS WELL AS SEVERAL OTHERS. WE IMMEDIATELY CALLED A TOW TRUCK TO GET IT BACK TO HIS SHOP. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION AFTER HE REMOVED THE REAR SEAT TO GET TO THE FUEL PUMP IT REVEALED EXACTLY WHAT HAD OCCURRED. THE FUEL PUMP AND THE ELECTRONIC CONNECTORS CONNECTED TO THE PUMP ALONG WITH THE SEAL HAD BURNT OUT CAUSING FUEL TO SPILL EVERYWHERE AND FLOOD THE ENTIRE UNIT AS WELL AS MY BACK SEAT WHERE A SMALL SPARK FROM THE IGNITION WHEN STARTED ALMOST CAUSED A SMALL FIRE UNDER THE SEAT WHICH COULD OF ERUPTED BIGGER. LUCKILY IT DID NOT EXPLODE OR GOT ANY WORST AND OUT OF CONTROL. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY RISK AND NEEDS TO RECTIFIED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE MYSELF OR ANYONE ELSE GETS HURT. MY CAR HAS BEEN WELL MAINTAINED SINCE I PURCHASED IT IN 2015 AND JUST HIT A LITTLE OVER 50K MILES, NEVER MISSED AN OIL CHANGE, YEARLY INSPECTIONS AND TUNE UP.