Problems · by component
2001 Audi A4 electrical system problems
35 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2001 Audi A4 cite electrical system, 27% of all 130 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
35
27% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
4
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the electrical system
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER 99% CANNOT BE READ DUE TO THE LCD DISPLAY FADING. HAVE DONE MULTIPLE SEARCHES AND 9 OUT OF 10 PEOPLE HAVE THIS SAME EXACT ISSUE. AUDI NEEDS TO STEP UP AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS ISSUE. THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING ISSUE AND NEEDS TO BE FIXED. THIS HAS BEEN A HUGE PAIN FOR ME BECAUSE SOMETIMES MY CAR WILL BEEP AND DISPLAY SOMETHING ON THE LCD SCREEN BUT BECAUSE IT'S FADING I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IT'S TELLING ME. I DON'T WANT TO BE DRIVING AND SOMETHING LIFE THREATENING HAPPEN BECAUSE OF A MISSED MESSAGE BECAUSE THE LCD SCREEN IS BROKEN. FIX THIS BEFORE PEOPLE GET HURT AND START FILING LAWSUITS. *TR”
“THE DIGITAL INSTRUMENT CLUSTER IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY ON MY 2001 AUDI A4 1.8T. YOU CAN ONLY SEE HALF THE SCREEN ON THE CENTER DISPLAY THAT NOTIFIES YOU WHEN THE CAR NEEDS TO BE SERVICED AND IF ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS ARE OCCURRING I FEEL THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND AUDI SHOULD RECALL AND REPAIR ANY CARS WITH THIS MALFUNCTION BECAUSE I HAVE READ SEVERAL REVIEWS OF THE SAME PROBLEM SO OBVIOUSLY IT IS SOMETHING THEY SHOULD LOOK INTO. *TR”
“MY 2001 AUDI A4 HAS CENTRAL LCD DISPLAY TO DISPLAY ALL SORT OF INFORMATION, BUT THIS DISPLAY FAILS IN MOST OF A4S JUST AFTER A FEW YEARS. THIS IS CRITICAL FOR VEHICLE SAFETY, BECAUSE THIS CAR DOES NOT HAVE ANY OTHER INDICATORS TO SIGNAL ABNORMAL CONDITIONS OF THE CAR SUCH AS LOW COOLANT, CHECK ENGINE, ETC. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN KNOWN MORE THAN FIVE YEARS, BUT THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT BEEN RESPONSIBLE. PLEASE LOOK AT HTTP://AUDIFORUMS.COM/FORUM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?T=46512 FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM. *TR”
“THE LCD INSTRUMENT DISPLAY IS "PIXILATED" -- UNABLE TO CLEARLY DISPLAY INFORMATION REGARDING THE STATUS OF THE VEHICLE, INCLUDING SAFETY-RELATED INFORMATION SUCH AS FAILURE OF SAFETY-RELATED COMPONENTS (ANTI-LOCK BRAKES ETC.). THIS COULD LEAD TO A CRASH OR PREVENT THE TIMELY RESPONSE TO A SAFETY-RELATED PROBLEM. ON-LINE FORUMS INDICATE THAT THIS IS A FREQUENT PROBLEM WITH AUDI A4S. *TR”
“THERE HAVE BEEN NO ACCIDENTS SO FAR HOWEVER MY WARNING DISPLAY ON MY INSTRUMENT CLUSTER ON MY 2001 AUDI A4 1.8T HAS BE CONTINUALLY FADING IN WARM WEATHER LEAVING ME UNABLE TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY PROBLEMS WITH MY CAR. THIS CAN BECOME VERY SERIOUS IF I CAN'T SEE IF SOMETHING MAJOR COMES UP THAT NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. *TR”
“1) THERE IS NO TRIGGERING EVENT LEADING UP TO THE FAILURE. IT JUST APPEARS OVER TIME. 2) THE LCD SCREEN IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER HAS LINES OF PIXELS THAT DO NOT LIGHT UP. THIS IS CONSTANT, WITH MORE LINES OF PIXELS GOING OUT AND PERMANENTLY STAYING OUT OVER TIME. AS A CONSEQUENCE, IMPORTANT WARNING MESSAGES ARE NOT DISPLAYED OR READABLE; SUCH AS WORN OUT BRAKE PADS, FUEL LOW WARNING, WASHER FLUID LOW WARNING, ETC. IF THESE WARNINGS ARE NOT DISPLAYED, THE VEHICLE MAY RUN OUT OF GAS WITHOUT WARNING AND STALL WHILE OPERATING, OR BRAKES MAY WEAR DOWN TO THE POINT OF LOSING EFFECTIVENESS WITHOUT WARNING, OR BE LEFT WITHOUT WASHER FLUID WITHOUT WARNING. 3) ENTIRE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER WAS REPLACED WITH NEW BY AUDI DEALERSHIP UNDER CPO WARRANTY. FAILED PART WAS KEPT BY AUDI. *TR”
Showing 6 of 35 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 27, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.