Problems · by component
2013 Audi A4 steering problems
57 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2013 Audi A4 cite steering, 51% of all 111 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
57
51% of all complaints
Crashes
2
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
1
Reported by owners
What owners say about the steering
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“August of 2021. It was raining out and I drove through a puddle and my electric steering shut down. This has been a known defect for at least 10 years with Audi and NHTSA has done NOTHING about it.”
“2013 Audi A4 with a 2.0 turbo engine approximately 62.5K miles and up to date with all services. I was driving on the highway at highway speeds when the engine suddenly started to misfire with a partial loss of power making the car difficult to steer. At that time the check engine light was not illuminated. I was able to get off the highway and drive home about 2 miles away from when the misfires first occurred. The police did not get involved as I was able to return home. The following week the car was towed to my mechanic where it was diagnosed that cylinder 3 had a problem. At that time the check engine light illuminated. He recommended that I tow my car to the Audi dealership as they have better availability of parts. The dealer took apart the engine and diagnosed a broken piston ring which destroyed many other parts of the engine. The engine had to be replaced with a new one from the factory. Audi should be held accountable for catastrophic engine failures that may result in injury to others due to poor engine design.”
“STEERING WHEEL RANDOMLY LOCKED WHILE THE CAR WAS IN MOTION. THE CAR WAS ALMOST INOPERABLE. IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND IS ALSO A SAFETY HAZARD. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS, BUT NO RECALL FROM AUDI. IT NEEDS TO ADDRESSED AND FIXED. LIVES ARE AT RISK.”
“WHILE DRIVING, ON OR OFF THE HIGHWAY STEERING STIFFENS MAKING IT HARD OR IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE TURNS. IT IS A SCARY SITUATION, WHICH FORCED ME TO PULL OVER ON THE HIGHWAY ONCE- I WAS NOT ABLE TO SWITCH LANES DUE TO THE HARDNESS OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THIS OCCURS RANDOMLY, AT ANYTIME OR SPEED, EVEN AT SLOW SPEEDS WHILE DRIVING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. IT OCCURS TO EITHER SIDE, SOMETIMES ONE SIDE OF THE WHEEL OR BOTH SIDES.”
“MY CAR RECENTLY STARTED FEELING STIFF WHILE TAKING TURNS AND IT LOOKS AS IT'S BEEN AN ONGOING REPORTED ISSUE. NOTHING THAT HAS BEEN RECALLED IN THE PAST HOWEVER MOST REPORTS ARE OF PEOPLE "FIXING" THE PROBLEM ONLY FOR IT TO CONTINOUSLY COME BACK.”
“PURCHASED MY 2013 AUDI A4 IN 2017 AND SIMILAR TO ALL THE OTHER COMPLAINTS THE STEERING SEIZED SPORADICLY INDICATING IT WAS UNSAFE TO DRIVE ETC.. THE CAR WAS TOWED AND I AFTER A COUPLE WEEKS THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE POWER STEERING MODULE WAS DEFECTIVE. I HAD A NEW ONE INSTALLED AT THE COST OF 2500$ (THE DEALER WANTED TO CHARGE 4000$!) . THE CAR WAS RUNNING SMOOTHLY UNTIL RECENTLY (IT ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE IN THE WINTER WHEN IT BECOMES MILD) THE STEERING HAS BEGUN TO STICK ONCE AGAIN AND ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE MY DASH LIGHTS UP NOTIFYING ME THE CAR CANT BE DRIVEN. THIS IS CLEARLY A PROBLEM AS THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF COMPLAINTS FOR THE SAME ISSUE. PLEASE FIX IT!”
Showing 6 of 57 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.