This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving either during the day or during the night either one of the lights will start flickering and then eventually go out completely. While driving home one the freeway one night the right side started to flicker and then went out completely...I turned the lights off and then turned them on and the light worked perfectly fine for 5 mins or so and then the same thing happened again! the next day as I was going to work early in the morning (while it was still a little dark) the same thing happened again...but this time with the left side. It started to flicker and then it went out completely. I turned the lights off and turned them back on and the light worked as if nothing happened. I called an Audi dealer and they said to bring the car in to get this issue fixed...they quoted me at $180 for the bulb and a grand total of $450 for the bulb plus installation. I just recently bought the car and ive been reading online about all the people that are having the same problem with their headlights.... I think its only fair to have a recall due to a poor design because I dont think its very safe for me or anyone to drive with one headlight and then having the chance of the other headlight going out at the same time!
Left or right headlights flicker and fail every time I use my headlights. No worse or better with bumpy roads. After a light goes out, turning the lights off and back on temporarily fixes the problem. But a few moments later the light flickers and fails. Most recent failure was when going around a corner at night. Oncoming traffic did not see me and nearly crashed head on. Newly purchased car and headlights failed first night. I have researched the problem online and read dozens of threads with seemingly hundreds of people with the same problem. Absolutely shocked Audi has not put out a recall. Serious safety issue with no current solution. The question is out of all the deadly accidents in Audi cars, how many had this issue as a factor. I don't envy the person quickly driving down a winding back road, when their headlights go out an instant before a quick turn they wont see and wrap their car around a tree.
My Audi A4 constantly will get a dipped headlight, meaning that the hid lights will dip and fail to stay on. It happens on both sides and will happen at night. I have driven in complete darkness and had both lights fail, if I turn the lights off for a few seconds and back on they will reset but it does not take long before they do it again and it is something that concerns me anytime I drive during dark times. I live in a area with snow and ice in the winter and also have to deal with deer and pedestrians during the summer. My lights going out all of a sudden for no reason has me questioning the safety my car provides. I am concerned that I may have my lights go out and wreck, or potentially hit a animal or person.
Headlights constantly flicker and then go out. Turning them off then on will only bring them on for a few seconds. I have had bulb replaced no results, though very expensive. My last Audi burned to the ground due to similar defect. Couldn't imagine this would happen again. Have reached out to Audi with no response.
1) headlights are the main problem. The car has the type of lights that move when turning the wheel. Occasionally, the headlights will flicker whether or not you are turning the steering wheel but will remain on. This is a nuisance but may be related to the next, larger problem. The larger problem is, almost every night there will be a headlight dip warning signal on the instrument panel. When this happens rarely will the headlights stay on anymore. They used to do so, but now one or both of the headlights will frequently turn off. We used to be able to override this by moving the headlight switch on the dash from the auto to the manual mode and off mode. However, now we have to switch back and forth multiple times before the headlights turn back on and it takes a lot longer now than it used to. (the headlights are staying off for longer periods. ) also, even when you leave the headlight switch in the manual mode (rather than use the auto mode at all), the headlights will still dip and turn off.
- Powell, OH, USA
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The contact owns a 2005 Audi A4. The contact stated the headlights shut on and off while driving. When the failure occurred the instrument panel would display headlights dipped on the instrument. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who was told the engine vibration caused the headlights to shut off. The dealer placed rubber pieces into the casing in order to minimize the vibration. The failure mileage was 43,000 and the current mileage was 62,000.
Vibrations on the road or at idle cause my Audi A4 (B7)'s headlights to flicker or even turn off for a brief moment! it occurs at least once every night, and so far Audi has issued no remedies. I have the xenon bulbs.
While driving the headlights (either left or right or sometimes both) will just go out. Happens on the freeway, happens in the driveway or on a surface road...it happens nearly every time I drive with the headlights on. Audi can't replicate the issue when I bring it in and doesn't have a fix. Many people report that replacing headlight bulb or ballace didn't fix problem. This is very dangerous as they just flicker and go out. There really should be a recall as this is a very common issue on the A4.
2005 Audi A4 2.0T - headlights malfunction. Warning sign comes on "left/right headlight dipped out". during night, this is extremely dangerous. Only way to get lights back on is to either turn headlights off and back on again or pull over, turn car off and restart. This is only a temporary fix though. Within 10 to 15 min, the headlight will "dip" out again (light flickers and goes out). Changing bulbs do not help. Changing ballast does not help. Within a 20 mile stretch, my headlights will "dip out" and black out on average of 3 times. This makes for very unsafe driving conditions.
Defective headlight assembly. Google "dipped headlight Audi". causes rampant flickering that blinds everyone on the road or turn off your headlight and drive in the dark at night. Changed bulb does not fix it. Changed ballast does not fix it.
Problem occurs when the lights are turned on at night, the right headlight begins to flicker and then shuts off with an error, "right dipped headlight". it occurs every night, which is dangerous and hazardous and makes it difficult to see and obscures the view to drivers of oncoming traffic. This problem is being suffered by a large numbers of owners and it should be recalled by the manufacturer.
My 2005.5 Audi A4 quattro frequently experiences hid headlight problems, typically starting with a rapidly flickering headlight and then followed by the headlight(s) extinguishing. When this happens, there is a right or left dipped bulb failure indicated on the dashboard. The headlights can be restored by cycling power. This problem is occurring more frequently; currently it occurs at least every 30 minutes and seems to be triggered when braking the car to a stop, gently accelerating in lower gears, or when turning while climbing or descending steep hills. When this condition is experienced, the headlights flicker rapidly and eventually extinguish. Restoring the affected headlight requires me to either pull off the road and cycle power or to manually turn the lights off and on while driving. This is unsafe, probably illegal, and very annoying to the driver and others in traffic. I had this condition repaired previously under warranty (40K miles), but it has recently returned and worsened. My Audi now has 92K miles and is out of warranty. I am surprised that Audi has not offered a cost-free recall action to fix this safety problem, particularly given its prevalence in Audi A4's. the cost to repair this obvious design defect is high and apparently could involve replacement of the hid bulbs, igniters, and sensors.
Over the course of nearly two years of ownership, the right and left headlights have malfunctioned (turned off), with no consistent cause apparent. The specific error message that appears in the driver information screen is "right/left headlight dipped". this condition is both unsafe, and illegal - as many states will issue a traffic violation for driving with a non-functioning headlight. It has happened about 7-8 times, the headlight flickers, then goes out, but will come back on when the car is restarted, then be fine for weeks or months at a time. The dealership has been notified of the problem on at least 3 visits, and has claimed that everything is fine and they can not reproduce said error. They have suggested/guessed that it is the xenon light bulb itself, however it has checked out fine each time, and as mentioned, has functioned flawlessly after each occurrence with merely a restart of the vehicle. No parts have been repaired or replaced, however they have claimed to perform a visual inspection of the electrical connections on at least one visit. Given the availability of information online and by word of mouth from other fellow Audi owners, this problem is not limited to just my case. I would like Audi to step up and address this issue not only for their own pr, but for their customers' safety.
Excessive moisture in both headlights. Dealer stats that an "O" ring has failed and infers that this is a design problem. States that most headlight assemblies will clear up within about 10 minutes. Mine have so much moisture in them that I have water drips. This causes the light output to be very dim. Audi has a tsb that states the light assembly should not be replaced, and has no other repair suggestion (just live with the problem I guess). Also, it appears that this happens on the 2002-2005 models as well as the 2005.5 - 2009 models of the A4. This is a known issue that Audi doesn't seem to want to address. Dealer has estimated the "O" ring replacement to be about $250 (for a $1 part!).
Dipped headlight / flicker / problem very unsafe to drive at night. Hid headlight will flicker then goes off completely. It happens every day when vehicle is cold.
The passenger side xenon headlight unit flickers off and on and eventually go out while driving at night. Turning headlights off and on while temporarily relieve the problem (sometimes less a few seconds, others time 30 min or hour). When problem started a couple years ago, time between the problem was long (weeks). The problem has persisted and now happens every time I drive at night. When problem first occurred (car under warranty, ~45K miles), nothing was found to be an issue by the dealership as the problem could not be replicated at the point of inspection. Unfortunately, the car is now out of warranty. From things I've read, Audi failed to program fault tests for the headlights, making the problem hard to diagnose. Additionally, many Audi owners spent large amounts of money trying to replace bulbs and replace ballasts (very expensive) only to have the problem persist. I've encountered a couple owners that have actually had charred connectors of the electrical connections affiliated with the lighting system (fire hazard?). the defective nature of the system is an obvious safety issue. Please help facilitate an acceptable response program from Audi.
Left xenon headlamp works intermittently. It started being a problem about 2 years ago, shortly after purchasing the car used. It was repaired under warranty, but the intermittent operation has returned.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Concord, CA, USA