— An Audi Start-Stop system class action lawsuit alleges the systems cause the engines to hesitate, lag and fail to immediately activate when drivers try to accelerate from full or rolling stops.
The Audi Start-Stop systems allegedly cause the vehicles to stall in intersections and in other dangerous areas until the engines restart several seconds later. Then drivers allegedly must handle vehicles that lurch and suffer from delayed acceleration, placing occupants in great dangers of being hit by other vehicles.
According to the automaker, the Audi Start-Stop system works “[w]hen the driver presses the brake pedal at stoplights or in other prolonged idle situations, the engine shuts off. When the driver releases the brake pedal, the engine instantaneously starts up again.”
“In Start/Stop mode, the engine shuts off automatically when stopped, for example at a traffic light. […] The engine will restart automatically when needed. The Start/Stop system is automatically activated once the ignition is switched on.” - Audi
The class action lawsuit alleges these models are equipped with defective Start-Stop systems.
- 2019-2020 Audi A3
- 2017-2020 Audi A4
- 2017-2020 Audi A5
- 2017-2020 Audi A6
- 2017-2020 Audi A7
- 2017-2020 Audi Q3
- 2017-2020 Audi Q5
- 2017-2020 Audi Q7
- 2017-2020 Audi Q8
The plaintiff claims Audi has known about Start-Stop system problems but concealed them from the public. Vehicle owners who complain are allegedly told Audi knows about the problems but has no fix. Additionally, allegedly the only recommendation offered by Audi is to deactivate the Start-Stop system.
The class action lawsuit says a driver can deactivate the Start-Stop system "each time the ignition is started by manually pressing a separate button, an additional inconvenience and mandatory burden that is not disclosed to the Class Members at the time of the sale."
The lawsuit alleges Audi dealerships keep failing to completely repair the vehicles through the use of software updates and other actions.
Florida plaintiff David Swinburne purchased a new 2018 Audi Q5 but allegedly immediately began experiencing delayed acceleration and hesitation from full and rolling stops.
The plaintiff says on many occasions, the hesitation and delays in acceleration during the “Start” phase of the Start/Stop system occurred while attempting to turn left from intersections. This put him in danger of being hit by oncoming traffic.
When complaining to an Audi dealership, the plaintiff says he was told no problems were found, causing the plaintiff to file the following complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"When depressing gas pedal from stopped (or near stopped) position, the vehicle fails to respond before moving forward. This most frequently occurs when pulling onto or crossing a street, and I'm concerned it will eventually be the cause of an accident. The dealer has checked this several times, but says that the recorder shows no problem. It does not occur every time, and no default is recorded, but it continues to occur even after almost two years. Dealer has a number of service requests for this issue, all marked as ntf [no trouble found]."
The plaintiff says his vehicle continues to suffer problems related to the Start-Stop system.
The Audi Start-Stop system class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division: Swinburne, et al., v. Audi of America, Inc., et al.
The plaintiff is represented by Consumer Litigation Associates, P.C., Capstone Law APC, Berger Montague PC, and Greg Coleman Law PC.
CarComplaints.com has owner-reported complaints about the Audi vehicles.
