1996 Audi A4 Complaints

I HAVE A 1996 AUDI A4 AND THE ENGINE STARTED LEAKING OIL FROM THE CAM TENSIONER, I TALKED TO A FEW AUDI MECHANICS AND OWNERS AND THEY HAVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS, AND TOLD ME TO REPORT IT TO THIS ORGANIZATION. *JB

(1) I RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE (LE RECALL) FROM AUDI OF AMERICA ON THE IGNITION SWITCH ON MY 1996 A4 SEDAN. THE RECALL WORK WAS PERFORMED ON 10/10/02. AT THAT POINT IN TIME THE ORIGINAL IGNITION SWITCH HAD BEEN PERFORMING CORRECTLY FOR 69 MONTHS BUT I HAD IT REPLACED BECAUSE OF AUDI'S RECOMMENDATION; NOT BECAUSE IT HAD A MALFUNCTION. (2)IN OCTOBER OF 2005 THE REPLACEMENT IGNITION SWITCH FAILED AFTER EXACTLY 36 MONTHS OF SERVICE. I HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE WIPER BLADES AND THE A/C. BECAUSE OF THE FAILURE I EXPERIENCED PREVIOUSLY ON THE 1997 AUDI I TURNED THE MOTOR OFF THEN OPENED THE CAR DOOR AND RESTARTED THE MOTOR. I HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE THE STARTER MOTOR STILL ENGAGED SO I TURNED THE MOTOR OFF AND HAD THE CAR TOWED TO REEVES AUDI. (3)REEVES AUDI REPLACED THE IGNITION SWITCH AND BILLED ME ABOUT $661 BUT AFTER I COMPLAINED THEY GAVE ME A 15% DISCOUNT SO I ENDED UP PAYING ABOUT $571 (4)I CALLED AUDI OF AMERICA. THEY WERE ABLE TO PULL UP MY EARLIER COMPLAINT ABOUT THE 1997 A4 A...

I OWN AN 1996 AUDI A4. RECENTLY, MY HEADLIGHTS AND TAILLIGHTS HAVE STOPPED FUNCTIONING ALL TOGETHER AT VARIOUS TIMES. SOMETIMES THEY WORK FINE THE NEXT MINUTE THEY WOULDN'T. ONE NIGHT I ALMOST GOT REAR-ENDED BY ANOTHER CAR BECAUSE MY REAR TAILLIGHTS WERE NOT ILLUMINATED. SO I TOOK THE CAR TO AUDI TO GET THE PROBLEM TAKEN CARE OF. WHEN I WENT TO AUDI, THEY TOLD ME I HAVE A BAD IGNITION SWITCH AND SAID THE PROBLEM WOULD PROBABLY BE TAKEN CARE OF WITH THE REPLACEMENT OF THE SWITCH. I GOT THE WORK DONE AND THEN WENT ON THE INTERNET TO CHECK ANY RECALLS FROM THE NHTSA. A RECALL #00V317000 CAME UP AND DESCRIBED THE EXACT PROBLEM I HAD WITH MY AUDI. HOWEVER, WHEN I CALLED THE DEALER AND AUDI THEY TOLD ME THE RECALL DID NOT APPLY TO MY VIN #. I FOUND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS HAZARD WAS TAKEN CARE OF FOR A SELECT NUMBER OF CARS BUT THERE ARE STILL CARS OUT ON THE ROADWAY THAT HAVE THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM. I THINK AUDI WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE LIKELY TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRS IF THAT FORD F250...

PROBLEM WITH IGNITION SWITCH CAUSING THE RETURN SPRING FORCE TO BE INSUFFICIENT FOR RETURNING THE IGNITION KEY TO THE RUNNING POSITION AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE, ALSO CAUSING ELECTRICAL ACCESSORIES TO BECOME INOPERATIVE AND RUNNING DOWN THE BATTERY. THERE WAS A RECALL CONCERNING THE IGNITION SWITCH ON THE EXACT SAME YEAR (1996) AND MODEL (AUDI A4) AND REGARDING THE EXACT SAME IGNITION PROBLEM. I HAVE SPOKEN WITH THE DEALERS SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND THE MANUFACTURER CONCERNING THIS PROBLEM. THE RECALL THEY CLAIM DOES NOT INCLUDE MY VIN NUMBER. HOWEVER, MY CAR IS A 1996 AUDI A4 AND MY VEHICLE IS HAVING THE EXACT SAME SAFETY PROBLEM COVERED UNDER THE RECALL. THE RECALL #00V317000. *JB

ALTHOUGH THE IGNITION SWITCH OF MY 1996 AUDI A4 WAS REPLACED UNDER RECALL IN AUGUST 2001, IT HAS THE SAME FAILURE ALMOST EXACTLY 4 YEARS LATER. THE SWITCH NEITHER ALLOWS THE CAR TO COMPLETELY SHUT OFF NOR ALLOWS THE WIPERS, LIGHTS AND INDICATORS TO FUNCTION. *NM