2017 Audi A4

No clear pattern

0% of complaints about the 2017 Audi A4 arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2017 vehicle, but with only 76 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is engine (22 complaints), typically at 5.5 yr or about 28,000 miles.

Complaints: 76
Median age at failure: 5.4 yr
Median mileage: 36,500 n=17
Crash / fire / tow: 11.8% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

21V874000 2021-11-10

Seats

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2017-2020 A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, 2018-2019 RS5 Coupe, 2019 RS5 Sportback, 2018-2020 A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A5 Sportback, S4 Sedan, S5 Cabriolet, S5 Coupe, and Audi S5 Sportback vehicles. The cable connecting the seat heater to the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) may have a contact fault, causing the software to misdiagnose a malfunction and disable the passenger air bag.

A disabled passenger air bag increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

In owners’ own words

Engine 28,000 mi 3.6 yr in service

COOLANT LEVEL WAS LOW SO TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER. THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING WAS LEAKING COOLANT. *TR

Engine 59,000 mi 3.9 yr in service

COOLANT RESERVOIR WAS REALLY LOW. FILLED IT RIGHT AWAY BUT IT WENT LOW AGAIN A MONTH AFTER. CONFIRMED FROM OTHER OWNERS EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE.

Engine 23,000 mi 2.7 yr in service

MY VEHICLE IS LEAKING COOLANT. EVERY 8-10K MILES IT GOES BELOW NORMAL LEVEL IN RESERVOIR . THERE IS A DISTINCT ODOR OF COOLANT EACH TIME I GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE. I HAVE HAD AUDI LOOK AT IT 5 TIMES. THEY CONFIRM THE COOLANT LEVELS ARE LOW AND THEY REFILL IT SAYING THEY CAN'T FIND A LEAK. I AM CONCERN THAT THIS IS A FIRE HAZARD.

Other A4 model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2017 Audi A4

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other A4 model years

How to read this