2011 Audi S4

No clear pattern

0% of complaints about the 2011 Audi S4 arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2011 vehicle, but with only 34 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 power train (22 complaints), typically at 5.3 yr or about 62,000 miles.

Complaints: 34
Median age at failure: 5.3 yr
Median mileage: 62,000 n=34
Crash / fire / tow: 2.9% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

15V019000 2015-01-20

Fuel system, gasoline:fuel injection system:fuel rail

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Audi S4, S5, Q7, 2012 Audi A6, Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid, and 2012-2013 Audi A7 vehicles. In the affected vehicles the fuel injection system may experience a fuel leak.

A fuel leak in the injection system in the presence of an ignition source, increases the risk of a fire.

In owners’ own words

Power train 31,000 mi 3.9 yr in service

TRANSMISSION SHIFTS CLUNK WHEN COMING TO A STOP FROM 3, 2, TO 1, AND SHIFTS NOISILY AND ABRUPTLY PARTICULARLY IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC, OR IN EXTREME TEMPERATURES IE MIDDLE OF SUMMER ON A HOT DAY. *TR

Power train 61,794 mi 4.3 yr in service

I WAS CRUISING AT APPROX. 55MPH ON MY WAY TO WORK. I HAD NO SYMPTOMS OF ANYTHING PRIOR TO THE TRANSMISSION FAILURE. SUDDENLY THE CAR STARTED VIBRATING AND DECELERATING AS IF I HAD A FLAT TIRE. I MADE AN EMERGENCY MERGE INTO THE CENTER MEDIAN AND WAS LUCKILY NOBODY REAR ENDED ME. AFTER INSPECTION OF MY TIRES WHICH WERE OK I GOT BACK IN CAR. D OR R WOULD NOT WORK. THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE.

Power train 87,453 mi 4.3 yr in service

I WAS ACCELERATING, AFTER LEAVING A RESTAURANT, INTO TRAFFIC. I RECEIVED THE "DSG MALFUNCTION LIGHT" AND SUDDENLY AT ABOUT 20MPH MY LURCHED FORWARD AND FAILED TO RESPOND TO THE THROTTLE AND SHUT OFF IN TRAFFIC. CAR RESTARTED AFTER ABOUT 30 SECONDS BUT DEFINITELY NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD GO WITHOUT NOTICE. IF I WAS ON THE INTERSTATE AND THROTTLE WENT OUT SITUATION COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. *TR

Other S4 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.

2011 Audi S4

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other S4 model years

How to read this