2009 Audi A4 Avant: Power Steering Problem?

Mikeolan - While not exactly insightful, you probably could have (ok, not probably, you SHOULD have) opened up that comment to include all German cars.

I haven't heard of many (if any) problems with VWAG's electric power assist, so I'll be curious to see what the issue is...

I hope it is just something small, but if four years of Audi ownership taught me anything it is that my hope is most likely unfounded. What is most frustrating about Audi's from my experience is that everything that breaks are things that never break on cars anymore. Things like power windows and locks that even the lowest rung automakers have been able to figure out how to build without issue Audi still seems stumped by.

I am going to stop now before my rant gets anymore heated.

Unfortunately, I feel this problem isn't always relegated to Audi's or even German cars. My buddy's 1997 Acura RL had all 4 windows go bad after 8 years or so, and the powered steering wheel adjustment. He says these are all known issues with his year of RL, and they've been costly fixes. Let's face it, it's an older car, but I think it also has something to do with lower-production numbers of luxury brands, and all their techno-gadgetry that makes them expensive to repair.

I do not have an Audi or any German car, so I'm not trying to defend them!

Remove that Servotronic fuse. Steering will be 400x better.

What strikes me besides the steering problem is the display between the gauges. Specifically the information it displays. Is it me or should it actually display relevant information for the gauge cluster instead of distracting music track you're listening to? I'm sure you can turn it off but all in all it's a stupid option to have.

I agree with ctpax. My friend just bought an A4 and let me drive it. The performance felt pretty good, and the steering actually did feel fairly good at speed, but I just couldn't get over how wrong the center screen is. I just shouldn't have radio information front and center. I kept looking at it expecting to see something important, then realizing that no, it was just another radio display.

"I kept looking at it expecting to see something important, then realizing that no, it was just another radio display."

It doesnt have the option to change what information you want to view?

Like any VW or Audi with the driver's information center, you can adjust what the center screen says (radio, trip computer, compass and temp, etc). All pertinent information is displayed by the speedometer, tach, fuel gauge, and coolant temp gauge. Anything that needs your immediate attention will pop up on the screen regardless of what you have on display (low tire pressure, low fuel, possible freezing conditions), and you can go thru your iPod or radio settings without taking your eyes off the road! I think that's probably better logic than constantly needing to see your fuel economy.

ctpax and stovt

Nice complaints. The center screen displays radio information only if you just currently adjusted the station, but reverts back to the trip computer or navigation information(if the car is guiding you to a destination). How is that annoying or unusful, when im driving and i change the station, the car shows me what station im changing to so that i dont have to turn my head and look at the nav screen. The combination of the mmi and the center screen in my q7 is the best combo ive ever used and thats comparing it to an 08 750li, 335i, 09 m3, ml350 and the RR sport. non even came close.

People love to dump on VW, but the truth is that they are actually quite good cars. They don't respond well to abuse, however, like say a Toyota.

Is this the first year Audi has used that power steering system for the A4

Chevrolet/GM had a bad run of Steering columns for the '04 and beyond Malibu, and the columm's contaminated wiper contacts resulted in jumpy, pulsing steering wheels at low speed. In severe cases the car would try to steer itself.

Perhaps either sensors, or power feeds to steering motor, may be intermittent?

I just took it on a test drive going from Morrow Bay to San Luis Obispo, and one that trip (15 minutes) it didn't change from the radio display.

redliner, that is knee-slapping funny stuff! So VW's 2nd to last ranking in JD Power's dependability study must be wrong? Or are people just abusing their V-dubs too much?

I do find it strange that Audi is in the top third of their results though.

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2009043

VW may be second from the bottom on JD Power's list, but Jaguar #2 overall? Something's fishy with that list.

Something is definitely wrong with that study - they list the Solara as a "sporty car"!! haha

VW's definitely don't respond to abuse, like driving. Or remaining parked. Or rolling windows up and down. Or pressing on the brakes- you're just ASKING for a brake light failure!

LMAO - good one mike. :)

Jason, I'm not a big fan of the list, but don't knock Jag too much. They've improved drastically over the last 20 years.

Methinks that mikeolan has been slighted by a VW in the past and hasn't let go of the grudge...

I've owned three separate German cars for the past 7-8 years and have had not a single major issue. In spite of this, I know I'm more than likely the minority and still don't recommend any German make for people interested in keeping a car past warranty.

Ironically, I will note that the MOST problematic car I ever had was a mainstream model produced by a popular Japanese make...

Come on tryan, out with it... which car was the most problematic car you owned? You can name names here.

Why do I get the sense that if the most problematic car you owned happened to be an American car, you wouldn't hesitate to list the make and model??

This is normal, 12k miles is about the life expectancy of any Audi or VW. It is time for a new one!

jederino, your friend's Acura RL is 8 years old, this Audi A4 is 6 months old!

Stingray - I'm actually a fan of most of the current crop of American cars, I'm considering a GM Lambda platform as a possible next purchase.

I didn't name names so as to be impartial and not be labeled a > hater.

Hmmm...I guess I can't do double chevrons in the comments box.

I meant hater.

On my A3, the driver information display is changed by rocker switches on the wiper stalk. Not sure if it's different with MMI.

Outside of the problem, I can't wait for audi to get past this iteration of boosted servotronic. I drove a Q5 at their driving event and it felt better at low speeds (sort of like my now gone b5 a4).

Those gauges are clear and legible and simple, reminding me of circa-1990 Hondas. This is not a bad thing.

I would be surprised if something is actually wrong with the car. Electric steering systems aren't known for being consistent unfortunately. I think they are lame...they "whine" anyway, especially on Hondas. Contrary to what the jealous haters say, VW's are some of the most durable and reliable cars on the road. The A4 being Audi's best selling car....they aren't going to screw it up.

Someone said that VW's are reliable but can't take abuse. I find it to be the opposite actually. They are reliable, sure, and very durable, like all Euro cars. Shut a door on a Toyota anything and the entire car rattles. On even a $16k VW Rabbit/Golf the car is built for the autobahn/long haul. There is a reason they are always on the "best" lists of every publisher. You can find plenty of old Euro cars on the roads in pristine condition, but looking at the old Toyotas and Hondas on the road is scary. They look like they have been dead many times and keep being reanimated. My gut always says the cars that are desired and kept on the roads forever, the others are allowed to rust away and go to junkyards. Check the junkyards, you won't see a single Euro car there.

"Contrary to what the jealous haters say, VW's are some of the most durable and reliable cars on the road."

By "haters," I assume you mean "virtually every reliability study plus tons of anecdotal evidence?"

In my personal experience with a few VWs, while they were reliable in the sense that they always started and got me to where I needed to go, they had constant minor issues that required repair at virtually every regular service visit and then some. A short list from memory from a recent one includes problems with the air bags, air pump, catalytic converter, alarm, climate control, and coolant sensor in under 40k miles.

Ah, yes! Here are all the people posting endless variants of "All VWs/Audis are crap". Did you come to this site en masse from autoblog?

I won't waste my time arguing; I would, however, point out that for nearly all cars all these stupid little problems/failures come from components delivered by suppliers - not from things made directly by the manufacturer.

So the logic behind the bashing of VW/Ford/Honda/whoever is somewhat flawed.

The frequency of things breaking on enormously complicated modern cars is amazingly low; everyone just relax.

I have a slightly different version of the problem you describe. My 4 month old 2009 A4 has two independent steering issues:
1) steering wheel vibrates roughly when starting out in the morning backing our of my driveway and then turning the wheel to start my commute into the office. i have never experienced this problem with any other car including BMW or Mercedes and certainly not any Japanese cars. the dealership claims its just fine but this can't be part of the design intention, is it?

2) even worse when I'm driving anywhere from 20-60 MPH and taking turns the car makes terrible sounds like metal stretching. this is especially evident during cloverleaf or other decreasing radius curves. it sounds like the car is unsafe to drive and again, this is something i have never heard before in any other car. The dealership claims its from the brake calipers releasing (by design) as part of the anti-lock brake system but when i turn that feature off the sounds do not go away. So obviously it has nothing to do with the brake safety system.

Does anyone have any insight into what would cause this and also, am I the only owner experiencing these problems?