2009 Audi A4 and S5: Steering Vibration Wrap Up

It must be good to work at Edmunds. I can't imagine the Audi dealer in Cary, NC giving anyone that kind of troubleshooting attention.

So the sunroofs are properly gapped but the cars shimmy, seems like a fair trade.

Nice to see they came up with a fix. Still, the initial problem is unacceptable.

Seems like a logical fix to me - using softer bushings so you don't notice the vibrations. But it also seems to me if this was a GM, Ford, or Chrylser there would be many comments about their quality and how the problem is not really beig fixed, that this is just a band-aid solution and another example of domestic auto maker incompetence.

funny ckk2

I agree with bkochuk. There's no way a private owner would ever have such service and attention to detail as Edmunds has seen. That's why it's such a sham to have anything in the long-term fleet that has been provided by the manufacturer.

At least it's an indication that the dealer is capable of getting it's act together. I've been to some that were seemingly run by apes.

Those new control arm are probably from "rough road package" Germans install for Russia and places like that. I wonder how long it will take for the US to fall into the same camp.

bad control arm bushings... typical Audi flaw

@wk
"Those new control arm are probably from "rough road package" Germans install for Russia and places like that. I wonder how long it will take for the US to fall into the same camp."

In the Midwest, we're already there!

agree with bkochuk too.

I'm sure audi of santa monica has gotten wind of this blog and ramped up your service accordingly.

I would never get such service.

Control arm problems with an Audi? Shocking! First-generation A4s go through control arms (among other things) like nobody's business.

I'd just like to mention, Audi has some of the most attractive stock wheels on the market today. The 2009 A4 parked next to the S5 has Stock rims, and they actually look like upgraded rims.

I owned a C5 A6 a while back. Big mistake. You'd think the control arms were made from candycane peppermint they would fail so regularly.

I have the worst problem with my AUDI A5 Sline 3.0D 240ch.

Since the first day, 3 months ago, I have been able to drive my car only 3 weeks ! The car is having big vibrations while driving between 120 and 130 km/h.

After 3 months of waiting they told me I will for sure received the car the first week of July, then the week after and last time I was promise I will have it this tuesday 14th July and guess what... no car... still in Germany.

And now I just heard there are 6 Audi A5 in the same garage where I bought mine which has the same vibration problems... I don't how many in belgium and Europe but it must be a lot !

So people don't buy an Audi A5 right now. Wait @ least 6 months till they solve the problem...

I'm sure they will solved it in the next weeks/months but if you want to buy a Audi A5, you should definitively wait a few months otherwise you will probably encounter the same problem as me.

Sweet quality. It's hard to be an Audi homer when I constantly hear this kind of stuff. Have to love a $60k car with improperly balanced wheels from the factory. And I love the half *ss fix with the new control arms.

I have an 2009 A4 sedan with the vibration problem at around 65 mph. Balancing has helped but not cured. It's going in next week for some kind of special balancing, but it looks like they're expecting the need to replace the lower control arms since they've got a loaner reserved for me without my even asking. I'll report back.

My 2009 A4 has the shimmy around 62 mph. First the dealer said that one of the wheels was out of balance and re-balanced it. I test drove it and the shimmy was still there, then they told me that the car just needs to be driven a bit more, so I drove the car for couple more weeks and shimmy is still there. I took the car in for the second time and the service advisor said I might have defective control arms, but he called me back couple hours later and said that they just had to road force balanced it and claimed that they took the car to 80 mph and detected no shimmies. I drove the car home but noticed that the vibration is still there, but not as bad as before. I then drove the car for couple more days, then the shimmy came back. I brought the car back right to the dealership for the third time and this time the service advisor told me that they couldn't get the Audi Engineering to authorize the control arm replacement previously, but he'll try again this time. Finally, got the call from service advisor the same afternoon and told me that they got the go ahead from Engineering to order new control arms for me. He told me to expect at least 3 weeks to get the parts but don't be surprised if it'll take up to 2 months. Btw, he said he only had to replace the control arms on one other 09 A4 the entire year since 09 A4 came out. Stay tuned.

I am about to purcase one of the left over "09 A4's on the dealers lot due the pretty good incentives (as they try and get rid of inventory). When I test dorve the car (has 78 miles on the odometer) I noticed a vibration at around 65 mph (as shared here).

I sure don't want to go through all the dealer visits etc., to get this corrected. I may look elsewhere and eliminate Audi as a candidate for the family. Thanks for all the info.