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What 20 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Audi A3
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
3 of 20 complaints match · Fuel system · clear filters
Oct 8, 2014Fuel system
PURCHASED USED 2013 AUDI A3 TDI 3 MONTHS AGO. ONLY USE DIESEL FUEL. DRIVING ONTO I80 WEST WHEN I HEARD/FELT CAR HICCUP, LOST POWER. COASTED TO STOP SIGN, TRIED MULTIPLE TIME BUT WOULD NOT START. TOWED TO DEALER WHO INFORMED ME THAT FUEL PUMP (HPFP) HAD COME APART SPEWING METAL SHARDS INTO SYSTEM AND THAT ENTIRE SYSTEM HAD TO BE REPLACED. RESEARCH SHOWING DOCUMENTED FAILURES IN VW TDI (SAME ENGINE) HPFP IN 2010, 2011 AND 2012. IS SYSTEM SAFE? *TR
NHTSA ODI 10643331
May 3, 2013Fuel system
WHILE AT A COMPLETE STOP AT A RED LIGHT, I FELT WHAT I CAN ONLY DESCRIBE AS A "CLUNK" AND THE BATTERY LIGHT ON MY DASHBOARD ILLUMINATED. THE CAR HAD STALLED, AND I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR ENTIRELY IN ORDER TO CONTINUE ON MY WAY. *TR
NHTSA ODI 10510472
Feb 25, 2013Fuel System, DieselTransmission & drivetrainEngineFuel system
WHILE DRIVING IN SEATTLE'S NOTORIOUS STOP AND GO TRAFFIC, MY A3 TDI, HAS STALLED. IT ACTS AS IF I HAVE "DROPPED" THE CLUTCH, WHICH IS IMPOSSIBLE BEING AN AUTOMATIC!!. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME ON TWO OCCASIONS. THERE IS LESS THAN 5K MILES ON MY NEW CAR. BOTH TIME IT HAS GONE IMMEDIATELY INTO UNIVERSITY AUDI. FIRST TIME, NO ANSWERS. STILL WAITING ON DIAGNOSTICS FROM TODAY'S EPISODES. *TR
NHTSA ODI 10500063
Working with the data? Download all 20 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 20, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2013 Audi A3 verdict →