What 42 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Audi S6

I was driving my Audi when I got transmission malfunction light on along with suspension fault and epc light and check engine light all together and the car wouldn’t go faster than 20 mph. Causing someone to rear end me and them fleeing . So not only was my car hit because of this but I had no driver to hold responsible for the damage

NHTSA ODI 11715436

Was just driving down the highway at normal speed and my car lost all power, every like came up on the dash and disabled my power steering causing me to almost crash. Took it to the shop mechanic tells me the turbos failed due to oil screen and it will cost me $8,000 Not sure why they failed I have amazing service records on my car. This needs to be a recall.

NHTSA ODI 11645758

the 2013 Audi 4.0T generation have a massive issue where the engine start leaking from the bottom of the crankcase where the block connects to it and to fix all these issues audi is asking a rebuild of the entire engine this issue is very common on the 2013 2014 2015 S6 S7 S8 with the 4.0T worldwide problem

NHTSA ODI 11619889

All 2013 Audi S have a transmission issues where it cause the transmission to stop shifting or skips gears or clutch slips and Audi has not done anything about them This repair is expensive and millions of people experience this problem and Audi still won’t fix it

NHTSA ODI 11530266

I noticed my car wouldn’t engage in reverse when shifted so I took it in for a transmission flush and it was performed and 2 days later I got a light on dash saying transmission overheating . And the car completely lost power while on freeway and went from 60 to 20 miles per hour and will not shift past first gear . So I took it back in to dealer paid diagnostic fee and then was told my transmission was bad and had to be replaced and was quoted a price of 15683$

NHTSA ODI 11494663

The contact owns a 2013 Audi S6. The contact stated upon test driving the vehicle after an oil change, the independent mechanic diagnosed that the oil strainer was clogged and the turbine wheel was desegregated. The oil strainer and gasket, the PCV head gasket, and two turbochargers were replaced. Additionally, three consecutive oil changes were completed in order to flush the metal fragments from the turbocharger oil strainer. The vehicle was repaired. The contact later received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V178000 (Engine And Engine Cooling) which he associated with the failure. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact submitted a claim for reimbursement as the vehicle had been repaired prior to the safety recall but the manufacturer denied the claim. The failure mileage was approximately 55,000.

NHTSA ODI 11478567

The Mfg defrayed some of the cost of replacing the two turbos but I was charged $5,607.06 on the repair on 9/24/20. The cause of the repair was do the mfg defect and they should pay 100% of the repair. The vehicle only had 42,040 miles at the time of the turbo failure.

NHTSA ODI 11458804

Recently learned that my car broke down on my spouse in an extremely unsafe location due to turbo failure(s) probably caused by the turbo oil inlet screen. She was on a busy street when the car shut off on her putting her in an extremely unsafe situation to move the car and wait for tow truck service. The car is still with the Audi dealership for repairs but has been confirmed that this is the likely incident and fixing it will likely prevent further issues. This car has only been to Audi certified technicians at dealerships for the entire time I've owned the car and I was never notified that this is a common occurrence in these models with the turbo. Numerous online forums are dedicated to discuss the common occurrence when researching this particular issue going back a few years, mostly astounding a recall hasn't been issued. There was no warning lamp for the issue to warn us of the impending failure.

NHTSA ODI 11447092

Vehicle has had all recommended maintenance performed on schedule at the Audi dealer. Driving down a highway at about 73k miles, engine stopped running with no warning. Electronic systems appeared as though engine was running, but it was dead. We were extremely fortunate that this happened on a rural highway and not the big city freeway system we had recently driven through. Cause of the problem was a total engine failure, later discovered to be failure of the turbocharging system. Checking online reveals that it likely due to a defect in an oil strainer. Sudden catastrophic engine failure at only 73K miles in a dealer-maintained vehicle is a safety hazard, to the occupants of the vehicle as well as to surrounding cars that have to navigate around a suddenly powerless car.

NHTSA ODI 11440052

Turbocharged failed while driving in afternoon traffic, leaving car stranded at heavy traffic stoplight until tow could be arranged. Failure occurred while idling at the stop light. Failed turbochargers are available for inspection. Failure was initially diagnosed / confirmed by dealership (Audi Chantilly) but due to extreme cost of repair quoted by dealer, car was transported to an independent garage for the repair. Failed turbocharger was inspected at dealership using micro-camera for diagnosis of the problem. There were no warnings, check engine lights, strange noises, loss of power, etc..; failure was total and instantaneous. Additional information: This is a totally stock vehicle, no modifications or tuning performed. It has never been raced or abused. The 'launch mode' built into the car's design (for fast acceleration from stop) has never been used on this vehicle. Put simply, this vehicle was 'babied'. For the initial life of the car, all maintenance was performed at dealership (Audi Chantilly) under service contact. Upon expiration of service contract (~65K miles) all service was performed by owner. Knowing of the turbocharger oil feed defect present in this model Audi's design, owner increased oil change service frequency to (unsuccessfully) try preventing turbocharger failure. All owner supplied oil change materials (oil and filters) were consistent with Audi factory requirements.

NHTSA ODI 11438691

While driving in city traffic, the car went into limp mode with some new lights on the dashboard. Before I could get to a safe place, it completely died and almost caused an accident. I was stuck until I had help pushing the car off the road. Upon reading the OBDII computer codes and then confirming with a professional mechanic, both turbos had blown. There was little warning, and no time to have a safe option once the warning light came on. Upon reading up on this platform, Audi has a defective oil screen that gets clogged and oil starves the turbos which makes them fail prematurely. Hopefully, they will fix this issue moving forward.

NHTSA ODI 11436461

Both turbos on my 2013 Audi S6 spontaneously blew after a month of ownership at 105,000 miles

NHTSA ODI 11433733

WITH ONLY 53,000 MILES ON MY 2013 AUDI S6 BOTH TURBO CHARGES FAILED AND AUDI IS NOW CHARGING ME $9,000 TO REPLACE BOTH TURBO CHARGES WHICH ARE SUPPOSED TO LAST 100,000 TO 125,000 MILES. THIS ISSUE OCCURED WHILE ON THE ROAD IDLING AT A LIGHT AND CAUSED THE CAR NOT TO BE ABLE TO START AND TO SHAKE THE VEHICLE VIOLENTLY.

NHTSA ODI 11407450

WHILE DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY VEHICLE LOST POWER. UPON EXITING THE HIGHWAY, I NOTICED A ROUGH IDLE. NEXT MORNING VEHICLE FAILED TO START NORMALLY (PUSH TO START) ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. NEEDED TO PRESS THE GAS PEDAL SIGNIFICANTLY. BROUGHT TO INDEPENDENT AUTO REPAIR SHOP FOR DIAGNOSTICS. WAS TOLD OIL SEPARATOR HAD FAILED AND TURBOS HAD BOTH FAILED. REPAIRED AT MY (SIGNIFICANT) EXPENSE. VEHICLE IS COMPLETELY STOCK. NO ENGINE MODIFICATIONS. 93 OCTANE GAS. ALL MAINTENANCE AS PER MANUAL.

NHTSA ODI 11406897

TOOK IN FOR 70K SERVICE BECAUSE OF LOSS OF POWER AND WAS NOTIFIED TURBOS WERE BAD, HAD BOTH TURBOS REPLACED ALONG WITH LINES.

NHTSA ODI 11406637

HAVING JUST EXITED THE INTERSTATE AND STOPPED AT THE END OF THE EXIT RAMP, MY 2013 AUDI S6 STARTED TO STALL AS I WAS TURNING ONTO A SECONDARY ROAD. I MANAGED TO PULL THE CAR OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BEFORE I LOST ALL FORWARD POWER, AVOIDING TRAFFIC IN MOTION IN PROXIMITY TO MY VEHICLE. THE CAR WOULD NOT RESTART AFTER A CHECK TO INSURE THINGS SUCH AS A PROPER AMOUNT OF FUEL WAS IN THE GAS TANK. AFTER REPEATED ATTEMPTS AT STARTING THE CAR FAILED, I HAD THE S6 FLAT BEDDED TO THE NEAREST AUDI DEALER FOR REPAIR. I SPOKE TO THE DEALERSHIP SEVERAL DAYS AFTER THE INCIDENT AND THEY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS TWO FAILED TURBOCHARGERS. THE FAILURE WAS ATTRIBUTED TO THE TURBOCHARGER OIL SCREEN CLOGGING PROBLEM. I WAS TOLD THE REPLACEMENT (PARTS + LABOR) WOULD BE IN THE $12,000+ RANGE. I AUTHORIZED THE OUT OF WARRANTY REPAIR AS THE CAR WAS IN EXCELLENT AND WELL MAINTAINED CONDITION AND I WAS NOT READY TO SCRAP IT. THE DEALER SEVERAL DAYS LATER INFORMED ME THAT AUDI CORPORATE HAD REVIEWED THE FAILURE AND WAS WILLING TO ABSORB 75% OF THE ESTIMATED REPAIR BILL AS THE S6 HAD JUST COME OUT OF WARRANTY AND HAD BEEN PROPERLY DEALER MAINTAINED. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER I WAS ABLE TO PICK UP THE CAR WITH A PAYMENT DUE FOR REPAIRS (AFTER AUDI 75% COVERAGE) OF $2674.26 WITH THE NEW TURBOS INSTALLED AND THE S6 WAS NOW RUNNING PROPERLY AGAIN. I NOW HESITATE TO USE THE CAR FOR ANY LONG TRIPS ON THE HIGHWAY DUE TO CONCERN I MAY HAVE A RECURRENCE OF THIS TURBO FAILURE EVEN THOUGH THE CAR IS BEING DEALER SERVICED PROPERLY AT THE SUGGESTED INTERVALS. FURTHER, I BELIEVE THIS INHERENT PROBLEM HAS DIMINISHED THE RESALE OR TRADE-IN VALUE OF THIS 2013 AUDI S6. I WAS FORCED TO RENT A CAR FOR SEVERAL DAYS TO RETURN HOME AFTER THIS FAILURE WHICH IN TOTAL COST WAS $500+.

NHTSA ODI 11406197

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE STALLED ON CRAIG AND CLAYTON STREET HAD TO GET IT TOWED WAS TOLD WAS LACK OF OIL TO TURBOS AND TURBOS BLEW

NHTSA ODI 11406222

AFTER DRIVING THE VEHICLE UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS, I ARRIVED AT MY DESTINATION AND WITHOUT ANY WARNING OR DASH LIGHTS THE VEHICLE SHUT OFF ROUGHLY. SINCE IT SOUNDED WEIRD, I TRIED STARTING THE VEHICLE BACK UP AGAIN. THE ENGINE WOULD CRANK BUT WOULDN'T START. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED BY A VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED ONE OF THE TWO TURBOCHARGERS HAD FAILED. THE PASSENGER SIDE TURBINE WHEEL WAS BROKEN AND THE DRIVER SIDE TURBO WAS SHOWING SIGNS OF THE TURBINE WHEEL CATCHING THE HOUSING. BOTH TURBOS WERE REPLACED ALONG WITH THE TURBO OIL SCREEN.

NHTSA ODI 11406229

ENGINE SHUT DOWN WHILE ON FREEWAY AT 60MPH SPEED DUE TO TURBO FAILURE. 60,000 MILES ON ENGINE. ISSUE CAUSED BY OIL PICKUP SCREEN BEING CLOGGED AND STARVED THE TURBOS FROM OIL, THUS RESULTED IN FAILURE AND ENGINE SHUT DOWN.

NHTSA ODI 11404665

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A GRACO CHILD SAFETY SEAT, MODEL NUMBER: 2013866, MODEL TYPE: TURBO BOOSTER, MANUFACTURED DATE: SEPTEMBER 5, 2019. THE CHILD SAFETY SEAT WAS BEING UTILIZED IN A 2013 AUDI S6. THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO SECURE CHILD IN THE SAFETY SEAT, BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS A HOOK DEFECT UNDERNEATH THE SAFETY SEAT NOT ALLOWING IT TO BE SECURED INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO SECURE THE SAFETY SEAT. THE CHILD WAS NOT INSIDE THE SAFETY SEAT AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. ## VIN FAILED ## GRACO CHILD SAFETY SEAT ##*DT*JB*DT

NHTSA ODI 11399177

THE TURBOS ON THE S6 FAILED AFTER ONLY 50,000 MILES. THIS MAKES THE CAR HAVE DANGEROUSLY LOW POWER AND NEARLY UNDRIVEABLE. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY COMMON OCCURRENCE FOR AUDI 4.0TT MODELS, AND AUDI EVEN ISSUED A TSB REGARDING THE ISSUE TO IT'S SERVICE CENTERS. BUT TO DATE, AUDI HAS NOT RECTIFIED THE ISSUE OR MADE CONTACT WITH THOSE WHO ARE OUT OF THE WARRANTY PERIOD. BLOWN TURBOS CAUSE ALL SORTS OF ISSUES, INCLUDING POTENTIAL ENGINE DAMAGE, CYLINDER MISFIRES, FUEL PRESSURE ISSUES, AND OVER-HEATING. ON MY PARTICULAR VEHICLE, THE TURBOS FAILED SIMPLY BY STARTING THE CAR AFTER SITTING IN THE GARAGE FOR A FEW DAYS, UNDRIVEN. COST TO REPLACE TURBOS AND MAKE REPAIRS IS $10,000 TO $15,000.

NHTSA ODI 11386620

MY TURBOCHARGERS FAILED, WHICH I UNDERSTAND IS NOT UNCOMMON WITH THIS ENGINE. IT WAS DRIVING NORMALLY. I STOPPED FOR AN ERRAND AND IT RESTARTED WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY. I THEN DROVE SOME ADDITIONAL DISTANCE AND IT STALLED IN TRAFFIC. IT STALLED REPEATEDLY WHENEVER THE RPM'S FELL BELOW 2000. I ENDED UP RUNNING A RED LIGHT, TO AVOID SLOWING DOWN, KNOWING IT WOULD STALL. FORTUNATELY, I WAS IN AN UNCROWDED AREA. IT LOOKS LIKE AUDI HAS ALREADY ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN REGARDING THE PROPENSITY FOR TURBO FAILURE. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE THAN THAT HAPPEN.

NHTSA ODI 11363283

SUSPENSION CONTROL ARM BUSHINGS WORN OUT CAUSING SQUEAKING AND UNEXPECTED VEHICLE PATH DURING ACCELERATION IN ALL SITUATIONS. OIL FILTER UNDER PVC VALVE CLOGGED AND STARVED TURBOCHARGER OF OIL CAUSING FAILURE.

NHTSA ODI 11354107

THE TURBOS ON THE CAR BOTH BROKE AT THE INTERMEDIATE SHAFT BEFORE 75,000 MILES. THE CAR WAS CRUISING ON THE FREEWAY, AND THE MOMENT I SLOWED DOWN TO TAKE THE EXIT, THE CAR LOST POWER AND SHUT DOWN. I HAD TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE EXIT WITH LITTLE TO NO ROOM TO PULL OVER.

NHTSA ODI 11342360

TURBOS ARE DAMAGED AND THE DEALER SAID IT WILL COST $13,000.00 TO FIX I HAD WARRANTEE TILL 120K OR 7 YEARS AND IT HAPPENED AT 7 YEARS ONE MONTH AND 116,000 MILES. AUDI OF AMERICA WHERE NOT WILLING TO HELP EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS GRINDING THAT OCCURED TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE WARRANTEE TIME. IT HAPPENED WHEN IN MOTION DRIVING FROM STARTUP.

NHTSA ODI 11322714