Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2000 Audi S4 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Like many other people who own an Audi S4 with 50,000 miles, I am having brake light issues. Only mine are much more severe that what I have read thus far. I took my car in for it's 60000, and had the mechanic check the brake light. Leading up to the repair, I had been *losing brake fluid* almost monthly. This should never happen, for any reason. But, my mechanic took three hours and discovered that the battery was leaking sulfuric acid onto my brake line, my power steering line, and my clutch line. He stated, "only a mechanical moron would house the metal and steal cables underneath sulfuric acid." consequently, I cannot drive my car any more and the repairs inlcude the taking out of the entire engine to get to the source, which May/May not be able to be fixed. …
Posted comment earlier about battery acid leaking onto clutch line and brake line causing severe damage to both lines... Spoke with Audi and they stated that the engine does not have to be removed for the brake line to be fixed... The most likely culprit of this leak is due an overcharged battery due to a jump or manual re-charge (note: according to Audi, never replace the S4 battery with anything other than with an Audi battery... Of course they would say this, but he was pretty convincing... 2nd note: I do have an Audi battery in my S4, and I'm still having the issue... Audi May help pay for this b/c of that fact, but they haven't committed to it until further investigation). The total, according to over-the-phone diagnosing, was going to be b/n 1 and 2 thousand bucks at the dealer.
Tl contact owns a 2000 Audi S4. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the LED indicators dimmed on the instrument panel. The contact managed to drive to his residence. The dealer informed him to purchase a new control panel. The vehicle was not repaired at the time, but the failure persisted for the past four years. Recently, the contact noticed that the LED indicators were too dim to assist with the warning indicators notifying him of a failure with the vehicle. The manufacturer and dealer were not notified. The current mileage was 90,000 and failure mileage was 45,000. Updated 03-06-09 updated 03/10/09.
The car was purchased on May of 2007. The cars instrument panel was working fine when purchased. All the cars critical information is displayed on the panel. A month after purchased I noticed that the panel intermittently fails. The car was running low on coolant but since I could not read the deploy I had no idea until the car overheated and the water pump blew. The repair alone cost me $800.00. Mechanic stated that the instrument cluster should have displayed that the coolant was low. So I also believe this would be dangerous because all warning information is displayed on the cluster; brakes, temperature and oil.
The 2000-2002 Audi s4s have a very large problem with the informational gauge cluster screen failing. This is a safety issue as well an extremely common problem. It fails to alert you of things wrong with the vehicle like brake pad wear, taillight malfunctions, engine issues, vehicle speed, temperate (issue when its gets freezing). This is mostly due to relying on this screen for so many years. Manual checks can be done obviously but it fails without warning and that can be to late in many cases.
Dashboard/instrument cluster information screen has more then half of it pixels missing. I can not read any information form the car, for example( check engine, brake pads are low, temp warnings, door ajar. Push in clutch to start, etc. It started as just a couple of pixels missing a couple of years ago and just keeps getting worse to the point there will be nothing just a beep and I won't know why the car is beeping at me.
I drive a 2000 Audi S4. Today the instrument cluster stopped working while I was driving. Due to this I was unable to know how fast I was going or read any of the vehicle safety warnings, which my vehicle's diagnostic system displays on the instrument cluster. While speaking with the Audi dealership I was informed that this is not an uncommon problem. I believe this to be an unsafe vehicle flaw that must be corrected.
ABS sensor failure on 2000 Audi S4 quattro. Light came on at 114,213. Leading to the brake light to flash along side of it and beep every other minute when your driving down the road. Haven't corrected the problem because I've heard it cost 1,700. Some people don't have that kind of money. Many other people are experiencing the same problem on vw's as well as the Audi in years from 1996-2001.
Tl contact owns a 2000 Audi S4. The center pixel display on the instrument panel does not properly display all of its features. The display began malfunctioning at approximately 30,000 miles and has been occurring ever since. The vehicle was out of warranty and the contact never notified the dealer of the failure. The current mileage was 76,000 and failure mileage was 46,000.
Tl contact owns a 2000 Audi S4. The contact stated that the digital instrumental panel display has lines across it, which prevent him from reading the screen. This is a persistent failure. When he took the vehicle to the dealer to be repaired, he was informed that he needed to purchase a new cluster for the instrumental panel. The current and failure mileages were 65,000.
Electrical complaints in other S4 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2000 Audi S4?
NHTSA has 49 complaints about the electrical system of the 2000 Audi S4, 34% of the model year's 143 complaints. The component named most often is instrument cluster/panel (29 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2000 Audi S4 electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2000 Audi S4, though it has 1 recall for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2000 Audi S4 electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 65,000 miles, and 3% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.