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Audi A4

Every model year 2016–2025: recalls, owner complaints, NHTSA crash ratings and EPA efficiency side by side, each value traced to the file it came from.

10 Model years 2016–2025
19 Recalls NHTSA campaigns, all years
352 Complaints owner reports, all years
A Newest grade 2025 Safety Signal
2016 Best on record cleanest filed year
Audi A4 — photograph via Wikimedia Commons
Audi A4 · Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Every Audi A4 model year

Source: NHTSA · EPA · one row per year
YearPowertrainsSafetyRecallsComplaintsCrashBest efficiency
2025HybridA01★★★★★29 mpg
2024HybridA06★★★★★30 mpg
2023HybridA111★★★★★28 mpg
2022HybridB37★★★★★29 mpg
2021HybridC413★★★★★28 mpg
2020GasB3158★★★★★30 mpg
2019GasA113★★★★★30 mpg
2018GasA145★★★★★31 mpg
2017GasC687★★★★★31 mpg
2016GasA011★★★★★27 mpg

Which model year the record favours

Source: recalls and complaints per year on the road
Years to avoid, with the reasons →Best on the record 2016

On the filed record so far, the 2016 is the cleanest A4 year we hold, and the 2021 the one to check hardest.

Both figures are divided by the number of years the car has been on sale, because otherwise the oldest year on the page loses every time simply for having been around longer. The current model year and any year under three on the road are left out: their records are not finished.

YearSafety SignalRecalls /yrComplaints /yr
2016A01
2018A0.16
2019A0.12
2023A0.34
2020B0.526
2017C0.710
2022B0.82
2021C0.83

What owners filed about the Audi A4, by system

Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsEvery system, every year →

The systems the federal record is deep on for this nameplate: the complaints per model year, the mileage owners reported them at, and every recall, investigation and manufacturer bulletin filed under the heading — each one linked, none a failure rate.

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What changed year to year

Source: computed from the filed record
  • 2025: best combined mpg 30 → 29
  • 2024: best combined mpg 28 → 30
  • 2023: best combined mpg 29 → 28
  • 2022: best combined mpg 28 → 29
  • 2021: added hybrid; dropped gas; best combined mpg 30 → 28
  • 2019: best combined mpg 31 → 30
  • 2018: 5 → 3 EPA configurations
  • 2017: best combined mpg 27 → 31; 3 → 5 EPA configurations

Common questions about the Audi A4

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Which Audi A4 year is the best used buy?

On the recall record, the 2016 A4 comes out top of the years before the current one: Safety Signal grade A (100/100), 0 recalls and 11 owner complaints on file. That ranks paperwork, not condition — a specific car's history and service record still decide it.

What Audi A4 years should I avoid?

No A4 model year carries a D or F Safety Signal or a standing advisory. The ranking page orders every year on recalls and complaints per year on the road, and says why.

How many recalls does the Audi A4 have?

Across model years 2016–2025, NHTSA has posted 19 recall campaigns for the Audi A4. They are counted per model year in the table above, because a campaign almost never covers the whole run — it covers a build range.