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EnginePart report

2011 Audi A8 Engine Problems

Complaints
10about this part
Share
67%of 15 total for the year
Median mileage
76,000miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 10 complaints about the engine of the 2011 Audi A8, 67% of the 15 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 76,000 miles.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“While driving on a city street my car suddenly stopped (4 lane street -- 2 going, to coming). There was very heavy traffic and I could not move the car as it would not come back on, nor could I shift the car into neutral to push it out of the way. As a result, the car remained in the middle of the road, in heavy traffic, for about 2 hours until the tow truck arrived. The car was towed to the local dealer where it the dealter took 4 days to diagnose it with having coolant leaked into the engine wire harness and into the PCM where it shorted the pins. …”

NHTSA complaint #10910462, filed 2016-09, 76,000 miles

“I was accelerating onto the freeway on ramp when the engine cut off. I managed to pull over to the shoulder but the check engine light and the epc light came on. I had to be towed into the dealer. There was a coolant valve leak. The coolant migrated through a harness to the ECM and to multiple connectors thoughout the engine harness . The worst part of this situation is the extremely dangerous position I could have been in. What if the car stopped while in the fast lane, or express lanes of the freeway? This is not the first complaint of this nature on this model of Audi. …”

NHTSA complaint #10846101, filed 2016-03, 82,000 miles

“While driving on a city street my car suddenly stopped (4 lane street -- 2 going, to coming). There was very heavy traffic and I could not move the car as it would not come back on, nor could I shift the car into neutral to push it out of the way. As a result, the car remained in the middle of the road, in heavy traffic, for about three hours until the tow truck arrived. The car was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed as having coolant leaked into the engine wire harness and into the PCM where it shorted the pins. As a result the car was completely inoperable. …”

NHTSA complaint #10870187, filed 2016-05, 85,000 miles

“ECU starting to malfunction as a coolant leak valve is leaking into it. There is a recall for these models but not for my specific car but I do believe my car is affected because my car has a coolant leak that I personally can’t find and my car was just worked on by Audi Indianapolis and they did not see any coolant leaks either. …”

NHTSA complaint #11558252, filed 2023-12

“Audi A8 has been using large amount of coolant. However, its not running out the car. Yet im steady buying coolant because its saying its low. And when I go to put the coolant in my car it is low. So where is the coolant going? In trying to figure out where my coolant was going or why was it calling for so much I did some Audi research on my vehicle and saw that it had a prior recall. I purchased this car over a year ago and the dealership didnt alert me of any recalls. I dont think my recall was fixed. Also theres been a lound noise on my suspension in the front of my vehicle on the right. …”

NHTSA complaint #11447239, filed 2022-01

Related service bulletins

Engine: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2021120%
2019429%
2017225%
2016545%
20151755%
20141267%
20133672%
2012436%
20111067%
2008113%

Other parts of the 2011 Audi A8

Electrical system
4 complaints
Other or unknown
3 complaints
Suspension
3 complaints
Fuel system
1 complaints
Body and structure
1 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
1 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2011 Audi A8

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology