2013 Audi S6
The Verdict
The 2013 Audi S6 has 42 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are engine (34 complaints) and transmission (4 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 90/100, it earns a "Smooth Ride" rating. If you're shopping for a Audi S6, consider the 2003 model year which has 97% fewer complaints.
Safe Bet
The 2003 has 97% fewer complaints
View the 2003 Audi S6 dashboard →
Klunk Score: Smooth Ride
This vehicle year has significantly fewer complaints than average. A reliable choice.
How is this calculated?
The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.
Recalls 1
Active safety recalls from NHTSA for this vehicle year.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Audi S6 and S7 vehicles equipped with 4.0L engines. Due to manufacturing tolerance issues, a fuel line may ...
Risk
A fuel leak, in the presence of an ignition source, may result in a fire.
Remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel line, free of charge. The safety recall is planned to begin in late October 2013. Owners may contact Audi of America at 1-800-822-2...
Reported Apr 10, 2026
Get notified if a recall hits this car.
We email you when NHTSA issues a new recall on the 2013 Audi S6. No spam, no marketing.
Under the Hood
Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.
By Category
By Severity
Worst Problems
Complaints
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
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 $8,000 Not sure why they failed I have amazing service records on my car. This needs to be a recall.
the 2013 Audi 4.0T generation have a massive issue where the engine start leaking from the bottom of the crankcase where the block connects to it and to fix all these issues audi is asking a rebuild of the entire engine this issue is very common on the 2013 2014 2015 S6 S7 S8 with the 4.0T worldwide problem
All 2013 Audi S have a transmission issues where it cause the transmission to stop shifting or skips gears or clutch slips and Audi has not done anything about them This repair is expensive and millions of people experience this problem and Audi still won’t fix it
I noticed my car wouldn’t engage in reverse when shifted so I took it in for a transmission flush and it was performed and 2 days later I got a light on dash saying transmission overheating . And the car completely lost power while on freeway and went from 60 to 20 miles per hour and will not shift past first gear . So I took it back in to dealer paid diagnostic fee and then was told my transmission was bad and had to be replaced and was quoted a price of 15683$
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Both turbos on my 2013 Audi S6 spontaneously blew after a month of ownership at 105,000 miles
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.
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.
TOOK IN FOR 70K SERVICE BECAUSE OF LOSS OF POWER AND WAS NOTIFIED TURBOS WERE BAD, HAD BOTH TURBOS REPLACED ALONG WITH LINES.
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+.
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
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.
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.
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
42 total