Brett Parsons

Hello all, I looked at a 2004 Audi A4 1.8 Turbo with 68k miles today and I really liked it aside from the fact that I noticed the gears on the dash were blinking (PRND). When I asked the owner about it, he said he knew about this issue, and has dealt with it in the past. He said something about how he brought it in to a shop specializing in Audis and they told him they reset or updated some computer, im assuming he was referring to the TCU.

I test drove the car and it drove just fine. I drove it in reverse, drive, S ( which I'm assuming is sport mode?) , I even switched it over to the computer controlled "manual" and got the car up to 4th gear before having to slow down (residential area). Everything felt fine!

I've been doing some research in to this issue and I'm seeing differing conclusions with this symptom I explained. Again, the gear signs are flashing, not fully illuminated in red like I've seen in some videos. Given that this gentlemen who owns the car has had this issue in the past and a $100 trip to get plugged in to a computer at this shop fixed it. Can anyone give me some type of educated guess as to if the TCU is ACTUALLY beginning to fail, or is there an easier answer here?

Thanks and best,
Brett