Other speed control problem on the 1998 Audi A6
1 crash 1 of the 15 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other speed control problem gets reported
Owners of the 1998 Audi A6 report other speed control problem at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 110,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 54,500 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57,000 miles | 75,250 miles | 95,500 miles | 105,250 miles | 111,500 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 1 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 7 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 1998 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 1998 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Car was purchased used (1998 - 90k miles-one owner-very well maintained) first week of december 2003. Incident happened approx. First week of january 2004. Audi has been contacted with no reply received to date. Incident occurred while traveling on highway approx. 50 MPH, weather conditions were clear and very cold (approx. 25f). As auto was cresting incline, it began to gather speed. Accelerator was backed off but car continued to accelerate at an alarming pace. Brakes were applied several times and as I was preparing to cut ignition car stopped accelerating. This happened is a matter of seconds, but was definitely a panic situation. Car has not repeated this condition. I was referred to your site by audiworld forum members, where I turned for any helpful information and read of similar occurrences. *nm
I have an audi a6 2.8 1998 during the winter 2003 I was driving during the morning the car was on for 20 minutes and temp was 14 degrees f. Speed was 65 MPH as I approached my exit. I let off gas an car accelerated pushed brake down. Car came to stop but idle was at 1800 RPM and car wanted to lurch forward. Made it to work 1 mile away brought to mechanic and he found no problem but he did clean the throttle body. No problems , for 3 weeks. Event two: going home 6:30pm temp 15 f speed approx 60 MPH going up hill. Car started pulling faster. Decided to pump gas pedal figuring stuck cable just went faster. Decided to see if would stop at specific speed approached 95 MPH realized car would keep going. Stepped on break, pulled to side finally came to stop. Turned car off , waited 30 secs started car. Rpm out of control. Turned off car and waited 5 minutes. Turned car on, no problems. Went back on my way happened 3 more times that winter. Temp is always between 14-17 f car is always warmed up. No problem during spring, summer, or fall year 2004. Moved closer to work, car ride never longer than 10 minutes. One time car on hill doing 65…
While driving at any speed vehicle accelerated on its own. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, but dealer was unable to resolve the problem. *ak the dealer suggested the following issues: the floor mat was on the gas pedal, wires were damaged, and a part that was previously replaced per recall failed. *sc
Also reported on the 1998 Audi A6
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
ABS module or sensor failure
Other fuel system problem
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 15 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other speed control problem happen on the 1998 Audi A6?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 75,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other speed control problem on the 1998 Audi A6?
15 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed