This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I am having the same issue with my 2015 Audi that so many others I read are having, my passenger seat air bag sensor keeps turning on and off when the seat is occupied. I'm now concerned after reading all these reports that I'm going to get hosed since Audi isn't doing the proper thing and fixing what's actually wrong with this car. Who's responsible when the passenger in my car dies because the air bag system was off due to a manufacturer's defect that was ignored?
Audi recall #69Z4, NHTSA recall #19V474 the car was under a previous recall for the same problem, which was 'fixed' by dealer sometime in 2019. Currently the car shows airbag is deactivated, the unbuckled seatbelt warning lights and sounds flashes even when the seat is unoccupied. Spoke the Audi of Ontario, ca on several occasions. They refuse to fix the vehicle. Service manager will not return phone calls. This is the second time this component had to be replaced, and the dealer is refusing to repair it. The passenger airbag off light stays on, when the seat is unoccupied, this happens as soon as the vehicle is started. The unfastened seatbelt light, and airbag light remain on while driving. Unfastened seatbelt sounds continue for 2-3 minutes after the car is started, then goes away.
Pods failure. Passenger occupancy device. When not working, passenger airbag is turned off while passenger in seat. In my case the part was replaced at 10,208 miles and failed again at 13,924 miles. Audi replaced the sensor the first time after a lot of debate, but refuse the second time. There was a recall on the harness that plugs into the sensor, but not the sensor itself. Critical airbag safety system should not fail at this mileage. There are numerous failures highlighted in many Audi forums. This is a known problem for Audi, and the numerous owners experiencing this failure.
Shortly after having recall 69Z4 completed (harness and connector) completed started getting warnings the passenger airbag not working and when someone was not in the passenger seat getting a seatbelt warning. Also error on display about pre-sense error. Went to dealer and point out this started right after the recall and they said different issue and has impacted a lot of others. Now they say the pods (passenger occupancy detection system) needs to be replaced quoting me approximately $1200 to fix. Due to the fault the passenger side air bag will not operate. In addition to my dealer telling me it is a common problem, when looking at the forums it seems like a problem across many Audi models, not just the A3, S3.
The passenger side air bag warning light stays on at all times. If their is no passenger the seat belt warning signal goes off. The seat belt must be engaged even though there is no passenger present in order to get the signal to stop dinging.
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
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The contact owns a 2015 Audi A3. The contact stated that at start-up, the air bag warning light illuminated. The contact was concerned for her safety that the air bag could deploy inadvertently. The vehicle was taken to Audi Virginia beach (2865 Virginia beach blvd, Virginia beach, va 23452) where it was diagnosed that the passenger's seat sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired under NHTSA campaign number: 19V474000 (air bags) where the cable ties in the passenger's seat and pods harness were replaced. The contact stated that the seat sensor should have been replaced because the parts were all connected. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that the sensor was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 34,000.
In 2019, I was notified of a recall consisting of the pods(passenger occupant detection system) system stating that the wiring and connector needed to be changed. I took the vehicle in to the dealership to have the recall service repairs done. After completion of the recall repairs, I have now began to have issues with my airbag sensor which is part of the pods system. Around March 2020, I began having issues with my airbag turning on and off while a passenger is sitting in my passenger seat with the seatbelt on. I would have to instruct my passenger to disengage the seatbelt and re-engage it in order for the airbag to come back on and recognize that there is a person over the minimal weight requirement occupying the seat. This issue have continued to occur on and off throughout the year. On Nov. 6th, I was in an accident(rear-ended) with no major injuries. That accident was luckily not very severe and I am very fortunate that I didn't hit the car that was in front of me and needed my airbag to deploy and I wouldn't due to a faulty airbag sensor that was fine until the recall campaign in 2019. So on Friday, Nov 13th, I took my car in for diagnostic testing at the dealership and when the service department called, I was told that it was in fact my sensor inside my front passenger seat that is malfunctioning. This did not occur until the wiring and connector was changed in Dec 2019. I have contacted the corporate office of the auto maker and they are refusing to pay any part of the cost to have the sensor replaced and I am being quoted a repair price of $1200 and that's just for the part alone. This is a safety issue and I feel that since the company issued a recall campaign for the replacement of the wiring and connector, they should do the same for the airbag sensor before a fatal accident occurs to a passenger of the same type of vehicle with the same issue. There are currently several complaints about the exact same issue posted on this site and several others.
June 2018 paid out of pocket for passenger pods due to faulty sensor for passenger air bag. 10/2019 recall for wiring was done. October 29 2020, pods need replaced again! out of warranty! this is a huge safety concern and after viewing multiple other complaints of the same issue, a recall must be done! Audi needs to take responsibility and address their faulty issue which should he covered under recall. God forbid someone become seriously injured or lose their life due to Audi lack of response. I am now being told that I lust pay out of pocket once again to repair!
Car received pods recall fix coded 69Z4 in January 2020. The fix did not solve the annoying and life threatening malfunctionion that leads to Audi presense failure alert and deactivation of the passenger airbag system when a passenger is seated. It would also trigger the error when no passenger was seated, requiring to fasten the seatbelt to an empty seat to get rid of the seatbelt beeps. Car was taken in to Audi dealership October and after an inspection, the issue was found to be the sensor itself this time. The diagnosis report diligently ruled out any problem with the connector and wiring whose fault would mean a potential repair and the inspection would be at no cost to owner. However, like everyone else's complaints owner was presented with a 1,500 dollar quote for replacing the sensor + $250 fee for using their vagcom ("inspection"). the error code was B12251B (mat resistance too high). Audi's internal documents accessed through NHTSA report that "if fault, 'B12251B: Seat occupied recognition sensor mat resistance too high' is stored in the airbag control module, do not diagnose or replace any components for this fault before performing this repair. The 69Z4 topic is not the only cause of this fault. Any diagnosis related to this fault will not be covered under this campaign." Audi openly admits that the scope of the 69Z4 recall and the sensor issue are linked together by virtue of having similar behaviors for the car systems as well as fault codes. However Audi performs the cheaper bandaid out of pocket and expects the owner to pay for the faulty part which should have been part of the recall in the first place. This many complaints about the same behaviour and same part (that is traditionally not your usual wear&and&tear part like a battery) warrant an investigation of the malpractices of Audi in dealing with this recall and its customers.
While driving the car on a city street, the seat belt warning light came on, a warning came on indicating that the passenger airbag was disconnected, followed by an audible warning. There was an adult passenger in the passenger seat who was properly belted in. Recall "fix" 69Z4 has been applied to the vehicle.
With an something in the passenger seat a warning message says that because of a malfunction, the airbags are turned off. A few seconds to a minute or two later another message says the airbags are on. This sequence can appear many times in an hour of driving or not appear at all for several days. This appears to be the exact same issue as reported and recalled for certain 2018 Audi S5 and A5 vehicles along with some 2017-2018 A4S. I've noticed this happening when the car is in motion. I thought that I had the original airbag issue fixed when it was taken to be services for the recall of faulty wiring underneath the passenger seat, but Audi in cary North Carolina said that this is a separate issue and not covered under the former recal.
My Audi A3 continually has a presence system fault when the car starts which indicates that the system is not functioning properly. As a result it turns off the passenger airbag even with the seat occupied which is a safety hazard. Audi has indicated that this is due to a faulty sensor. I have brought this issue to Audi.S attention for over four years with no resolution. This issue has continued despite a prior recall service on another connector with the pods system however immediately after that fix the isssue continued and Audi indicates it actually likes with a faulty sensor. This issue occurs randomly when the vehicle is started or while already driving, the error makes a loud noise and put an alert on the main dashboard which is unnerving and distracting while driving. I previously provided Audi pictures of the alert messages multiple times over several years with no resolution.
The contact owns a 2015 Audi A3. The contact stated that the passenger's side air bag warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was a false warning from the air bag system that deactivated the passenger's side air bag. The vehicle was taken to rusnak/pasadena Audi (267 w Colorado blvd, pasadena, ca 91105, (626) 714-3159). The contact had not yet authorized the repairs for the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but had not yet responded to the vehicle owner. The failure mileage was 88,000.
Sept 2019 recall for airbag connector and wiring. Repaired in Oct. Safety bag warning light came on again for the same seat, they say now it is sensor not the recall item. There are 75 other complaints about this. Seems like recall should have replaced sensor as well. Now it costs $1300 to fix sensor which should have been done at the time or at least offered to replace when tehey had the recall seat torn apart to save $1K in labor.
Passenger airbag does not turn on. Warning light is displayed and error safety message is on screen when care is turned on and operating. Additionally seatbelt alarm continues to chime while seatbelt is used.
My 2015 Audi A3 has only 11,200 miles on it. The passenger bag safety light goes on and off intermittently, and has done for some time. The problem occurs mostly when someone is sitting in the seat, but occasionally it will occur when the passenger seat is unoccupied. The yellow dash light comes on near the passenger and the airbag light on the instrument panel illuminates. The information panel on the dash will simultaneously report "safety system: System fault! see owner's manual" and "passenger airbag off" and "Audi pre sense: System fault!". this fault occurred approximately 8-10 times during a 1,000 mile trip my wife and I took during memorial day weekend in 2020. I had my wife try adjusting the angle of the seat, raising the front portion higher to try to apply more body weight to the seat. My thinking was that it was a sensor issue. The system is designed to shut off if a passenger does not weigh enough for the airbag to safely deploy. The system fault acts like it detects some weight there, but not enough to engage the airbag safely. My best guess is that the weight sensor is not registering the weight correctly or maintaining a consistent reading that would keep the airbag engaged over time. The picture attached to this report were taken on May 25, 2020 during our trip, but this happens on a regular basis. After getting online to google for answers, I can see that many others are describing the same problem I am experiencing. I see that the 2015 model may have been left out of a recall to fix this issue and I would like to add my input to all others that this is a significant safety issue and should be reconsidered for model year 2015 Audi A3 sedans (and possibly other Audi models).
For the last 4 days I have had someone get into my passenger seat and randomly while I'm driving and the car is in motion the airbag signal states ' passenger airbag off' it flashes to notify me it has turned of. I completed research and found their is a recall on Audi vehicles for this complaint but only 2016 and a few other years. I believe this recall needs to be extended to 2015 as well.
The contact owns a 2015 Audi A3. The contact stated that the passenger's side air bag failed to operate as designed. The contact took the vehicle to Audi westmont (276 E ogden ave, westmont, il 60559) where the vehicle was diagnosed with an unknown air bag failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 139,000.
Audi passenger occupant system consistently faults effectively disabling the passenger airbag. This issue occurs mostly while a passenger is in the seat, but from time to time will occur when no passenger is present. It occurs while stationary and in motion during normal day to day driving. I have had the pods recall performed on the vehicle back in September 2019, which has made the issue worse.
Audi recall campaign 69Z4 was supposed to fix the passenger occupant detection system malfunction by replacing a connector and harness. This has not fixed the issues. Many Audi customers saying the seat belt alarm and warning light still come on. Mine will not shut off until I plug the seat belt back in, but then my airbags turn on and off randomly even if there is an occupant in the passenger seat. This was the cheap fix. Audi acknowledges the issue with the actual pods sensor but makes customers pay $1,200 for the safety fix. This should have been part of the recall. Audi blames mine on the damage to the rear of the car, but the photos pre-date the damage to the rear bumper.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Topeka, KS, USA