The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2006-2013 Audi A3, 2007-2009 A4 Cabriolet and S4 Cabriolet, 2008 RS4 Cabriolet, 2009-2012 Q5, and 2010-2012 Audi A5 Cabriolet and S5 Cabriolet vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.
The risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator with an alternative inflator, free of charge. The recall began February 23, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69R6. Note: This recall partially supersedes recall 16V-078.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Audi A3 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 |
| Audi A4 Cabriolet | 2007, 2008, 2009 |
| Audi A5 Cabriolet | 2010, 2011, 2012 |
| Audi Q5 | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 |
| Audi RS 4 | 2008 |
| Audi S4 Cabriolet | 2009 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2010, 2011, 2012 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audi A3 | 2006 | 123 | 4 |
| Audi A3 | 2007 | 52 | 3 |
| Audi A3 | 2008 | 43 | 3 |
| Audi A3 | 2009 | 47 | 5 |
| Audi A3 | 2010 | 50 | 5 |
| Audi A3 | 2011 | 43 | 4 |
| Audi A3 | 2012 | 43 | 4 |
| Audi A3 | 2013 | 20 | 3 |
| Audi A4 Cabriolet | 2007 | 23 | 3 |
| Audi A4 Cabriolet | 2008 | 16 | 3 |
| Audi A4 Cabriolet | 2009 | 22 | 4 |
| Audi A5 Cabriolet | 2010 | 16 | 2 |
| Audi A5 Cabriolet | 2011 | 14 | 2 |
| Audi A5 Cabriolet | 2012 | 14 | 2 |
| Audi Q5 | 2009 | 31 | 6 |
| Audi Q5 | 2010 | 100 | 4 |
| Audi Q5 | 2011 | 143 | 5 |
| Audi Q5 | 2012 | 168 | 6 |
| Audi RS 4 | 2008 | 3 | 3 |
| Audi S4 Cabriolet | 2009 | 0 | 2 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2010 | 8 | 2 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2011 | 5 | 2 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2012 | 0 | 2 |
Other air bags recalls in 2018
85 of the 912 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2018 concerned the air bags; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 18V912000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V905000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V887000 13 Dec 2018 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 18V883000 12 Dec 2018 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 18V868000 6 Dec 2018 | General Motors LLC |
| 18V838000 27 Nov 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V836000 27 Nov 2018 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 18V806000 14 Nov 2018 | Ford Motor Company |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2018