The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2021 Q7, Q8, Q5 Sportback, SQ5 Sportback, RS6 Avant, RS7, RS Q8, 2020-2021 Audi S6 sedan, Q5, A8, S8, A7, A6 Allroad, A5 Cabriolet, A4 sedan, A4 Allroad, SQ5, S7, A6 sedan, S5 coupe, S4 sedan, S5 Cabriolet, A5 coupe, 2019-2021 RS5 coupe, A5 Sportback, S5 Sportback, RS5 Sportback vehicles. The lock nut on the trailing arm of the rear axle may break due to stress corrosion.
The risk
A broken lock nut may misalign the rear axle, causing a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Dealers will replace the lock nuts and, if necessary, the associated bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 4, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 42L1.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
Components: SUSPENSION:REAR:AXLE:NON-POWERED AXLE ASSEMBLY
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 A4 | 2020 | 128 | 3 |
| Audi A4 | 2021 | 11 | 4 |
| Audi A5 | 2019 | 12 | 3 |
| Audi A5 | 2020 | 60 | 4 |
| Audi A5 | 2021 | 8 | 5 |
| Audi A6 | 2020 | 26 | 9 |
| Audi A6 | 2021 | 18 | 11 |
| Audi A7 | 2020 | 2 | 8 |
| Audi A7 | 2021 | 6 | 11 |
| Audi A8 | 2020 | 3 | 5 |
| Audi A8 | 2021 | 5 | 10 |
| Audi Q5 | 2020 | 25 | 6 |
| Audi Q5 | 2021 | 74 | 8 |
| Audi Q7 | 2021 | 75 | 9 |
| Audi Q8 | 2021 | 30 | 7 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2019 | 3 | 5 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2020 | 0 | 2 |
| Audi RS 5 | 2021 | 2 | 5 |
| Audi RS 6 Avant | 2021 | 4 | 12 |
| Audi RS 7 | 2021 | 4 | 12 |
| Audi RS Q8 | 2021 | 2 | 7 |
| Audi S4 | 2020 | 17 | 3 |
| Audi S4 | 2021 | 2 | 4 |
| Audi S5 | 2019 | 6 | 4 |
| Audi S5 | 2020 | 25 | 4 |
| Audi S5 | 2021 | 1 | 5 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2020 | 0 | 1 |
| Audi S5 Cabriolet | 2021 | 0 | 3 |
| Audi S6 | 2020 | 2 | 6 |
| Audi S6 | 2021 | 0 | 10 |
Other suspension recalls in 2021
48 of the 988 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2021 concerned the suspension; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 21V00F000 22 Dec 2021 | General Motors, LLC |
| 21V990000 17 Dec 2021 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC |
| 21V935000 1 Dec 2021 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 21V912000 21 Nov 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
| 21V911000 19 Nov 2021 | Porsche Cars North America, Inc. |
| 21V886000 16 Nov 2021 | Jayco, Inc. |
| 21V870000 10 Nov 2021 | Ford Motor Company |
| 21V835000 25 Oct 2021 | Tesla, Inc. |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2021