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Audi · NHTSA safety record

2011 Audi A5 Cabriolet

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 14 safety complaints about the 2011 Audi A5 Cabriolet with the US government. Of those, no death is recorded. 2 recall campaigns are open against it, covering the air bags.

The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 12 complaints, 86% of the total.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers August 2016 to September 2018 · How this is counted

What is on file

14 complaints on file

14

Complaints

0

Describe a crash

0

Mention fire

0

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
AIR BAGS 12 · 86%
ENGINE 1 · 7%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 · 7%
0 8 15

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 14.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2016 at 6.

8 6 4 2
16 17 18

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2016 to 2018.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA has not crash tested the 2011 Audi A5 Cabriolet. Its New Car Assessment Program tests a selection of each year's vehicles and does not reach motorcycles, heavy trucks, motorhomes or most low-volume models, so an absence here says nothing about how the vehicle would perform. It is not a low score.

What owners have reported about this vehicle is below, and it is a different question: a crash test measures what happens to the people inside in a controlled impact, while a complaint records what broke during ordinary use.

Recall campaigns

2 on file

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

18V082000 · January 30, 2018

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.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 162,782 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

16V078000 · February 10, 2016

The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2010-2014 Golf, 2007-2010 Passat sedans and wagon, 2012-2014 Passat sedan and Eos, 2009-2014 CC, 2009-2012 Audi Q5, 2010-2012 S5 Cabriolet and 2010-2012 Audi A5 Cabriolet vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
The risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflators, free of charge. Volkswagen issued an interim notification to owners on April 12, 2016, and will send a second notification when parts are available. Volkswagen will notify owners again once parts are available. Volkswagen owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Audi owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 659,493 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

67,000 miles

THE SOFT TOPS FOR THIS VEHICLE ARE EXTREMELY DEFECTIVE.I AQUIRED MY VEHICLE AT 65000 MILES AND THE TOP WOULD ACT FUNNY EVERY NOW AND THEN BUT IT WOULD SNAP OUT OF IT AND WORK FINE.THE BACK WINDOW COMPLETELY DETACHED FROM THE TOP AND HAS NOT OPERATED SINCE.GOING BACK AND FORTH WITH AUDI I WAS TOLD THEY CANNOT FIX THIS BUT INSTEAD TO GET A NEW TOP.AFTER I PAID FOR THEM TO LOOK AT IT AND THE TECHNICIAN DIDNT HAVE A CLUE.THAT WINDOW AND TOP HAS BEEN A COMMON ISSUE IT SEEMS LIKE AUDI DOESNT WANT TO OWN UP TO.I DRIVE THE FREEWAY TO AND FROM WORK EVERYDAY.AT HIGH SPEEDS I FEAR THAT THING WILL COME OUT AND HURT SOMEONE ON THE FREEWAY ONE DAY SOON.I HAVE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS SINCE LAST YEAR AND

NHTSA complaint 11131789, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

59,000 miles

MY 2011 AUDI A5 2.0T HAS EXPERIENCED LOW COMPRESSION ON PISTON NUMBER 1 WHICH IS A SIGN OF ENGINE FAILURE AND REQUIRES THE ENGINE TO BE REDONE. SINCE THEN I HAVE CHECKED WITH AUDI MECHANICS AND ONLINE REVIEWS AND IT SEEMS LIKE MY MODEL OF AUDI HAS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE ENGINE. THE FACT THAT MANY A5'S HAVE EXPERIENCED ENGINE FAILURES BEGS THE QUESTION OF WHY AUDI HAS NOT RECALLED THIS VEHICLE AND WHY THE ENGINES WERE ALLOWED TO BE RELEASED THAT ARE OBVIOUSLY SUB OPTIMAL AND WEAK!

NHTSA complaint 11112964. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
TAKATA RECALL. AUDI OF AMERICA INC. KEEPS SENDING OUT RECALL NOTICES AND THE DEALER KEEPS CLAIMING THERE ARE NO REPLACEMENT AIRBAGS AVAILABLE. ENOUGH ALREADY, EITHER MAKE REPLACEMENTS AVAILABLE OR STOP SENDING NOTICES.

NHTSA complaint 11078916. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
TAKATA RECALL. I HAVE CALL FOR THE PAST YEAR TO HAVE THIS RECALL FIXED AND HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND AN AUDI DEALERSHIP THAT HAS THE PARTS. THEY KEEP TELLING ME THEY WILL CALL WHEN THE PARTS ARE IN. AS I MENTIONED IT HAS BEEN A YEAR, AND I HAVE CHECKED IN WITH THEM SEVERAL TIMES.

NHTSA complaint 11078688. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
TAKATA RECALL RECEIVED 1ST LETTER APR 2016. NO ACTION. COMPLAINT FILED WITH SAFERCAR.GOV 11/13/2016. RECEIVED TEMP FIX LETTER 8/14/2017. LOCAL DEALER SAYS ONLY TEMP BUT THERE ARE NO PARTS ANYWAY. CONTACTED CORPORATE AUDI SEP 2017. THEY SAY LOCAL DEALER HAS PARTS. LOCAL DEALER SAYS THEY HAVE NO PARTS. RECEIVED CARD FOR RECALL 11/13/2017. LOCAL DEALER SAYS THEY HAVE NO PARTS! ??? RUN-AROUND ???

NHTSA complaint 11045939. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 AUDI A5 CABRIOLET. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V078000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PARTS DO TO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT RECEIVED THE RECALL NOTICE OVER A YEAR AGO. THE DEALER (AUDI FAIRFIELD, 435 COMMERCE DR, FAIRFIELD, CT 06825 (203) 951-6570) WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT EACH DEALER RECEIVED A FEW REPLACMENT PARTS EVERY MONTH. THE CONTACT RECEIVED A POSTCARD FROM TK HOLDINGS, ALERTING HIM THAT THEY FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS

NHTSA complaint 11042630, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Audi A5 Cabriolet

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2012 14 2 —
2010 16 2 —

Other 2011 Audi models

Q5 143 A3 43 A4 Avant 32 S4 26 Q7 23 A6 21 A8 15 S5 8

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Audi on this site — 155 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst