AUDI A6
Reliability, NHTSA Complaints & Recall History

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

Safety Recall

We are reporting serious safety-related faults involving my leased 2026 Audi A6, VIN [XXX] , and a same-model 2026 Audi A6 loaner provided by Audi Central Houston. Core safety issues: 1. My vehicle previously displayed a Park/rollaway warning indicating Park could not be engaged. 2. My vehicle has had repeated starting-system faults, including: “Engine start system: malfunction! Please contact Service.” 3. Our vehicle has been the subject of multiple repair visits at Audi Central Houston and is currently at the dealer, available for inspection. 4. After the third repair order, Audi Central Houston represented the vehicle was ready for pickup. Before we accepted return, the same starting-system malfunction reportedly recurred during Audi’s own test-drive/verification process. Audi added that April 30 recurrence to the still-open third repair order. 5. While our A6 remained at the dealer, Audi Central Houston provided a same-model 2026 Audi A6 loaner. That loaner displayed: “P not possible. Risk of rolling away! Please contact Service.” A photo is available. 6. Because the loaner warning stated Park was not possible and there was a risk of rolling away, we did not leave it parked unattended and returned it directly to Audi Central Houston. The apparent failed/malfunctioning systems involve Park engagement, electronic shift-by-wire, transmission control, parking interlock, starting-system control, electrical modules, software, gateway communication, or related safety-critical controls. Safety is at risk because a vehicle that cannot reliably engage Park may roll away and injure occupants, pedestrians, bystanders, or service personnel. Audi Central Houston has inspected/serviced vehicle. Audi of America/VW Group has been notified under Audi Case No. XXX. We request NHTSA investigate whether 2026 Audi A6 vehicles have a safety defect involving Park engagement, rollaway risk, starting-system malfunction, transmission/electronic controls, software, INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While driving yesterday, the MMI reset and included the dashboard. The dash completely froze for a couple minutes(including the speedometer), and then the whole system blacked out and restarted. There has been a check engine light on since I got the car in December. Havent been able to get a service appointment with a loaner. Also since new, adaptive cruise control works intermittently with a warning that a door is open(when all doors are completely closed).

I own a new 2026 Audi A6 Prestige that I just purchased and have 320 miles on so far. The vehicle is experiencing a driver assistance system malfunction. The instrument cluster repeatedly displays “Driver assistance: limited,” along with warnings that Lane Assist and High Beam Assist are unavailable. The warning messages and audible chimes occur repeatedly while driving, approximately every few seconds or minutes. The alerts and beeping repeatedly interrupt driving and create a distraction that takes the driver’s attention away from the road. This is a big safety issue. The vehicle has been taken to an authorized Audi dealership. The dealer confirmed the issue but advised that the fix is a software update that has not yet been released by the manufacturer. Because the update is not yet available, the vehicle continues to operate with driver assistance safety systems disabled and with repeated warning alerts occurring during normal driving. The concern is that the repeated alerts and chimes during driving create a driver distraction and affect safe operation of the vehicle. The manufacturer has indicated a software update may be released in the future, but there is currently no repair available. This is a safety concern as it constantly takes me away from driving and looking at the constant alerts and beeps. These includes items such as: - alerts repeat while driving - driver-assistance safety systems unavailable - warning tones and pop-ups repeatedly distract the driver I do not blame the dealership as they have done everything they can do, but how can Audi not make this a top priority to be fixed. I am told that this is impacting almost all new Audi cars including the A5 and A6s. Thanks for your help. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

February 27, at approximately 1:20am my vehicle caught fire while parked in the driveway after sitting for about 9 hours. The fire originated near the gas tank. The fire department was called, there is a fire report being conducted. Audi was notified.

Audi is unable to correct the recall repairs despite several attempts by us to schedule. Advised parts are no longer available and were not available during 2 previous attempts to repair.

Was driving on the highway, all of a sudden showed a sign of transmission malfunction and started decelerating which I could safely navigate the vehicle to the side of the road, got the vehicle towed to repair shop which they reported a transmission code P17F900- parking lock mechanical malfunction with codes P074700 and p077700 I am just out of warranty for this vehicle as I crossed 48000 miles. They have issued bulletins regarding this problem but no recall or extended warranty on that part this I deem as dangerous

The Audi software/MMI system has issues showing the 360 cameras in addition to the rear facing camera. Every few starts when I back out of a parking space/garage, the side mirror cameras show a black or camera with a cancel sign on the screen. The issue will not stop until the car is parked/off. for at least an hour. This issue has been happing since I purchased the car back in early 2021 and Audi did not "lemon-out" the car. I believe this is just as dangerous as the recent backup camera recall. I have asked Freehold, NJ Audi and Cherry Hill, NJ Audi to review, but they said if it doesn't happen when there, they can't action. I believe this is the same software issue the backup camera has and requires a similar recall as drivers rely on the side cameras for parking and there is a risk we c an hit another object or person.

Audi A6s have had massive issues with the door actuators. There are times when you go open the passenger side doors (both front and rear) and the doors will not open as there is either an electrical, software, or device specific issue. It requires 2-3 pulls of the door latch to open the front and rear passenger doors. The issues keep appearing a month or two after the dealership supposedly fixes the issue. I have had this fixed/reviewed 4+ times between Freehold, NJ and Cherry Hill, NJ Audi dealerships. This has been going on since I purchased the car in early 2021. I have asked them to push this up to Audi corporate and have received no response. Audi will also not offer a lemon buyout for these door issues. I believe this needs to be heavily reviewed as if you search the Audi forum websites online, this is a constant problem for the 2018-2023 A6s.

* Passenger front Seat wiring harness corrosion and failure due to water ingress due to leaking web plate in the longitudinal member on passenger side. Water ingress in passenger compartment caused electrical failure and black mold to grow in the interior carpet and seat rails as well as in an electrical well in the floor board. *Black mold and mildew can cause long term health risks to those persons exposed especially if one didn’t know the mold was present. *The vehicle has been repaired at VW dealership in Missoula, MT. Service tech couldn’t figure where the water was coming from. Finally did research to find an Audi TSB 2059792/5 with the cause and remedy. *Recently Purchased this car and later found the seat not working. The VW dealership/service found the electrical corrosion and mold. Mold was not visible until the seat was moved. Mold was extensive throughout the passenger side under the seat - spread and growing under the carpet, insulation and in the electrical well in the floor board. Pictures attached - tech write up also available upon request. No warning lights were present. ** Audi put out a TSB (Tech Service Bulletin) in 2023 and repaired the cars under warranty - assume this was a wide spread issue for a TSB to be issued and for Audi to manufacture parts to fix the problem. Mold can have serious long term consequences to anyone exposed. I believe Audi should have done a recall for safety reasons. I just bought the car on 1/10/26 used with under 40,000 miles. Carfax or other research did not turn up a recall. I have sent a letter to Audi of America detailing the problem, referencing the TSB and asking them to cover the cost of repair as they had covered the cost on vehicles under warranty. This car is just out of the 5 year warranty but has only 40,000 miles on it. No recall was issued that I can find. Any help you render would be appreciated. Mold exposure is serious if not immediate.

The contact owns a 2020 Audi A6. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, water leaked into the vehicle and accumulated in the rear passenger’s side area of the vehicle. The contact initially believed that the failure might be related to inclement weather; however, the issue persisted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where a video diagnostic inspection was performed. The dealer diagnosed that water had entered in through the longitudinal member and passenger’s side footwell, causing damages to the gateway control module which required replacement. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact expressed concerns that water intrusion could create a hazardous condition and potentially lead to additional vehicle failures. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 67,000.

I was traveling at ~65mph on the freeway when the sunroof spontaneously exploded. It was louder than a gunshot—I nearly lost control of the vehicle. The explosion occurred in the outward direction. There was no evidence of impact of preexisting damage. Internet research suggests this is not an uncommon occurrence.

Water intrusion in passenger floor board which causes problem with control module and reduces acceleration

Audi issued a recall for our vehicle’s fuel level sender which reports the amount of fuel in the tank to our fuel gauge display in late 2022 or early 2023. The reason for the recall stems from a safety issue in which the car incorrectly can display that there is more fuel in the tank than what is actually there. Our local dealership’s service center, Princeton Audi initially completed this recall repair in Late February or Early March of 2023 while the car had roughly 25-26,000 miles on it. Less than a fews days later, the recall repair failed and our car shutdown on us leaving my wife stranded while I was having surgery unable to help her. I escalated and reported this issue to Audi of America immediately to create awareness as this was dangerous. The Princeton Audi Service Center attempted to repair the recall a second time and assured us the repair was successful. The same issue has unfortunately resurfaced less than a year later, in February of 2024 while the vehicle has only 33,398 miles on it. After a third attempt to repair this recall, the Princeton Audi Service advisor confirmed the fuel level sensor was again faulty. Regretfully we are still seeing inaccurate reporting of the fuel levels in our car creating a perpetually dangerous situation for myself, my family, and others on the road. Our car can shutdown on a major highway if it runs out of gas because the fuel gauge display keeps showing we might have half a tank or more due to the inaccurate reporting from the fuel level sender. After contacting Audi of America again about this failed recall, they seem to be dodging responsibility for the failed remedy and providing no recourse to ensure the safety of myself, my family, or those we out at risk if we keep driving this vehicle. The Princeton Audi Service center keeps stating they have made the repair, but the recall remedy keeps failing for us. Please help us as they refuse to replace the vehicle or buy it back after the failed recall.

Experienced alternator / generator failure while driving. Various vehicle systems starting shutting down and warning symbols were displayed. Vehicle stopped running on the highway and needed to be towed to the local Audi dealership. The sequence / progression of failure occurred over several miles with complete vehicle shutdown and stop in the middle of a busy highway intersection. Dealer confirmed it was an alternator / generator failure and it needed to be replaced. Seems to be a common occurrence with the A6 model. Dealer informed me it could be a couple of weeks to a couple of months for a repair as this item is on back order with Audi. Audi should issue an immediate recall or warning of this failure.

The Audi presense system works intermittently. While under warranty I told the dealer the system wasn't working and they claimed that I must have hit something and would have to pay approximately $4,000 to realign the system. I refused to pay to realign/adjust the system since it was under warranty. I contacted the Audi customer advocate department who said they rely on the dealer to identify the issue and fix it, and since they said it may be related to an impact they could not do anything. I continued to drive the car and in the midst of a summer downpour sometime in 2022 the system corrected itself. I once again told the dealer what happened however they said there was nothing for them to diagnose. The system worked as should until October 2022 when it started to show a message saying system malfunction. I followed the car manual recommendation and washed all of the sensors however that did not solve the issue. I once again spoke with the dealer who said often times there's a moisture buildup in the location of the windshield mounted sensors. There's no way to get to the sensor and I asked them to clean it under warranty. The dealership once again refused to address the issue. I once again called the customer advocate department at Audi USA however they refused because I have just exceeded the 50,000 mile warranty. I noted that the issue has been ongoing and Audi never solved the issue. I purchased the auto because of the safety features it came equipped with. I'm asking them to resolve the original issue as identified while under warranty.

The rear view camera on the vehicle stops working intermittently. I have provided photographs of this to the Dealer. Their scanning of fault codes noted that the "right environmental camera faulty B127D04: Rear environmental camera faulty." The ticket also notes they found multiple sporadic faults for B127F04. Although they have admitted to finding faults with the camera, they refuse to fix this because they could not duplicate the exact behavior at the time it was in their shop. By definition, this is an intermittent issue. Audi had other model years recalled for this same issue. I believe this is a serious safety threat as one can't see things behind you and a person or vehicle could be hit. Audi is aware of this issue and is refusing to repair it under warranty.

The car literally stopped working while driving. All electrical components shut down. Unable to put the car into neutral to push it to safety. Had a hard time getting the vehicle towed because the parking break engaged somehow and we were unable to disengage it. Hazard lights did not work at all! Extremely unsafe situation to be in, especially if on a highway or expressway with vehicles traveling nearby at high speeds.

Electrical system malfunction. Car will not run

Receiving multiple electrical warnings including low battery charge, vehicle starting system, parking brake malfunction, stabilization control (ESC/ABS), parking aid malfunction, and all-wheel drive malfunction. Issue appears to be due to a common failing 48v battery alternator.

I purchased the car new around June 2020 and it currently has just under 26,000 miles on it. Earlier this week while driving the car, an electrical malfunction warning appeared on the dashboard display. The first dealership I contacted did not deem it serious and set me up for an appointment over a month away. The second dealership I called had me tow the car in right away as the thought was my alternator had failed. A call back later that afternoon confirmed the alternator did in fact fail. That dealer also indicated that the wait time for a replacement was several months away. This seems to indicate much larger problems with this part as alternators are fairly common and very necessary components.