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RecallScanner Severity Profile

Audi S3

Watch1 recall campaign, verify by VIN.
0
RecallScore
Critical
1
Fire risk
0
Crash risk
1
Injuries
0
Deaths
0
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All Recalls

1 campaign
1 recall 1 critical💥 1 crash risk
Model year
Airbag
Mar 22, 2017
3332 days ago

Your passenger airbag can deploy with dangerous force and injure someone sitting on the seat edge.

Affected: AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION · 2017
CRASH RISK
NHTSA
Summary

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2017 Audi A3 and S3 Sedan vehicles. In a lower-speed crash situation, the air bag control unit software may deploy the passenger frontal air bag improperly if the front seat passenger is sitting on the edge of the seat or is laying in the seat with the seat reclined. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequence

If the air bag deploys with more force than intended, it can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy

Audi will notify owners, and dealers will update the air bag control module software, free of charge. The recall began April 20, 2017. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69Q3.

›Owner complaints (2)
07/10/20242024 S3
VISIBILITY/WIPER

The contact owns a 2023 Audi S3. The contact stated while driving during rainy conditions, the wiper blades were making a loud sound and almost scratching the windshield, making visibility difficult and increasing the risk of a crash. A local dealer was contacted; however, the contact was advised that the failure was a part of the normal operation of the wiper blades. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or local dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

02/16/20242024 S3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,BACK OVER PREVENTION

Random Errors for front and rear sensors, ABS light for brake booster error and SOS failure.

Complaints are self-reported to NHTSA by owners and are not verified by the agency.

›
Full analysis: how to read the Audi S3 recall history
Year range, common components, complaint patterns, and how to use this page.

Understanding the Audi S3 recall history

The Audi S3 currently has 1 recall campaign and 2 owner complaints indexed from the NHTSA public database. Each recall represents a formal campaign to fix a defect at no cost to the current owner. Owner complaints are self-reported incidents that haven't (yet) resulted in a recall but can indicate emerging patterns worth watching.

The most frequent recall category for the S3 in our dataset is air bag (1). These clusters matter when you're shopping for a used S3: recalls in these systems tend to be the ones most likely to have been skipped by previous owners, because they aren't always visible during a routine test drive or pre-purchase inspection.

The tracked recalls span model years 2017. Not every model year carries every recall. Each campaign is scoped to a specific year range and often a specific build window, which is why a VIN lookup is the only way to know whether a particular S3 is actually affected by any of these campaigns.

How to use this page

The safest path for an owner is to run your VIN through the checker above. A VIN query hits NHTSA's live API and tells you whether your specific S3 has an open, unresolved recall. If you're researching a used S3before buying, use the recall list below to understand the model's full history, then check the seller's VIN to see whether prior owners actually completed the free repairs. Many don't, and unresolved recalls can linger for years.

Figures are generated live from the RecallScanner dataset, which is sourced from NHTSA's public recall and complaint APIs and refreshed daily. RecallScanner is independent and not affiliated with Audi or any U.S. government agency.

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