Audi problems by model
Owners have filed 8,284 complaints with NHTSA about the 13 Audi models with enough data to profile here, covering 47 model years from 1996 through 2025. The A4 draws the most at 3,229, 39.0% of the make's total.
Complaint volume tracks how many cars a make sold as much as how they held up, and NHTSA complaints are unverified owner reports rather than confirmed defects. Nothing on this page compares Audi against another manufacturer. Use it to find the model, then the model year, then read what owners of that year actually filed.
Every Audi model
| Model | Model years | Complaints | Most-reported year | Top system that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 15 1996–2020 | 3,229 | 2006 343 | Exterior lighting (46.9%) |
| Q5 | 10 2010–2025 | 1,550 | 2018 340 | Electrical system (22.4%) |
| A6 | 7 1998–2019 | 1,211 | 1999 276 | Electrical system (13.4%) |
| Q7 | 4 2007–2021 | 850 | 2017 410 | Exterior lighting (32.4%) |
| A3 | 3 2006–2016 | 395 | 2006 140 | Air bags (40.0%) |
| Q8 | 1 2019–2019 | 178 | 2019 178 | Electrical system (24.7%) |
| S4 | 1 2000–2000 | 171 | 2000 171 | Electrical system (29.2%) |
| TT | 1 2001–2001 | 154 | 2001 154 | Electrical system (47.4%) |
| E-Tron | 1 2019–2019 | 114 | 2019 114 | Electrical system (29.8%) |
| Q3 | 1 2020–2020 | 114 | 2020 114 | Electrical system (19.3%) |
| A3 Cabriolet | 1 2015–2015 | 109 | 2015 109 | Air bags (34.9%) |
| A4 Allroad | 1 2013–2013 | 107 | 2013 107 | Steering (43.9%) |
| A5 | 1 2020–2020 | 102 | 2020 102 | Electrical system (40.2%) |
Model years shown are those with at least 100 complaints on file, the gate every page on this site has to clear.
Reading the numbers
Across every Audi model year on the site, electrical system is the system named most often: 1,284 complaints, 19.8% of those filed under a named system. Individual model years diverge from that sharply, which is the reason to read the year rather than the badge.
The three most-reported Audi models (A4, Q5 and A6) account for 72.3% of the make's complaint volume. That is a concentrated picture: most of what gets reported about Audi here comes from three nameplates. Bear in mind that a nameplate selling in the millions will out-file a niche one whatever its record.
Of the 8,284 complaints, 334 describe a crash, 168 describe a fire and 6 report a death.
Most-reported Audi model years
The single heaviest model year of each Audi nameplate, 1996–2025. Heaviest is not worst. Read it alongside the model page.