Total Complaints
8 filings
AUDI A5 · model year
8 NHTSA complaints, and 5 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2021AUDIA5 carries 8 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. For crash performance, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gave this cohort an overall Not Rated/5 rating, with Not Rated/5 front crash, Not Rated/5 side crash, and Not Rated/5 rollover scores derived from standardized barrier and dynamic tests.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2021 A5 is unknown or other with 2 filings, followed by electrical system (1) and forward collision avoidance: automatic emergency braking (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 5 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 9 investigation files overlapping the 2021 A5. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
8 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 2 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL | 1 |
| AIR BAGS | 1 |
| SEATS | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN | 1 |
SUSPENSION:REAR:AXLE:NON-POWERED AXLE ASSEMBLY
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,
TIRES
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Audi A5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe, RS5 Sportback, S5 Sportback, 2020-2021 A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A6 Allroad, A6 Sedan, A7, A8, Q5, S4 Sedan, S5 Coupe, S5 Cabriolet, S6 Sedan, S7, S8, SQ5, 2021 Q5 Sportback, Q7,
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TAIL LIGHTS
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2021 Audi RS5 Sportback, 2020-2021 Audi A5 Sportback, and S5 Sportback vehicles. The wiring harness for the rear lights could be missing the anti-abrasion protection in the area of the spare wheel well.
BACK OVER PREVENTION:DISPLAY FUNCTION
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Audi A8, RS7, RS6 Avant, RS5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe, Q8, Q7, Q5 Sportback, S4 Sedan, Q5, A7, A6, A6 Allroad, A5 Sportback, A5 Coupe, A5 Cabrioleet, A4 Sedan, A4 Allroad, E-Tron Sportback Quattro, SQ7, S5 Cabriolet, E-Tron Quattro
SEAT BELTS:REAR/OTHER:RETRACTOR
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Volkswagen ID4, Audi A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A5 Sportback, A6 Allroad, A6 Sedan, A7, A8, E-Tron Quattro, E-Tron Sportback Quattro, Q3, Q5, Q5 Sportback, Q7, Q8, RS5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe, RS6 Avant, RS7, RS
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? TRANSMISSION - GEAR SHIFT How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? THE CAR STOPPED SHIFTING GEARS AND WE WHEN THE CAR INSTRUCTED US TO PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY IT WASN'T A SAFE PLACE TO STOP THE CAR. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? SO FAR AUDI NOR THE DEALERSHIP HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RECTIFY THE PROBLEM. ONLY THAT THEY SEE PIECES OF METAL IN THE TRANSMISSION LINE. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? THE DEALERSHIP AND MANUFACTURER HAVE INSPECTED THE VEHICLE. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? THE TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION WARNING CAME ON TWICE AND TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE NEAREST REPAIR FACILITY WARNING CAME ON ONCE.
The passenger side air bag indicator constantly turns off and on in my Audi no matter if there is or is not a passenger in the seat. I took my vehicle to an authorized Audi service center to have the issue checked and they determined the issue to be a failed pods mat based on the error code returned. Upon researching, Iâve discovered that this issue was a safety recall issue with Audi A5 Sportback vehicles in 2020. My vehicle was manufactured during the time of this particular recall and the issue appears to be indicative of this recall. The recall was safety recall code: 74E3.
The passenger side air bag indicator constantly turns off and on in my Audi no matter if there is or is not a passenger in the seat. I took my vehicle to an authorized Audi service center to have the issue checked and they determined the issue to be a failed pods mat based on the error code returned. Upon researching, Iâve discovered that this issue was a safety recall issue with Audi A5 Sportback vehicles in 2020. My vehicle was manufactured during the time of this particular recall and the issue appears to be indicative of this recall. The recall was safety recall code: 74E3.
I was driving down the interstate when my Warning Transmission Failure light came on. Then another message said you can drive with limited use if vehicle. Seconds later the Warning Transmission Failure light came on again and said drive to your nearest repair shop. Moments later the Warning came on and said safely stop your vehicle. I pulled over on the side of the road and pit my car in park. After doing so the Warning Transmission Failure stayed on and the car no longer would shift into any gears. The car never overheated or stopped running. I had to get the car towed. My car has been in the shop for 3.5 weeks and no one can tell me what's wrong with it.
The contact owns a 2021 Audi A5. The contact stated while the driving 35 MPH, the instrument panel was blinking on and off several times and then went dark. A local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the instrument panel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired; however, the dealer was waiting for the parts to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The approximate failure mileage was 56,795.
Mileage: 56,795
There was no damage caused. The audi pre sense technology (automatic braking) has come close to causing several accidents by braking extremely hard when there has been no reason to brake.
My vehicle was repaired pursuant to rearview/backup camera recall (22V742000). Unfortunately, the issue has again arisen and the backup camera alternates between a white screen, a black screen and a frozen screen.
The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated that while driving at 5 MPH, after shifting from reverse to drive the vehicle lost all power. The contact stated that various warning lights were illuminated during the failure. The vehicle was unable to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the failure was diagnosed as the gateway under the rear seat was wet. The gateway and battery needed replacement. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure by the dealer. The contact stated that the water damage was caused by the vehicle however, the contact stated that she did not cause the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 3,500.
Mileage: 3,500
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.