Total Complaints
10 filings
AUDI S5 · model year
10 NHTSA complaints, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2012AUDIS5 carries 10 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 2012 S5 is air bags with 8 filings, followed by power train (1) and electrical system (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 1 active recall campaign, 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 2012 S5. 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
10 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | 8 |
| POWER TRAIN | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM:FUEL RAIL
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Audi S4, S5, Q7, 2012 Audi A6, Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid, and 2012-2013 Audi A7 vehicles. In the affected vehicles the fuel injection system may experience a fuel leak.
I am affected by recall 69R6 for this vehicle. I moved to Germany in 2012 and took my car with me. Audi in Germany refused to honor the recall claiming that it is not applicable to Germany due to different "climate conditions". What can I do (other than shipping the car back to the US) ? Thanks
THE CAR'S BACKUP CAMERA FEED HAS A LOT OF ISSUES FOR MANY OWNERS, MYSELF INCLUDED. THERE IS A PROBABLY 10% CHANCE OF THE BACKUP CAMERA NOT TURNING ON WHEN I FIRST START THE CAR EACH TIME. LOTS OF OTHER OWNERS ARE HAVING SIMILAR ISSUES ON THE A5/S5/RS5 PLATFORM FROM SIMILAR YEARS. IF YOU GOOGLE THE FOLLOWING: "SITE:A5OC.COM BACKUP CAMERA" YOU CAN SEE LOTS OF THREADS FROM A FORUM DEDICATED TO THE ABOVE MODELS. THE FAILING BACKUP CAMERAS ARE DANGEROUS SINCE THEY INTERMITTENTLY FAIL. SOMETIMES I CATCH MYSELF STARTING TO REVERSE ASSUMING THE BACKUP CAMERA WILL COME ON BUT IT NEVER DOES. THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR A WHILE NOW. I WILL PUT AN ESTIMATE FOR WHEN IT FIRST APPEARED.
Mileage: 40,000
I GET THE GEARBOX MALFUNCTION AND TPMS LIGHT FLASHING AND THE CAR JERKS AND STUTTERS ESPECIALLY FROM START AND COMING TO A STOP. WHEN STOPPING, IT FEELS LIKE SOMEONE HIT YOU FROM BEHIND. RAN THE CODES AND IT IS A MECHATRONIC MALFUNCTION/FAILURE. *TR
Mileage: 76,456
FT. COLLINS DEALER SAYS REPLACEMENT AIRBAGS NOT AVAILABLE
Mileage: 70,000
TAKATA RECALL.SAFETY RECALL 69N2. I CONTINUE TO GET DEFECT NOTICES FROM AUDI BUT NO ONE AT AUDI HAS ANY IDEA WHEN THE REPLACEMENT OR REPAIR PARTS WILL BE AVAILABLE. WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE REPAIR PARTS BE AVAILABLE IS MY QUESTION?
TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 AUDI S5. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V078000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS UNABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.
TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 AUDI S5. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V078000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.
TAKATA RECALL. DRIVER FRONTAL AIRBAG INFLATOR COULD POTENTIALLY RUPTURE. REPEATED CALL AND INQUIRIES TO AUDI DEALER ABOUT REMEDY WITH NO TIMETABLE PROVIDED. I WAS TOLD THAT NO AIRBAGS HAVE THUSFAR BEEN REPAIRED OR REPLACED WITH NO ESTIMATE OF WHEN PART WILL BE AVAILABLE. IT HAS BEEN ALMOST ONE YEAR SINCE RECALL. UNACCEPTABLE.
TIKATA AIRBAG RECALL AUDI SENT A RECALL LETTER SEVERAL MONTHS AGO (04/2016) BUT STILL HAS NOT DEVELOPED A SOLUTION FOR THE AIRBAG ISSUE. IS IT SAFE TO DRIVE OUR CAR? AUDI SAYS IT IS SAFE BUT BASED ON THE NHTSA RECALL IT IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE OUR CAR.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 AUDI S5. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V078000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PART TO DO THE REPAIR WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE.
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.