Audi Air Bags: Side/Window

Audi is recalling about 734 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of a seat-mounted air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Campaign
16V045000
Manufacturer
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Reported
28 January 2016
Vehicles
734
Built between
Jan 2015 – Feb 2015
Models
2
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
15 July 2016
Repaired
80%
Unrepaired
142

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between January 2015 and February 2015. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2015 Audi Q5Built January 2015 to February 2015
  • 2015 Volkswagen TiguanBuilt January 2015 to January 2015

Repair progress

142 of 734 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2017.

80% repaired — 587 of 734 reported

Owners not reachable
5

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan vehicles manufactured January 15, 2015, to January 21, 2015, and 2015 Audi Q5 vehicles manufactured January 13, 2015, to February 3, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with driver and front seat passenger seat-mounted air bag inflators that may rupture in the event of a crash.

What could happen

In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of a seat-mounted air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

What gets fixed

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began July 7, 2016.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtJanuary 2015 to February 2015
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA28 January 2016
  3. Owners notified15 July 2016
  4. Latest repair reportQ4 2017 — 80% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 28 January 2016.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-822-2834 or Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69M1 (for Audi) and 69L9 (for VW).

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
69M1 Audi - 69L9 VW
Recalling manufacturer
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand