Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Audi S3 Sedan, A3 Sedan, 2016-2018 A3 Etron, 2017-2020 RS3 Sedan, and 2015-2019 A3 Cabriolet vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may malfunction and switch off the passenger air bag even when the seat is occupied.
Consequence: A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and update the PODS control module, free of charge. Owners letters were mailed December 23, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69BY.
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2015-2016 Audi S3 Sedan, 2015-2019 A3 Sedan and A3 Cabriolet, 2016-2018 A3 e-tron, and 2017-2019 RS3 vehicles. An improper electrical contact may cause the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) to falsely detect a malfunction and deactivate the passenger air bag.
Consequence: A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Remedy: Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the connector and reroute the cable, free of charge. The recall began September 12, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69Z4.
Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.
Investigations
0 investigations; 0 open.
Manufacturer communications
443 manufacturer communications.
Communications by system
System
Count
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
110
EQUIPMENT
96
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
63
STRUCTURE
38
SERVICE BRAKES
26
SUSPENSION
26
ENGINE
23
STEERING
20
11038098
Date: 2026-09-25. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
This bulleti provides informaitpon wheh the electric drive system warning lamp lights up; DTCs under 008C.
11038130
Date: 2026-09-25. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.
This bulletin states that technicians are required to report to the manufacturer when a vehicle has flooded, and specify the height to which the vehicle has been flooded.
11038024
Date: 2026-09-22. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: VISIBILITY/WIPER.
This bulletin provides service information regarding exterior glass cleaning.
11038042
Date: 2026-09-22. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STEERING.
This bulletin provides information about vibrations and rotational steering vibrations.
11038143
Date: 2026-09-09. Type: Other. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.
This special notice is to inform dealers to return the parts listed if it meets the criteria provided.
11038026
Date: 2026-09-08. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.
This bulletin provides infomraiton abou the Audi frequency analysis application, which is available in the App Store for Android and Apple phones.
11038033
Date: 2026-09-08. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: STRUCTURE.
This TSB describes a corrosion issue due to outside influence and the prohibition of warranty in these cases.
11036917
Date: 2026-08-26. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.
This bulletin provides information when the horn sound quality is poor.
11036907
Date: 2026-08-24. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: SUSPENSION.
This bulletin provides informaiotn when there are rattling/grinding noises reported from the front end.
11036911
Date: 2026-08-21. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: SERVICE BRAKES.
This bulletin provides information for all models regarding brake sounds.
Notes on this record
Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.
This record lists no complaint under this name, and zero is not confirmed in this data build; the notes below give the reason.
NHTSA lists complaints for this model year under related names: A3 (33). They are counted on those records, not here. Zero is not confirmed for this name.