Audi A6 allroad — MPG, VIN Decoder, Recalls, Reliability & Specs

My vehicle was excluded from Recall 25V20100/90VC; however, in early March 2025, it experienced the exact defect described in that recall: a complete failure of the instrument panel module. I paid $3,737.07 for the repair just weeks before the official recall began in late March 2025. I submitted a reimbursement claim to Audi of America under 49 CFR §573 and §577, including the paid invoice and all relevant documentation. Audi has since denied my claim. I am requesting your help to determine why my VIN was excluded from the known safety defect population. If my vehicle was not included, it suggests the recall may have been under-inclusive.

My alternator was not working and it was a recall and I paid to fix it and they don’t wanna pay me back. I got a new part from audi and fix it at the shop and they don’t wanna pay anything just called and she said we don’t pay only if he’s done at the dealer. And I don’t believe that! Bc dealer told me they pay if I fix it any where to get done quick bc was out stock

While driving at normal speed, the entire digital instrument panel suddenly went black and a red warning triangle appeared. I lost all gauges, including speedometer, fuel level, and warning indicators. This created a serious safety risk because I was in active traffic and had no way to know my speed or see alerts. My VIN shows an open recall for this exact defect (instrument cluster blackout), but the failure has already happened during normal driving. I consider the vehicle unsafe to drive until repaired.

The Virtual Cockpit of the car (electronic screen right in front of the driver that displays speed, etc.) randomly turns off during driving, reboots, and displays an error message "Instrument Cluster Malfunction". A loud tone then chimes. This malfunction, while brief, is a safety issue due to the lack of speed information while driving.

The car has had multiple issues with warning lights and malfunctioning systems. Including : 1.Child locks 2.Every single component of the ADAS 3. Emergency services being activated at least a few times a month - this is an SOS for emergency 911 service. The repeated, continuous and mostly false warning lights are a driving distraction that can easily cause an accident. I have photos of all warning lights coming on in the vehicle. The dealership has repeated stated that they couldn't reproduce the problem even though pictures were provided and the car is still under the original warranty period. The latest attempt to fix the vehicle was to replace the sensors on the front of the vehicle. This solution was only attempted after the 4th report of the problem to the dealership where the car was serviced under the original manufacturers warranty

Vehicle had electrical system malfunction. Vehicle provided an electrical system malfunction and vehicle starting system malfunction warning message a few days prior to the incident. Vehicle has approximately 20.5K miles on odometer. Before I was able to bring it to service, the electrical system malfunction message became more severe and turned from yellow to red. While driving, the vehicle progressively shut down ABS, lane departure, and other systems and gave a transmission warning message. Eventually, the car lost power and I was left stranded at the side of the road.

Notice of electronic failure on dash, then car notified me to pull over safely due to the failure after 20 min of driving. Car stopped shifting gears and electronic power steering failed while the vehicle was moving. Difficult to maneuver the car to safety once the Safely Pull Over light came on. 28,680 miles on the vehicle. Dealer stated the problem is the starter generator.

Car reported an engine restarter issue (with battery symbol) and recommended to contact the dealer. Car next shut down automatic restart system, and air conditioning stopped working. Within a short period of time (same day), the car listed a red battery symbol and advised to stop the car. After doing so and contacting the Audi roadside, the car was listing a series of issues on multiple symptoms while also saying in the warning message "still okay to drive". These systems included steering, braking, and what seemed to be other sensors the car powers. Finally (and within 5 minutes of the previous message of being okay to drive), the warnings were continuous and started including the transmission. The car stopped accelerating (we were on the expressway) and we thankfully got to the side of the road. This was an enormously dangerous situation as the car became fully disabled and we were subject to limited options of relief from a major traffic area. Within 30 minutes of being disabled, no electrical charge was present in the car, including emergency flashers, making the situation more dangerous as it was nighttime, so we had to abandon the car and walk down the expressway to find a hotel. Could not even put the car in neutral for the tow. Service is initially reporting a failure of the restart generator. This appears to be an alarmingly common issue with Audis.

The contact owns a 2021 Audi A6. The contact stated while his father was driving 45 MPH, the electrical system Malfunction warning light illuminated. The contact stated that several electronic components started to turn off until the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the starter generator to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the parts being on backorder. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

The contact's wife owns a 2021 Audi A6. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V155000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was contacted and was unable to confirm when parts would become available. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Was told that the rear differential was defective and needed to be replaced. After this rear differential was replaced, it still is not fixed. The problem was confirmed by the dealer. The vehicle has been inspected by the dealership and the manufacturer. No messages or warning lamps were activated. Symptoms of problems included reverberation of vehicle below the driver's seat, unable to keep the car in a straight line while driving. This only occurred when going a very low speeds.

I was driving my vehicle when the engine surged and then a transmission warning light came on and there was an immediate and complete loss of drive power. After the vehicle glided to a stop, there was no drive transmission in either forward or reverse. There was no pre-warning and no earlier incidence that led up to this issue. The vehicle is five years old with 39,834 miles and has had all routine maintenance and mileage interval services performed at the dealership, including its recent (Dec-25) 40,000-mile service. Thankfully this complete failure occurred when I was in my neighborhood and travelling 20mph; otherwise, the results could have been catastrophic had it occurred on a multilane highway at speeds of 65-70 MPH. The vehicle was towed to Audi of Indianapolis where the issue was identified as one broken bolt and two loose bolts for the transmission filter cap. This matches a known Audi Issue with a Technical Service Bulletin issued December 13, 2024, where they acknowledge a complete loss of power and a root cause of broken/loose bolts in the transmission filter. This is a known issue and is happening on low mileage well serviced vehicles. Because this issue is known and could result in a severe accident and/or loss of life under high-speed multi-lane highway conditions, it seems Audi of America should issue a recall versus just a TSB and/or extend the warranty for this issue up to 10 years or 100,000 miles which would, perhaps, be considered a normal lifespan for a part.

My alternator was not working and it was a recall and I paid to fix it and they don’t wanna pay me back. I got a new part from audi and fix it at the shop and they don’t wanna pay anything just called and she said we don’t pay only if he’s done at the dealer. And I don’t believe that! Bc dealer told me they pay if I fix it any where to get done quick bc was out stock

At a highway speed of 50 MPH the transmission completely disengaged. I was driving on a busy highway with no shoulder. The vehicle continued to coast until I was forced to stop in an unsafe location. I placed the car in park, then in drive, and it was still disengaged. I needed to turn the car off, turn it on and it drove normally. Before I was able to bring it into Audi it occurred a second time on a bridge. I needed to perform the same steps (park, turn off, turn on) to begin driving again. Audi 'repaired' the vehicle. One month later it happened again. A service report cited this as a known issue. It created a significant risk to safety considering all events occurred at highway speed with no warning.

Dashboard error messages, "Electrical System Malfunction! Please contact service" and "Vehicle Starting System: Malfunction! Please contact service". Dealer replied that it is a starter generator. Unsafe to drive, towed to dealer service. Part has been on order for more than three weeks.

While driving on the interstate, I received a warning about an electrical system malfunction. As I neared my home, I received warnings about transmission failure, suspension malfunction, steering malfunction, sensor failure, and more. After a tow to the dealership I was told it is a generator/alternator (?) failure and the part is on national backorder and may be 3 months or more.

Component/System: Windshield washer fluid monitoring system (level sensor and warning). Observed Behavior: The system provides no advance or “low level” warning. The only alert occurs when the reservoir is completely empty, with no intermediate notification of low fluid. Failure Mode / Functional Impact: Washer function is lost suddenly without prior warning. The driver is not given an opportunity to refill fluid before the system becomes non-functional. Safety Risk: Loss of washer fluid prevents clearing road spray, salt, or debris from the windshield, causing immediate degradation of forward visibility. This is most critical during highway driving, winter conditions, and repeated washer use. The absence of advance warning creates a foreseeable risk of reduced visibility while operating the vehicle. ADAS Impact: The vehicle uses a forward-facing camera behind the windshield for driver assistance features. When the windshield becomes contaminated and cannot be cleaned due to depleted washer fluid, camera visibility may be impaired. This may reduce performance or temporarily disable features such as lane keeping, lane departure warning, and traffic sign recognition, resulting in simultaneous degradation of driver visibility and certain assistance systems. Reproduction / Confirmation: An authorized Audi dealer confirmed this behavior as normal and consistent with design. Audi customer care supported this position. Inspection History: The vehicle has been inspected by an authorized Audi dealer. No inspection by police or insurance representatives. Warnings Prior to Failure: No warnings, messages, or symptoms appear prior to complete depletion. The only alert occurs when the system is empty. Requested Evaluation: Evaluation is requested as to whether this design adequately supports driver visibility and safe operation, and whether any modification exists or is planned to provide earlier warning.

The car has traffic sign recognition and uses it for "predictive control" where the vehicle will read traffic signs and adjust the adaptive cruise control setting to based on road signs. It had previously been working well but a software update was recently performed under TSB 2074688/3 on November 6th, 2025 and problems have shown up. Specifically, the system is incorrectly reading signs and sometimes appearing to make signs up out of nowhere. This has resulted in the car slowing down quickly on highways and nearly causing a couple of rear-end collisions due to the unexpected and erratic braking at highway speeds. The car will be going back to the dealer to be looked at, however this is unsafe because other drivers aren't prepared for a car randomly slowing down in front of them while on the highway for no reason. The car is also available to be inspected if needed. The issues first appeared within a week of having the TSB performed and has happened a number of times since. The following incidents have occurred: * Once on Highway 10 heading North/West between Big Lake and Elk River MN; the car was set to 60mph and hallucinated a 15mph speed limit sign. There was no speed limit sign on the road at all when this happened. This resulted in a near rear-end collision with the car behind. * Two times while on Highway 35E Southbound in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro: 60mph to 40mph on clear roads. Once resulted in a near rear-end collision with the car behind. * Two times while on Highway 35E Northbound in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro: 60mph to 40mph on clear roads * Once on Highway 35W Northbound in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro: 60mph to 40mph on clear roads This software update is dangerous and should be updated or recalled, especially since the car did not have any issues of the sort prior to the update being performed.

The Audi Pre-sense is activated by weather. I was driving during a thunderstorm and Audi Presence activated causing the car to come to a hard stop due to precipitation. It happened again backing out of my driveway the Audi Pre-sense was activated and the car came to a hard stop. I thought I had back into another vehicle. This is very dangerous.

The car has had multiple issues with warning lights and malfunctioning systems. Including : 1.Child locks 2.Every single component of the ADAS 3. Emergency services being activated at least a few times a month - this is an SOS for emergency 911 service. The repeated, continuous and mostly false warning lights are a driving distraction that can easily cause an accident. I have photos of all warning lights coming on in the vehicle. The dealership has repeated stated that they couldn't reproduce the problem even though pictures were provided and the car is still under the original warranty period. The latest attempt to fix the vehicle was to replace the sensors on the front of the vehicle. This solution was only attempted after the 4th report of the problem to the dealership where the car was serviced under the original manufacturers warranty

Today, I was in a protected left turn lane prior to making the turn. When oncoming traffic (4 lanes) cleared, I gently pressed the gas pedal to start the turn, but a red “pre-sense” error triggered and slammed on the brakes. I moved my foot to the brake and then back to the gas, and the error cleared, allowing me to continue the turn. This was dangerous as I could have stopped in front of oncoming traffic or been rear-ended by the car behind me. This is the first time I’ve had pre-sense braking engage, though I’ve gotten error messages while traveling at ~50mph in heavy traffic that’s it’s about to kick in. Several weeks ago, I made an appointment at my dealership to have the error messages looked at, but the first available appointment was about a month out, so I haven’t been able to take it in yet. In today’s incident, there was no warning before the braking engaged. I’m supportive of safety measures, but I am now scared of driving my car - I would rather have none of the fancy safety features than have false positives that put me in danger. This is like the Boeing 737 Max issue - why are cars with these issues allowed to be on the road??? Please make Audi fix this urgently, as message boards suggest it’s been an issue for at least five years!

I have a 2020 All Road. Received message driving close to my home to contact service due to electrical malfunction and made it to my driveway. This was on a Sunday and no service center was available. Car lost its HVAC and auto stop mechanism on the way home and parked it in the driveway away to be towed. This morning able to start vehicle but received numerous warnings as above to also include low battery due to no charging and finally a message (while placing it on a flat bed tow truck) to stop immediately and not drive the vehicle. I have read about disasters with this issue in regards to innumerable complaints from new Audi owners that this occurred very quickly while driving on an interstate in which their vehicle shut down within a minute and those affected experienced total loss of steering and braking with inability to even turn on their flashers for safety purposes. This is not a benign issue as beyond the inconvenience of waiting hours to be towed, one puts their life at risk when traveling on an interstate and within seconds having such a shut down of the vehicle occur. I am glad that I did not drive the vehicle in for servicing as I'd likely be on an interstate stranded at this time or perhaps even injured or dead due to inability to control the vehicle and a shut down occurring with only a few seconds notice. I am aware that several TSBs exist for this problem likely related to a faulty alternator as part of internal combustion machines using a "mild hybrid" system. Audi should do a recall of all such vehicles affected with this technology but instead utilizes an approach of reliance upon their dealerships. I have heard of weeks to months to replace alternators / 48 V battery as such parts come from Germany. This is a SERIOUS life threatening issue that puts one at risk of losing control at high speed or getting hit from behind on an interstate due to complete failure of the vehicle and inability to control it after achieving speed.

Thermostat housing and oil cooler bracket leaking coolant with only 56k miles on the car

Car reported an engine restarter issue (with battery symbol) and recommended to contact the dealer. Car next shut down automatic restart system, and air conditioning stopped working. Within a short period of time (same day), the car listed a red battery symbol and advised to stop the car. After doing so and contacting the Audi roadside, the car was listing a series of issues on multiple symptoms while also saying in the warning message "still okay to drive". These systems included steering, braking, and what seemed to be other sensors the car powers. Finally (and within 5 minutes of the previous message of being okay to drive), the warnings were continuous and started including the transmission. The car stopped accelerating (we were on the expressway) and we thankfully got to the side of the road. This was an enormously dangerous situation as the car became fully disabled and we were subject to limited options of relief from a major traffic area. Within 30 minutes of being disabled, no electrical charge was present in the car, including emergency flashers, making the situation more dangerous as it was nighttime, so we had to abandon the car and walk down the expressway to find a hotel. Could not even put the car in neutral for the tow. Service is initially reporting a failure of the restart generator. This appears to be an alarmingly common issue with Audis.

At a highway speed of 50 MPH the transmission completely disengaged. I was driving on a busy highway with no shoulder. The vehicle continued to coast until I was forced to stop in an unsafe location. I placed the car in park, then in drive, and it was still disengaged. I needed to turn the car off, turn it on and it drove normally. Before I was able to bring it into Audi it occurred a second time on a bridge. I needed to perform the same steps (park, turn off, turn on) to begin driving again. Audi 'repaired' the vehicle. One month later it happened again. A service report cited this as a known issue. It created a significant risk to safety considering all events occurred at highway speed with no warning.

Audi has failed to come up with a repair for recall 22V742. My car consistently shows 1/4 tank of fuel when it’s actually near zero.

The car's fuel guage has been inaccurate since the initial purchase. It would always hang at around 50% and then drop to 5% within 10 miles. Thankfully, we are aware and just check the miles driven so we do not get stranded. Requested fix by dealership, they said there was nothing wrong. The recall for my car appeared and I asked for a fix, they said it's not available yet. It's been 6 months and there's still no fix for this. It would also have random computer issues such as screen shutdowns, and "take to dealership warnings" after the 1st 10k checkup. Had to bring back to the dealership, they replaced the entire computer. Seems to be fine, except a couple restarts. Back left seat is also damaged and would not lock into the upright position. Have not gone to dealership to fix yet as it will take time to buy parts and this is my only car.

While driving on the interstate, I received a warning about an electrical system malfunction. As I neared my home, I received warnings about transmission failure, suspension malfunction, steering malfunction, sensor failure, and more. After a tow to the dealership I was told it is a generator/alternator (?) failure and the part is on national backorder and may be 3 months or more.

This vehicle has an automatic opening/closure feature for the rear trunk/hatchback door. It's activated by putting one's foot under a sensor under the rear fender. This is fine for opening the door but it also closes the hatchback door with considerable force. The feature can be activated inadvertently e.g. when loading the car (and one's foot is under the rear fender) or when sitting on the edge of the luggage area and changing shoes. Both type of events have happened to me. I'm an bald and have had the door close on my head (which broke my scalp's skin) and have had it close when changing shoes many times. If this closed on a small child, I fear that a limb could be broken (or worse). One cannot disable this feature (ideally just to prevent it from closing) or just to simply disable it completely. I have taken the car to Audi dealerships to have the feature disabled on several occasions - but they are unable to do so. It is a safety hazard in my professional opinion - I'm a physician but not an engineer.

Sunroof spontaneously shattered while driving. No other cars around when this occurred. Caused a very loud BANG. Was driving on the freeway when this occurred. Dealer would not confirm issue was spontaneous - felt something must have hit the car to cause this. No defined impact location on roof. Also, roof glass was pushed up in the middle instead of down like would be expected if something hit it from the outside. No warning before it occurred.

Doors must be forcefully closed in order to fully lock. Frequently the doors (any of the 4 on the car) do not close upon vehicle entry. No warning that the door is not closed is provided by the vehicle. I have driven many miles with this unsafe condition, only to discover that the door was not fully latched upon my arrival at my destination. The rear hatch on this car also spontaneously closed down on me when i was loading packages into the cargo area. The car is equipped with hands-free hatch opening which erroneously interpreted my movement while loading the packages as a command to close the hatch. The sensor is under the rear bumper, centered right where one would stand while loading the car.

Entered a roundabout at perhaps 15mph. RR tire hits small area on rounded curbing where a small piece of concrete curbing (perhaps 3” wide by 8” high) had come out. Tire made contact with this area. Sidewall blew out. Had to have car towed and new tire installed. Over $400. I contacted Continental USA and opened a case. They said there was nothing they could do. Suggested I have the tire dealer call them. Discount Tire, who took pictures of the sidewall issue, call Continental referencing my case. Continental told Discount Tire that they were unwilling to help. I have seen others reporting similar sidewall blowout issues on this tire. I am thankful I wasn’t traveling any faster. At the time of this incident, the 2026 Audi A6 Allroad had only sixty (60) miles on it!

Component/System: Windshield washer fluid monitoring system (level sensor and warning). Observed Behavior: The system provides no advance or “low level” warning. The only alert occurs when the reservoir is completely empty, with no intermediate notification of low fluid. Failure Mode / Functional Impact: Washer function is lost suddenly without prior warning. The driver is not given an opportunity to refill fluid before the system becomes non-functional. Safety Risk: Loss of washer fluid prevents clearing road spray, salt, or debris from the windshield, causing immediate degradation of forward visibility. This is most critical during highway driving, winter conditions, and repeated washer use. The absence of advance warning creates a foreseeable risk of reduced visibility while operating the vehicle. ADAS Impact: The vehicle uses a forward-facing camera behind the windshield for driver assistance features. When the windshield becomes contaminated and cannot be cleaned due to depleted washer fluid, camera visibility may be impaired. This may reduce performance or temporarily disable features such as lane keeping, lane departure warning, and traffic sign recognition, resulting in simultaneous degradation of driver visibility and certain assistance systems. Reproduction / Confirmation: An authorized Audi dealer confirmed this behavior as normal and consistent with design. Audi customer care supported this position. Inspection History: The vehicle has been inspected by an authorized Audi dealer. No inspection by police or insurance representatives. Warnings Prior to Failure: No warnings, messages, or symptoms appear prior to complete depletion. The only alert occurs when the system is empty. Requested Evaluation: Evaluation is requested as to whether this design adequately supports driver visibility and safe operation, and whether any modification exists or is planned to provide earlier warning.