Owners have filed 124 complaints on the Audi S5, covering 2008–2025. The system named most often is Electrical System (23 reports). Worst years by volume: 2020, 2018, 2010; cleanest: 2016, 2021, 2015. 3 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 4.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Audi S5
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 124 S5 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 23 Read
I began my lease for a brand-new 2025 Audi S5 on July 14, 2025. The vehicle was delivered with a dent in the door, which the dealer repaired before I could take possession. The dent repair was completed on July 22, 2025, at which time I took delivery. On July 23, I informed my sales representative that the SOS/eCall…
System malfunctions for new all new 2025 Audi S5 including drive system malfunction, loose wheel, brakes limited functionality, parking break malfunction, stabilization control malfunction, driving dynamics system malfunction, hold assist malfunction
The contact owns a 2025 Audi S5. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost automotive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle failed to respond while attempting to drive. The vehicle was restarted after the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however,…
Power Train 21 Read
I received a coolant overheating message, pulled to side of road. Let vehicle cool off although it just showed coolant warning and actual engine temperature showed normal along with oil temperature. Started car back up and it was ok, drove about a mile, engine started steaming, white smoke out of exhaust, system…
I was driving on the freeway all of the sudden I lost power and felt jerky movements I had to pull over. Obviously I had check engine light come and gearbox malfunction message. The problem turns out to be a mechatronic issue with my vehicle there's a technical service bulletin on it TSB number is 10054213-2278.…
Vehicle is throwing transmission fault codes, shifting as if the trans is in limp mode, when stopped and then going, the trans bogs, as well as between shifts. Doesn't go into manual mode either for the dsg trans my car has. A shop said the metatronic unit needs replacement
Air Bags 19 Read
I got into a car accident that a ton of front end damage (the car was totaled) and none of the airbags deployed. I was alone in the car and wearing my seatbelt. I looked and found no noted recalls for the airbags in my specific car
The system warning keeps coming on, I’ve tried to schedule appointments with Audi since 2022 and they have zero appointments available
Component/System: Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) / Airbag system — Recall 74E3 / NHTSA 21V874. What Happened: The passenger airbag may switch off even when the seat is occupied due to a faulty PODS wiring connection. The warning message “Passenger Airbag Off” appears with a chime. This is an active safety…
Engine 15 Read
Known-Best Assesment-Piston Skirt Defect and Non-Disclosure of Prior Issues: Approximately only three months after purchase of a brand new 2025 Audi S5 on 6/11/25 , I received a letter from Audi of America acknowledging a potential piston skirt defect/failure resulting from faulty material and/or workmanship. They…
Water pump failure due to coolant migration
Upon starting the vehicle while parked on 10/18/2025, dashboard displayed warning: "Turn off engine and check coolant level. See owner's manual." Visual inspection revealed coolant residue on mechanical coolant pump switching valve N649 on cylinder head bank 1, indicating water pump internal seal failure allowing…
Steering 7 Read
The lever that locks and unlocks the steering column for proper driving position fell off. The single bolt holding the lever fell out followed by the lever. This occurred when the driver utilized the lever to reposition the steering wheel. The steering wheel was not locked into position when the lever fell off, so the…
Hello - my 2016 audi s5 coupe with a manual transmission has had an electronic steering rack error for some time now. The issue arose after driving in rainy conditions (but not in standing water). The steering rack in my car provides electronic assistance to my steering wheel movements while driving. The control…
My 2015 audi s5 is getting faults on the steering after driving in the rain one night while driving a red light turn on and had lose all power steering and was nearly un-drivable. Description NHTSA recall number the affected vehicles have electric power steering assist systems that may shut down as a result of a…
Suspension 4 Read
Below is a detailed timeline of the problems I experienced: Intermittent starting issue Over the past few months, the car has occasionally failed to start on the first attempt. It always started on the second try, so I planned to mention it at the next service visit. Complete MMI/display blackout while driving on the…
The contact owns a 2021 Audi S5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V295000 (Suspension) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and it was confirmed that the part was not yet available. The contact stated that the…
My 2018 Audi S5 Prestige with 59K miles meticulously maintained by the dealer had the Suspension Warning light came on about a week ago. I brought it to my local Audi mechanic and they found the right rear spring had broken about 1/3 of the way from the base and the shock had been damaged from the spring breaking.…
Fuel/propulsion System 4 Read
Fuel gauge does not move at all and showed tank was 5/8 full. However, when I was on the freeway, the vehicle stalled because I was out of gas. Luckily, I was on the right lane and therefore was able to pull over to the side without an incident. This is a new vehicle with faulty fuel sensors. Audi should have QC'd…
Our gas tank fuel level sensor is faulty so we can no longer tell how much gas is in our car. The check engine and fuel light are permanently on. This fuel sensor malfunction caused me to run out of gas in the middle of the road. The only way to fix it is to replace the entire gas tank at great expense. We were quoted…
I was driving in a construction zone near my home in heavy traffic in rush hour on august 21, 2019, when the vehicle stopped dead with no warning; the engine simply cut off. It would not restart. The car behind managed to stop, but the situation LED to cars passing me by driving into the opposite lane in the face of…
Lane Departure 3 Read
When starting vehicle every three or four days all safety systems fail and takes anywhere from one hour to 12 hours to reset. This forces me to drive vehicle without any safety systems i.e fwd collision, rear traffic alert, lane assist , side view mirror alerts, heads up display adaptive lighting. DEALER claims there…
All driver assistance features shut down randomly when starting vehicle for at least 45 minutes. Had to drive vehicle without safety features to get home. Without lane assist-fwd collision-side collision alert-rear traffic alert etc make vehicle difficult to drive and could result in accident. Dealer and Audi are…
MMI or the center console screen is shutting down and rebooting during random intervals during driving and stopped. Causing the sensors to say there’s an error and not function. GPS, and volume control also go out
S5 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2021 | Suspension | — | — | |
| 2020 | Back Over Prevention,forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2019 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance,lane Departure | 2 | — | |
| 2016 | Steering,electrical System,electronic Stability Control (esc) | — | — | |
| 2015 | Engine,fuel/propulsion System,lane Departure | — | — | |
| 2014 | Fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2013 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 98 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 6 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.6 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 6. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the S5?
By complaint volume, 2020, 2018, 2010 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which S5 years are the cleanest?
2016, 2021, 2015 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Audi S5 have?
124 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2008–2025. Of those, 3 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.