Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.: Air Bags › Sensor › Occupant Classification
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. reported this defect to federal regulators on Dec 8, 2015 and put the number of vehicles at risk at 21,074. The repair is free for as long as the recall stands.
The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Audi A6 vehicles manufactured March 28, 2011, to March 25, 2013, and 2012-2013 Audi A7 vehicles manufactured January 25, 2011, to March 19, 2013. In vehicles with heated and cooled seats, the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS), used to enable the front passenger air bags, may malfunction and prevent the passenger-side air bags from deploying in a crash.
The risk
An air bag that does not deploy as intended increases the risk of occupant injury in a crash.
The remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and Audi dealers will install a PODS system repair kit, free of charge. The recall began on February 5, 2016. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 74D1.
4 model years covered
Newest first| Vehicle | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 Audi A6 | 52 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| 2013 Audi A7 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| 2012 Audi A6 | 60 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 Audi A7 | 30 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
What this page is, and what to do next
A recall is not an opinion. It is a Part 573 report a manufacturer is required by federal law to file once it decides a defect poses an unreasonable risk to safety, and it commits them to repairing the vehicle at no cost to the owner. The three passages above are the manufacturer’s own wording as published by NHTSA.
This page describes the campaign. It cannot tell you whether one particular car has already been through the shop — that is tracked by VIN, and only the manufacturer knows it. Check yours at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a franchised dealer, quoting campaign number 15V823000.
Full record for the 2013 Audi A6 → · Recalls carrying a do-not-drive advisory → · Where this data comes from →