2016 Audi A3 Electrical Problems

Electrical problems and fuel leak

NHTSA ID

11730283

Incident

Apr 9, 2026

My 2016 Audi A3 Sportsback E-tron vehicle was parked at my house. When I went to start it the engine did nothing, no power. The message “Driver System Fault” and a red triangle with a red ! in the middle was displayed on the instrument panel. I was unable to start or operate the vehicle. I called AAA and they towed the vehicle to a Recharge Hybrid pump location near my house. I tired to charge the battery and it would just turn off. Then I called AAA again and they towed my car back to my house and checked the small 12 volt battery to see if that was the problem, they determined that the 12 volt battery still had 75% life in it. They were unable to get my vehicle started. The same message is still on the dashboard “Driver System Fault." The failure mileage is approximately 81,567. I want to know before I call the Dealer and get it towed again if this issue is the Hybrid High-Voltage Battery or the housing bonded seam could have lead to corrosion the service recall from a while ago. Service Action Code 93D2

NHTSA ID

11689751

Incident

Sep 12, 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Audi A3. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked with the engine running, the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of motive power. During the failure, the message “Driver System Fault” was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact was unable to restart or operate the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the Hybrid battery had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.

NHTSA ID

11686827

Incident

Sep 12, 2025

Mileage

83,000 mi

The contact owns a 2016 Audi A3. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the Electronic Power Control System (EPC light) malfunctioned, and the vehicle lost power. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power, the temperature gauge raised with the radiator fan activated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and the vehicle restarted immediately. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The check engine warning light and the electronic power control system warning light was illuminating on and off. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11633446

Incident

Dec 2, 2024

EPC WARNING LIGHT IS COMING AND FUEL TANK NOT RESPONDING

NHTSA ID

11586270

Incident

Apr 24, 2024

I purchased my 2016 Audi A3 in April of 2020 from Audi San Diego. Less than a year later, I was getting airbag warning lights on my dash, as well as constant warning sounds when driving. I brought my vehicle into Audi San Diego, and they "fixed" the issue free of charge. A few months later, I started getting the same warning lights/sounds - this time, the passenger airbag was turning on and off even while somebody was sitting in the passenger seat. I received a recall letter in the mail shortly thereafter. When I called in the summer of 2021 to schedule a service appointment, I was told there was not yet a remedy to this recall and that in the next few months I should receive a phone call to schedule service. Over a year later, I called Audi San Diego to get an update (since I did receive a phone call as promised), and I am still told that there is no solution. For over a year now, I have been unable to have passengers in my front seat, due to the fear of the airbags not working in the event of a crash.

NHTSA ID

11477424

Incident

Mar 1, 2021

Fault codes: P072C00, P072B00, P174A00, P072600, P179D00, P173400. Name of codes in order above, Stuck in Gear 1, Stuck in Reverse, Valve 3 in partial transmission 1, Engine Speed Inp.Circ., Cooling oil valve, Starter release from the selector level sensor system.

NHTSA ID

11475539

Incident

Jul 23, 2022

Air bag light comes on when no on is in the passenger seat, the coolant light is coming on saying turn engine off when my coolant level is fine, the suspension cracks even though I have had this checked by Audi in Birmingham, Al. multiple times.

NHTSA ID

11467920

Incident

Jun 6, 2022

While driving the message “Vehicle Electronic System Malfunction Shift Car to Park Before Exiting Vehicle.” The car can fail to shift into gear, or change gears while the vehicle is in motion. The mechanic that I usually take my car to said that’s he’s seen the same message in some of his other customers cars. Sometimes it pops up when the car is started, other times is comes up when the car is in motion. I’ve parked the car and turned it off, and the message came back on after restarting the car.

NHTSA ID

11439966

Incident

Nov 10, 2021

AUDI BATON ROUGE INFORMED ME THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH COOLANT MIGRATION AT COOLANT TANK CONNECTOR (COOLANT COULD LEAK INTO WIRE HARNESS) AND CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE TO ELECTRICAL SYSTEM WANT $300 +_ TO REPAIR. SINCE THIS IS NOT SOMETHING CAUSED UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS OR NEGLIGENCE ON MY PART I DO NOT FEEL I SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR COST OF REPAIR, SHOULD BE A RECALL ON AUDI

NHTSA ID

11432451

Incident

Aug 24, 2021

AUDI A3 QUATTRO 2016 MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP (MIL) CAME ON WHILST DRIVING SLOWLY IN TRAFFIC. I BELIEVE THE VERSION OF THE ECM IN MY VEHICLE IS DEFECTIVE AND MAY BE RELATED TO "SAFETY RECALL 24DF": HTTPS://STATIC.NHTSA.GOV/ODI/RCL/2017/RCONL-17V508-5502.PDF HTTPS://STATIC.NHTSA.GOV/ODI/RCL/2017/RCAK-17V508-2021.PDF CROSS REFERENCING "APPLICATION FOR EMISSIONS CERTIFICATION 2016 MODEL YEAR" "TEST GROUP: GVGAV02.0APA", IN PARTICULAR PAGE 79 FOR MY ENGINE CODE "CNTC" WHICH LISTS SOFTWARE ID "5G0906259L": HTTPS://IASPUB.EPA.GOV/OTAQPUB/DISPLAY_FILE.JSP?DOCID=43249&FLAG=1 THE ECU PART NUMBER WAS SUPERSEDED WITHOUT BEING PROPERLY RELEASED FOR EDIR OR CAL ID AND CVN INFORMATION. PLEASE NOTE THE DIFFERENCE IN PART NUMBER SUFFIX. "B" VS "L". I AM CONCERNED THAT MY CAR IS CURRENTLY DANGEROUS TO DRIVE AND NEEDS REPAIRING. BELOW IS OUTPUT FROM VCDS DIAGNOSTIC TOOL SHOWING THE FAULT AND ECU SOFTWARE ID "5G0 906 259 D" 0001 (FULL OUTPUT CAN BE PROVIDED): ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADDRESS 01: ENGINE (J623-CNTC) LABELS:. 06K-907-425-V1.CLB PART NO SW: 5G0 906 259 D HW: 06K 907 425 B COMPONENT: 2.0L R4 TFSI H13 0001 REVISION: --H13--- CODING: 0A1D00124426000F2000 SHOP #: WSC 06385 790 00016 ASAM DATASET: EV_ECM20TFS0205G0906259D 001002 ROD: EV_ECM20TFS0205G0906259D.ROD VCID: 2F3B1884879B11D3269-807A 1 FAULT FOUND: 15059 - FUEL RAIL/SYSTEM PRESSURE P0087 00 [104] - TOO LOW INTERMITTENT - CONFIRMED - TESTED SINCE MEMORY CLEAR FREEZE FRAME: FAULT STATUS: 00000001 FAULT PRIORITY: 2 FAULT FREQUENCY: 2 MILEAGE: 119924 KM DATE: 2021.03.17 TIME: 12:39:23

NHTSA ID

11405759

Incident

Mar 17, 2021

Mileage

74,517 mi

TOOK MY CAR IN A FEW WEEKS AGO FOR A RECALL REPAIR AFFECTING THE PASSENGER AIRBAG. THE AIRBAG WAS NOT ABLE TO SENSE WHEN THERE WAS A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE, AND WOULD RANDOMLY TURN ON/OFF EVEN WHEN THERE WAS A PASSENGER IN THE VEHICLE. HAD THE ERROR MESSAGES POP IMMEDIATELY ON THE WAY HOME FROM THE DEALER AFTER THEIR "FIX". I TOOK IT BACK IN TODAY AND THEY DEALER SAID IT WAS THE ACTUAL PODS SENSOR AND IT WOULD COST $1,100 TO REPAIR! THIS WAS BECAUSE THE RECALL REPAIR ONLY INCLUDED THAT WIRE CONNECTION. I DRIVE MY YOUNGER BROTHER TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY AND DO NOT THINK IT'S FAIR THAT AUDI'S RECALL ONLY FIXED HALF THE PROBLEM - NOW THERE'S NO WAY TO TELL IF THE AIRBAG IS WORKING PROPERLY AND IF MY BROTHER OR ANY OTHER PASSENGER IS SAFE IN THE CAR.

NHTSA ID

11394783

Incident

Feb 4, 2021

CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CUTS ON WITH OVERHEATING AND EPS ERROR WHEN STARTING CAR SOMETIMES. WHEN YOU SHUT OFF CAR IT CUTS OFF AND RETURNS TO NORMAL. IT STARTED LAST YEAR AND HAS CONTINUED, I WAS TOLD IT MAY BE A SENSOR SHORTAGE.

NHTSA ID

11365628

Incident

Oct 27, 2018

Mileage

80,000 mi

AN IMPROPER ELECTRICAL CONTACT MAY CAUSE THE PASSENGER OCCUPANT DETECTION SYSTEM (PODS) TO FALSELY DETECT A MALFUNCTION AND DEACTIVATE THE PASSENGER AIR BAG. THE DEALERSHIP WILL SAY THEY FIXED IT BUT SHORTLY AFTER THE PASSENGER AIRBAG AND SEATBELT SIGN GOES OFF AGAIN BEEPING AND ADVISING YOU THE PASSENGER SEATBELT IS NOT ON. WHEN YOU HAVE NO PASSENGER.THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD AND THE DEALERSHIP CANNOT FIX THE ISSUE. THEY ARE INCOMPETENT AND DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE SAFETY OF THE VEHICLE DRIVERS. IF IT IS SAYING THE AIRBAG IS OFF WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THERE IS AN ACCIDENT AND THE AIRBAG DOESN'T GO OFF DUE TO THIS RECALL. THIS IS NEGLIGENCE ON THE DEALERSHIP/AUTOMAKER.

NHTSA ID

11354193

Incident

Jul 14, 2020

VEHICLE WAS GARAGED AND FUNCTIONING UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS. APPX. 64000 MILES. WHEN THE CAR WAS TURNED ON AND PUT IN REVERSE, THE REARVIEW CAMERA'S VIEW WAS MODERATELY VISIBLE, BUT GARBLED PAST ANY USEFUL VIEW. THIS DID APPEAR TO HAPPEN AFTER THE TRUNK WAS SIMPLY OPENED AND SHUT BEFORE GETTING IN THE CAR, ALTHOUGH THAT SHOULD HARDLY AFFECT THE ABILITY FOR THE CAMERA TO WORK OR NOT. THE NEXT TIME I STARTED THE CAR, I DID NOT OPEN THE TRUNK, AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTED. THE TIME AFTER THAT, I OPENED THE TRUNK AND SHUT IT AND IT WENT AWAY. THEN IT CAME BACK. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 2 MONTHS NOW AND WOULD APPRECIATE SOME RESOLUTION. TOO EARLY FOR SIMPLE ELECTRONICS LIKE A CAMERA TO BE BREAKING, HOWEVER, CHECKING OTHER AUDI VEHICLES TSBS INDICATES THIS PROBLEM IS COMMONPLACE AND REPAIR WORK HAS BEEN PRESCRIBED IN THE PAST TO REPLACE THE WIRING HARNESS AND/OR THE CAMERA. IF THE CAMERA IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY, IT COULD CREATE AN UNSAFE SITUATION WHILE DRIVING IN REVERSE THAT THE USE OF THE CAMERA IS SUPPOSED TO PREVENT - I.E. A CRASH OR ACCIDENT WITH A PEDESTRIAN.

NHTSA ID

11288953

Incident

Dec 7, 2019

Mileage

64,000 mi