RoadVitals

2021 Audi A8 Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
5
Latest Apr 2, 2026
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
1
Reports on file since Dec 31, 2021

What this page shows

Our database holds 5 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Audi A8. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–5 of 5

Electrical
Filed Apr 2, 2026

See attached document for complaint. I took my 2021 AUDI A8 to Audi Rockville located at 1125 Rockville Pike; Rockville, MD 20852 on July 18 to fix the recall. After waiting for 2 hours at the dealership, they told me they must go to BestBuy to buy a USB stick and asked if we could re-schedule which we did. I then came back on September 30, and again after 2 hours of waiting, they told me the USB port in the car is not working and that I must pay over $1000 to replace the USB Port so that they can perform the recall. As such we could not get the update done. I followed up with Audi North America Headquarters in Michigan, and they basically told me the same thing that the dealer told me. This issue is very disappointing for two reasons: 1) How can a $100,000+ car be updated using a USB. I have never used the USB port until this Recall. 2) If Audi has no other way to take care of the recall, then Audi should take responsibility for replacing the USB port. The dealership said the USB Port is not part of the recall and it is not under warranty. I am driving a car that is under NHTSA recall violation and Audi should take responsibility for updating the software either by replacing the USB port or perhaps through Wi-Fi. Can NHTSA file a complaint with Audi North America?

NHTSA ID
11728863
Incident
Feb 2, 2026
ElectricalEnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Apr 4, 2024

Total electrical shutdown over about 2 minutes. Stranded on road. All electrical systems failed rapidly. Strongly suspect this is part of known BSG/alternator issues with this model.

NHTSA ID
11581253
Incident
Apr 4, 2024
Powertrain (other)
Filed Jul 10, 2022

Delay in change gear especially from full stop, vehicle recoil, jump, jolt, sometimes with loud noise

NHTSA ID
11473200
Incident
Jul 4, 2022
Fuel system
Filed Jul 10, 2022

fuel pump leak, dealer claimed the seal is broken from the manufacture, gave out strong gasoline smell

NHTSA ID
11473198
Incident
Jan 31, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Dec 31, 2021

I was driving in the morning on a November day on a rural road. The rear moon roof exploded outward. The sound was deafening and scared my passenger and I. The center glass exploded outward, scattering glass outside and inside of the car. I believe that if this happened that passengers in the car could be hurt. Other drivers on the highway could be startled on their car damaged by the flying glass. An accident could be induced by the incident either by the drive of my car or by nearby drivers.

NHTSA ID
11445709
Incident
Dec 3, 2021

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .