RoadVitals

2026 Audi S5

Recalls, owner-reported complaints, investigations and safety data

Data refreshed

Owner complaintsComplaints 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.
1
+1 complaint in 30 days
Safety recallsA safety recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle has a safety-related defect or does not comply with a federal motor vehicle safety standard. Recall repairs are free. Whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN — a recall listed for a model year does not necessarily apply to every vehicle of that year.
0
InvestigationsNHTSA opens an investigation to examine whether a safety defect may exist. An open investigation is not a determination that a defect exists, and many investigations close without a recall. Investigations can, however, lead to one.
0
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

Overview

Our database contains 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 2026 Audi S5, most frequently naming the brakes and driver assistance categories. 190 manufacturer communications are on file.

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

What owners report

Complaints grouped by the component NHTSA recorded

  • Brakes150.0%
  • Driver assistance150.0%

Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.

Safety recalls

No recalls in our database for this model year

That does not guarantee a specific vehicle is unaffected — recalls are issued against VINs, and new campaigns are announced regularly. Check a VIN on NHTSA.gov.

Recent owner complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA, shown in the owner's own words

BrakesDriver assistance
Filed Sep 3, 2026

Summary of Safety Event: While traveling at highway speeds with active traffic behind me, the vehicle’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) suffered an un-commanded, severe "phantom braking" event. The vehicle aggressively engaged the emergency service brakes and decelerated rapidly with absolutely no obstacles, pedestrians, or vehicles ahead. This sudden, violent deceleration created an immediate and high-risk rear-end collision hazard.Cascading Component Failures:In tandem with the dangerous autonomous braking behavior, the vehicle's electronic architecture (E³ 1.2 platform) is exhibiting chronic software instability. The High-Performance Computing infotainment stack continuously enters an internal network routing loop, displaying "Hotspot Reconfiguring" error messages. This completely crashes the cloud connectivity, signs out the primary driver profile, and force-reboots the central MMI display screen and wireless Android Auto interfaces mid-drive.Manufacturer Actions & Hazard Status:I have contacted the manufacturer (Audi of America) and local dealership service networks regarding these systemic software and safety issues, which Audi documents under master overview Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) 2081477. The vehicle currently poses an active safety risk to myself and surrounding motorists due to unpredictable braking behavior. The manufacturer has not yet provided a date to flash the corrected firmware containers (KD2* software update) to resolve the sensor fusion logic flaws.

NHTSA ID
11761885
Incident
Aug 24, 2026

Manufacturer communications

A bulletin sent by a manufacturer to its dealers. Not a recall, and repairs are not necessarily free.

TSB_2083135_1

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

This bulletin provides information for new Key User pairing for all PPX vehicles with Audi connect.

TSB_2078794_3

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

This bulletin provides information when the digital key cannot be adapted.

TSB_2083083_2

STEERING

This bulletin provides information when diagnostic address 0044 (steering) cannot be reached.

TSB_2082285_2

ENGINE

This repair authorization requests that technicians open a ticket with the Technical Assistance Center in instances where the DTC P060C00 is stored with sumptom code 45618; Drive system fault.

TSB_2082976_2

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

This bulletin provides general information about the current tpp issues for Audi connect.

TSB_2077331_6

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

This bulletin provides information when Digital Key activation cannot be completed with Audi connect.

Manufacturers file copies of the bulletins they send to dealers with NHTSA. These often describe diagnostic or repair procedures for a known condition. They are not recalls: repairs described in a bulletin are usually only free if the vehicle is still under warranty or the manufacturer has extended coverage.

Compare model years

Complaint and recall counts across every year of this model

Audi S5 by model year
YearComplaintsRecallsInvestigationsIssue Index
2027000—
2026Viewing100—
2025112056.2
2024200—
2023310—
2022120—
2021150—
2020254040.4
2019640—
2018262055.1
2017000—
2016100—
2015200—
2014600—
2013160035.3
2012101034.5
2011810—
2010200028.5
2009000—
2008300—

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. Older model years have had longer for reports to accumulate.