2018 Audi A3 — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 47 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Air bags (restraint system)17 (36.2%)Official recall records for this system: 20, covering model years 2006–2023.
• Fuel system5 (10.6%)Official recall records for this system: 9, covering model years 2006–2020.
• Electrical system4 (8.5%)
• Engine4 (8.5%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2017–2018.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)4 (8.5%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2009–2010.
• Tires & wheels3 (6.4%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 2019–2020.

Other / uncategorized: 4 classifications (8.5%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (1,440 records, model years 2006–2025) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and fuel system.
• Transport Canada recalls (100 records, model years 2006–2023) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), fuel system and child seats.
• Manufacturer communications (13,837 records, model years 2006–2026) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and engine.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 2006 480 records for 2006 480
2. 2007 432 records for 2007 432
3. 2008 527 records for 2008 527
4. 2009 639 records for 2009 639
5. 2010 875 records for 2010 875
6. 2011 898 records for 2011 898
7. 2012 925 records for 2012 925
8. 2013 879 records for 2013 879
9. 2015 732 records for 2015 732
10. 2016 580 records for 2016 580
11. 2017 625 records for 2017 625
12. 2018 665 records for 2018 665
13. 2019 710 records for 2019 710
14. 2020 738 records for 2020 738
15. 2022 809 records for 2022 809
16. 2023 715 records for 2023 715
17. 2024 623 records for 2024 623
18. 2025 436 records for 2025 436
19. 2026 147 records for 2026 147

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 1mention a crash
• 2mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 2
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 620
• Investigations NHTSA 2
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 8
• Owner complaints NHTSA 33

Explore the underlying evidence records