2003 Audi A6 — reported problems
CarFaultIQ holds 216 evidence records for the 2003 Audi A6, drawn from official sources and owner complaints.
What owners report: issue areas
Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 85 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.
- Fuel system23 (27.1%)Official recall records for this system: 22, covering model years 1998–2022.
- Electrical system15 (17.6%)Official recall records for this system: 16, covering model years 1995–2022.
- Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)11 (12.9%)
- Brakes6 (7.1%)Official recall records for this system: 5, covering model years 1997–2021.
- Engine6 (7.1%)Official recall records for this system: 5, covering model years 1998–2022.
- Tires & wheels6 (7.1%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2001–2021.
Other / uncategorized: 1 classifications (1.2%) 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 (3,346 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, air bags (restraint system) and fuel system.
- Safety recalls (198 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), fuel system and electrical system.
- Transport Canada recalls (162 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: fuel system, air bags (restraint system) and electrical system.
- Manufacturer communications (25,865 records, model years 1995–2026) are most frequently classified under: electrical system, equipment & accessories 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
Mileage reported when the issue occurred
- 50reports included a mileage
- 75,791average of those mileages
This is the mileage owners recorded at the time they reported, not an expected failure mileage and not a prediction for any individual vehicle. The lowest and highest figures on record are not shown: they are unverified odometer entries that include zeros and implausibly high readings, so they would not describe a real range. A median is not shown either, because the stored figures are group totals and a median cannot be recovered from them.
Evidence by model year
Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.
- 1995 54 records for 1995
- 1996 94 records for 1996
- 1997 66 records for 1997
- 1998 234 records for 1998
- 1999 309 records for 1999
- 2000 258 records for 2000
- 2001 233 records for 2001
- 2002 226 records for 2002
- 2003 216 records for 2003
- 2004 194 records for 2004
- 2005 479 records for 2005
- 2006 492 records for 2006
- 2007 475 records for 2007
- 2008 574 records for 2008
- 2009 738 records for 2009
- 2010 838 records for 2010
- 2011 979 records for 2011
- 2012 1,565 records for 2012
- 2013 1,714 records for 2013
- 2014 1,419 records for 2014
- 2015 1,127 records for 2015
- 2016 1,056 records for 2016
- 2017 756 records for 2017
- 2018 696 records for 2018
- 2019 1,577 records for 2019
- 2020 1,408 records for 2020
- 2021 1,364 records for 2021
- 2022 1,103 records for 2022
- 2023 968 records for 2023
- 2024 813 records for 2024
- 2025 533 records for 2025
- 2026 289 records for 2026
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
- 5mention a fire
- 1mention 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 7
- Manufacturer communications NHTSA 138
- Investigations NHTSA 1
- Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 4
- Owner complaints NHTSA 66
Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle
These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.
A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.
Where to go next
- Audi A6 coverage hub Published problems, year windows and buyer guidance for this model.
- Evidence Explorer — the underlying records Read the individual recalls, investigations, manufacturer communications and complaints these counts come from.
- All model years of the Audi A6 Compare how much evidence is held for each year before narrowing to one.
- Browse all vehicle coverage Every make and model CarFaultIQ has published coverage for.