2015 Audi S3

No clear pattern

0% of complaints about the 2015 Audi S3 arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2015 vehicle, but with only 72 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is air bags (29 complaints), typically at 6.2 yr or about 52,000 miles.

Complaints: 72
Median age at failure: 6.1 yr
Median mileage: 45,000 n=29
Crash / fire / tow: 1.4% of reports
Safety recalls: 2

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

21V198000 2021-03-22

Air bags:sensor:occupant classification:front passenger

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Audi S3 Sedan, A3 Sedan, 2016-2018 A3 Etron, 2017-2020 RS3 Sedan, and 2015-2019 A3 Cabriolet vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may malfunction and switch off the passenger air bag even when the seat is occupied.

A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

19V474000 2019-06-19

Air bags:sensor:occupant classification

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2015-2016 Audi S3 Sedan, 2015-2019 A3 Sedan and A3 Cabriolet, 2016-2018 A3 e-tron, and 2017-2019 RS3 vehicles. An improper electrical contact may cause the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) to falsely detect a malfunction and deactivate the passenger air bag.

A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

In owners’ own words

Air bags 52,000 mi 4.0 yr in service

MY CAR'S PASSENGER SIDE FRONT SEAT ABRUPTLY DEVELOPED A SENSOR FAILURE. THE "PASSENGER AIRBAG OFF" LIGHT IS LIT, SIGNALING THE AIRBAG WON'T DEPLOY DESPITE A PASSENGER SITTING IN THE SEAT. THIS IS DANGEROUS. THERE HAS BEEN A RECALL ISSUED IN JUNE 2018 ON 140K AUDI CARS WITH SIMILAR PROBLEM, MY MODEL HAS YET TO BE INCLUDED, AND THERE ARE LIKELY MORE CARS WITH SIMILAR MALFUNCTION.

Air bags mileage not reported 4.2 yr in service

PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR SRS AIRBAG LIGHT WARNING COMES UP WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS A SEATED PASSENGER. PASSENGER IS NOT BEING DETECTED AND AIRBAG STAYS OFF. HAPPENS WHEN STATIONARY OR IN MOTION. VEHICLE IS ALWAYS GIVING WARNING SOUNDS THAT SEAT BELT IS NOT FASTENED. ISSUE TESTED BY DEALER. SEEMS TO BE COMMON KNOWN ISSUE WITH RECENT AUDI'S. OTHERS TO HAVE REPORTED SAME ISSUE.

Air bags 39,000 mi 4.8 yr in service

MY PASSENGER SEAT AIRBAG LIGHT STARTED COMING IN RANDOMLY. I THINK IT MIGHT BE THE SENSOR THAT SEES IF A SMALL CHILD IS IN THE SEAT, IN WHICH CASE IT TURNS OFF THE AIRBAG. BUT, WHEN NO ONE IS IN THE SEAT, I GET AN ALERT EVERY TIME I START THE CAR, AND IT BEEPS FOR MINUTES. PLUS, I THINK ITS TELLING ME THE AIRBAG WILL NOT DEPLOY IF WRECKED! MY CAR IS JUST OUT OF WARRANTY (4.5 YEARS OLD, 39K MILES)

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2015 Audi S3

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

How to read this