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Check by VIN to confirm the
exact model and see every recall for it.
Recalls are issued for a make, model and model year. Whether the repair has already been done on one specific car is known only to its manufacturer and dealers. Check your vehicle's official status at nhtsa.gov/recalls or with a dealer.
US recalls (4)
Air bags: sensor, occupant classification
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.
Risk and remedy
Risk: A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and update the PODS control module, free of charge. Owners letters were mailed December 23, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69BY.
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.
Risk and remedy
Risk: A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Remedy: Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the connector and reroute the cable, free of charge. The recall began September 12, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 69Z4.
Seats: mid/rear assembly
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Audi A3 sedan and RS3 vehicles. The latching pins for the center rear seat head restraint may be missing.
Risk and remedy
Risk: In the event of a crash, the head restraint may detach and cause injury to the vehicle occupants.
Remedy: Audi has notified owners, and dealers will inspect the head restraints, replacing any that are missing pins, free of charge. The recall began on March 7, 2019. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 72I8.
Seats: mid/rear assembly
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen e-Golf and Golf R vehicles, and Audi A3 Sedan and RS3 vehicles. The rear seat frame head restraint guide sleeves may be incorrectly welded to the seat frame.
Risk and remedy
Risk: If the guide sleeves are incorrectly welded, in the event of a crash, the rear seat head restraints may have reduced stability, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy: Volkswagen and Audi will notify their owners, and dealers will inspect the guide sleeves for incorrect welds, replacing the rear seat frame, as necessary, free of charge. The recall began December 28, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298 or Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 72H8 (VW) and 72H9(Audi).
Canadian recalls (5)
Show 5 Canadian recalls
Airbag
2021-03-22 · campaign 2021-169
Issue:
On certain vehicles, the passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may not work properly. This could cause the airbag system to turn off the passenger-front airbag even when a person is seated in the front passenger seat.
Note: This problem would cause an error message to display on the instrument panel and a warning chime to sound. The airbag indicator light would also display "passenger airbag off".
Safety Risk:
An airbag that is turned off when it should be turned on could increase the risk of injury to a passenger in a crash.
Corrective Actions:
Audi will notify owners by mail. The corrective actions for this recall are under development. To reduce the safety risk, Audi recommends that if the PODS in your vehicle is not working properly, you should contact an Audi dealer for assistance right away and not transport a person in the front-passenger seat until the PODS has been repaired.
Lights and instruments
2020-10-20 · campaign 2020-499
Issue:
On certain vehicles, when switching the distance display setting from kilometers to miles, the speedometer displays the vehicle speed in miles per hour (mph) only. Canadian regulations require that speed be displayed in either kilometers per hour (km/h) or in both km/h and mph.
Safety Risk:
This small error does not affect vehicle safety.
Corrective Actions:
This is not a recall. Volkswagen has made changes to ensure that all new vehicle speedometers display mph and km/h when the display distance is set to miles.
Airbag
2019-06-19 · campaign 2019-308
Issue:
On certain vehicles, there could be a loose wiring connection for the passenger occupant detection system (PODS). This could cause the airbag system to turn off the passenger-front airbag even though the seat may be occupied. Note: This problem would cause an error message to display on the instrument panel and a warning chime to sound. The airbag indicator light would also display "passenger airbag off".
Safety Risk:
An airbag that is turned off could increase the risk of injury to a passenger in a crash.
Corrective Actions:
The company will notify owners by mail and instruct them to take their vehicle to a dealer to install a new connector for the passenger occupant detection system. The wiring will also be re-routed under the seat.
Seats and restraints
2019-02-13 · campaign 2019-068
Issue:
On certain vehicles, the center-rear seat head restraint may detach in a crash.
Safety Risk:
If the head restraint detaches in a crash, it could increase the risk of injury to occupants.
Corrective Actions:
The company will notify owners by mail. Owners will be instructed to take their vehicle to a dealer to have the center-rear seat head restraint inspected. If the latching pins are missing, the head restraint will be replaced.
Structure
2018-11-14 · campaign 2018-626 · 305 vehicles
On certain vehicles, the rear seat head restraint guides may not have been properly welded to the seat frame. In a crash, the rear seat head restraints may not remain in place, increasing the risk of injury to vehicle occupants. Correction: Dealers will inspect the rear seat frame, and if the head restraint guide sleeve welds are found to be insufficient, it will be replaced.
Owner complaints (13)
Owners filed 13 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Audi RS 3. Among 6 model years of this model, it ranks #1 for the most complaints (median 1).
| Most-reported problem | Complaints | |
|---|
| Air bags | 5 | |
| Fuel/propulsion system | 4 | |
| Engine | 2 | |
| Lane departure | 2 | |
| Electrical system | 2 | |
| Unknown or other | 2 | |
| Seats | 1 | |
| Power train | 1 | |
Crash test ratings
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings for the 2018 Audi RS 3.
| Version | Overall | Frontal | Side | Rollover |
|---|
| 2018 Audi RS3 4 DR AWD | – | – | – | 4★ |
Fuel economy
EPA ratings for each 2018 Audi RS 3 version.
| Version | City MPG | Highway MPG | Combined | Yearly fuel cost |
|---|
| RS 3 2.5 L Automatic (AM-S7) | 19 | 28 | 22 | $3,750 |
Need this data in your app?
Recalls, complaints, crash ratings and fuel economy as a JSON API. Decode up to 50 VINs per call and get a daily feed of new recalls.
Explore the API →Sources: NHTSA recalls, complaints and 5-Star Safety Ratings, US EPA fuel economy and Transport
Canada's Vehicle Recalls Database (contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada).
Recalls updated 2026-10-30.