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2003 Audi A4 airbags problems

12 complaints (6% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 75,000. 6 crashes reported.

owner complaints
12
of this car's complaints
6%
typical mileage
75,000
crashes
6
recalls
0

Which part fails

  • Frontal
    2

At what mileage

Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.

0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+

Audi A4 airbags problems in other years

199620002005201020152024

Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Audi A4 airbags

Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.

No deployment 5

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

What 2003 Audi A4 owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Jan 3, 2023 · Airbags, Electrical · TX

Water pump failed inside lights sometimes work and signal lights aren’t accurate

Filed May 10, 2016 · Airbags · 120,000 miles · CA · crash · 2 injuries

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 audi a4. The contact stated that while driving at low speeds and switching lanes, another vehicle driving at high speeds crashed into the rear of the vehicle. The other vehicle then spun around and crashed into the front of the vehicle impacting the drivers side and the front passengers side. The air bags did not deploy. The rear passengers seat belt restrained a child passenger tightly who then received ash marks and light abrasions from the impact. The drivers head hit the steering wheel that cause extensive head aches that required medical attention. The child passenger and the driver were taken for medical testing. The vehicle was towed by the insurance company and then towed to the contacts residence. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

Filed May 6, 2016 · Airbags · 40 miles · CA · crash · 2 injuries

Takata recall I have a 2003 audi a4 I was sideswiped recently causing significant amount of driver side damage which one of the airbags deployed I'm suffering from the injury

Filed May 10, 2014 · Airbags · 75,000 miles · CA

Air bag warning light came on. Took car into auto repair shop and was told it is a wiring problem and the front seat needs to be removed to make the repairs. I searched the internet and was shocked to see many reports of the same problem. Even more shocking is that audi sells a repair kit for $60-$70 to fix the problem. So audi makes a defective product that affects an important safety feature and instead of recalling the cars and fixing the problem for free they sell a repair kit and profit from their negligence. Hope the government will remedy this situation. If you search this model and year car you will see it has a known timing belt defect, a known oil problem, plus the car is defective in oh so many parts. Hello national safety transportation board- wake up!

Filed Sep 26, 2013 · Airbags · 138,000 miles · GA

My audi would not start. Had car towed to car repair shop near. The repair shop charged my battery and it started promptly. Mechanic left engine running for a few minutes and then suddenly there was a loud boooom, it sounded like a gun shot. Smoke immediately started coming from the cabin of the car. The airbags (driver and passenger side) had deployed while the car was parked and engine running... No impact. I filmed the immediate aftermath of the explosion...the video is here http://youtu.be/wbcnxzaygp0 I called audi and they told me to take the car to jim ellis audi (atlanta). They "researched the issue" and sent their findings to audi north america who are saying that they will not fix car due to corrosion in the airbag module. The car has never been flood damaged and I have not made a habit of leaving sun roof open so that the interior is drenched in water causing electrical issues. This as a matter of poor design and audi is shirking their responsibility of designing certain components safely (I.e. No risk of corrosion) so that airbags do not deploy by themselves. I could have been on the highway doing 80 and crashed into a wall or a semi-truck had this happened while driving. Many other peoples lives could be at risk due to this very issue. I was fortunate. This is a matter of principal and audi should design their cars better especially for components that have life and death implications.

Filed Apr 20, 2012 · Airbags · 105,000 miles · MA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 audi a4. While parked, the contact noticed that the air bag warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the outside metal of the air bag sensor and circuit board were severely corroded. The contact replaced the air bag sensor. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.

Filed Nov 15, 2006 · Airbags, Electrical · 70,000 miles · CA · 1 injury

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 45 MPH on a city street, the passenger side airbag deployed without warning. The passenger was wearing a seat belt, but minor injuries were sustained. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who determined the factory stereo wiring was entangled with the airbag wiring which resulted in the airbag deployment. The manufacturer was not alerted.

Filed Jul 27, 2006 · Airbags · 68,049 miles · NJ

Affected vehicle: 2003 audi a4 sedan. Air bag failure light remained on, no prior accident or event that caused the failure light to remain on. Had problem diagnosed by audi dealership and it was found to be caused by a faulty airbag igniter in the steering wheel. Igniter replaced with a new part from audi but was not covered under warranty or recall. Transport canada has a recall on this problem for the same vehicle, 2003 audi a4. Transport canada recall # is 2002221 and details can be found on: (http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/recalls/recall_e.asp?recno=10276&). Transport canada reports that canadian audi dealers will replace the airbag units on all affected vehicles. The federal safety agency has a similar recall for the 2003 audi a6 and the federal safety agency recall id is 02v275000 and details can be found on: (http://www.automallusa.net/2003/audi/a6/recalls.html). The federal safety agency reports that audi USA dealers will replace the air bags on all affected vehicles.

Filed Sep 1, 2005 · Airbags · NJ · crash · 2 injuries

Our brand new 2003 audi a4 was rear-ended by a ford f-550 traveling at approx. 55 MPH. The ford f-550 did not brake before impact and hit the audi with such force that it impacted the vehicle immediately in front which hit that vehicle in front of it. All were stopped for a traffic light. My wife, the only occupant and driver, had to be cut out of the audi. She suffered permanent brain injury as a result of hitting the rear-view mirror and windshield. She also suffered numerous other injuries. She hit the steering wheel with such force as to bend the bottom of the wheel inward. My complaint...the driver air-bag did not deploy while the passenger side air-bag did deploy. Had the drivers side air-bag deployed, she may have not suffered brain injury from this event. I've contacted audi several times for an explanation with "bs" answers. I finally told them that they should have at least given her a new car. Perhaps I'm a bit naive. In any event, I'm certain that the air-bag should have deployed had it been working properly.

Filed Jun 27, 2005 · Airbags · 14,300 miles · CT · crash · 1 injury

My audi a4 broadsided a toyata avalon (rear passenger side). Police estimate impact speed of approx. 40 MPH. No airbags deployed in audi.

Questions about the 2003 Audi A4 airbags

Does the 2003 Audi A4 have airbags problems?

Owners have filed 12 complaints about the airbags of the 2003 Audi A4, 6% of all its complaints.

At what mileage do 2003 Audi A4 airbags problems start?

The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 75,000 miles.

Was there a recall on the 2003 Audi A4 airbags?

There is no recall for this problem on this model year.

What year does the Audi A4 have bad airbags?

The Audi A4 model years with the most airbags complaints are 2007 (119 complaints), 2008 (116 complaints) and 2006 (73 complaints).

Other 2003 Audi A4 problems

Fuel system 51Transmission 43Electrical 32Engine 24Lights 23Acceleration 22Visibility 20Body 14Steering 7Tires 6Driver assistance 3Suspension 3Brakes 2Seats 2Wheels 2Locks 1Seat belts 1

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