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Audi A5 screen failure problems

18 of the 325 owner complaints about the Audi A5 describe screen or infotainment failure, most of them for the 2020 model year.

owner complaints
18
worst model year
2020
Is there a fix? There are 2 recalls for this area of the car. See below

By model year

What owners say

Filed Jul 11, 2026 · Driver assistance, Electrical · GA

The MMI infotainment head unit reboots spontaneously and repeatedly while the vehicle is in operation. The screen freezes, goes black, and restarts, reliably within 7-8 minutes of completing the previous boot. This repeats continuously for the duration of any drive. I have verified this is not related to a connected phone. I tested with three different phones on three different operating systems, and with no phone connected and powered off entirely. The reboot cycle occurs identically in all cases, whenever the vehicle is running. The critical safety failure: if the vehicle is placed in reverse near the time of a reboot, the crash disables all Parking Assist functions. The rear backup camera becomes fully inoperable while the vehicle is actively backing up, and the side cameras are sometimes lost as well. The Parking Assist system, including the backup camera, remains offline until the vehicle is shut off and left sitting for 15 to 30 minutes. There is no warning before this occurs. This means the federally mandated rear visibility system can and does fail without warning during the exact maneuver it exists to make safe. I have video documenting the backup camera being disabled while reversing. The vehicle has been to the dealer for these concerns. A software update was performed per Audi TSB on 3/27/2026 (RO 356075) and did not resolve the issue. The vehicle was diagnosed again 7/1/2026 through 7/9/2026 (RO 361320) and the dealer was unable to duplicate the concerns at that time. The reboot behavior has since become continuous and reproducible.

Filed Oct 18, 2025 · Electrical · FL

Audi USA sent me a recall letter/service action for Infotainment System Software. The system reboots and shuts down unexpectedly while driving. Took the car to a local Audi dealership and they informed me that they cannot repair the recall because they now want to change my SOS module in order for both to work. They are asking me to pay them $1,500 for that. Meanwhile they informed me that my SOS system is not working either because of that, and I cannot use.

Filed Aug 5, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · FL

The Multi-Media Interface (MMI) randomly reboots and poses a safety hazard. Several times while reversing using my backup camera, the MMI has rebooted which causes the camera to go blank. This poses a risk to back up into an object or a person during this time. Also during this time, the Rear Cross Traffic Warning system is disabled until the system reboots. Also, while using navigation, the MMI has rebooted on me several times. It has occurred during critical times such as exiting freeways at high speeds. When this occurs it is terribly distracting and could cause an accident. The problem has been re-produced by my dealer. They said it needed a software upgrade and performed that. It worked better for a couple days but is now back to rebooting spontaneously. There were no warning lamps or messages indicating the fault will be occurring. It just reboots and the MMI goes totally blank for about 20 seconds while the system reboots. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to when it will reboot. I can drive for 20 minutes and it may happen 4 times and then another time drive for an hour and never have it happen. Lately, it has gotten so bad I drive my son's car if it is available due to the safety concerns.

Filed Aug 3, 2025 · Electrical · FL

The MMI which controls back up and 360 cameras, parking sensors, collision avoidance system, navigation, bluetooth, radio, etc reboots randomly without warning. There is no predictability and I have not been able to identify a trigger. There is no warning indicator on the dash or MMI before it happens. When it reboots the screen goes black and all associated MMI functions become inoperable for seconds to minutes. It then restarts and often makes me log back in before I am able to use it again. It happens multiple times, sometimes over a dozen in a short drive and often happens just several minutes apart. It has rebooted while I am pulling into my garage, parking, or backing up and actively using the cameras which poses a serious safety issue. It also occurs often when using bluetooth which can be a distraction, pulling my eyes off the road to grab my phone. This seems to be a widespread problem with Audi MMI which has not been addressed and is a safety concern for all models affected. The dealerships know it is happening due to the amount of complaints, but will not update software and want me to pay a diagnostic fee + upgrade + labor.

Filed Jul 17, 2025 · Electrical · WA

Infotainment system restarts every 2 minutes. The entire system is unusable. This affects my safety because the radio static would come on every time it reboots at a loud volume. It is very distracting as it happens at every reboot revery 2 minutes. The screen keeps turning on and off is also very distracting. This has not been inspected by anyone but me. I see this problem surfacing online everywhere: [XXX] No warning message. First appear in March, restarting every few hours, but last few days it restarts every couple minutes. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 16, 2025 · Electrical · CO

MMI turns off about every 2-mins and restarts on its own. Everything(Radio+navigation+Airplay+Sound) restarts and its extremely distracting while driving(missing turns+Disconnect hans off calls etc).This has been going on for approximately 4 days.

Filed Jul 16, 2025 · Driver assistance, Electrical · CA

My media display will randomly turn off while driving, idling and parking. It will happen with Apple CarPlay connection and without anything connected, ie just listening to radio. It requires the whole system to reboot an attempt to login, which also often fails. This is a safety concern for both driver and pedestrians as it affects parking visibility when the systems reboots while parking. Also, when shifting into reverse I've noticed a sluggish rear camera activation. The camera output on the display fades up much slower.

Filed Jul 13, 2025 · Electrical · VA

The MMI/ radio shuts off and reboots at least 4-5 times within a 30 minute drive. When it comes back up, I get the error “user hasn’t been detected for some time” or "A technical error has occurred. The user could not be loaded". I have had it go out while in reverse which is a safety concern. Every time it shuts off it is 30 seconds to a minute where nothing in my MMI is accessible. This began around April of 2025. No warning lights or error codes have been found. I have not taken it in for diagnosis, as it seems to be software related. It seems a lot of people are experiencing the same issue and how it may be related to software updates. It is very frustrating, and provides potential safety concerns as access to any GPS services, backup cameras, and any feature tied to the MMI go completely blank while driving or reversing.

Filed Jul 12, 2025 · Electrical · FL

The MMI/ radio shuts off and reboots at least every 5-6 minutes. When it comes back up, I get the error “user hasn’t been detected for some time”. Every time it shuts off it is 30 seconds to a minute where nothing in my MMI is accessible. This began around late June of 2025. No warning lights or error codes have been found. I have not taken it in for diagnosis, as it seems to be software related.I know a lot of people that are experiencing the same issue and how it may be related to software updates, as the current software I have matches what the others have. This is very dangerous as access to any GPS services, backup cameras, and any feature tied to the MMI go completely blank while driving.

Filed Jul 7, 2025 · Electrical · CO

The MMI/ radio shuts off and reboots at least 4-5 times within a 30 minute drive. When it comes back up, I get the error “user hasn’t been detected for some time”. I have had it go out while in reverse which is a safety concern. Every time it shuts off it is 30 seconds to a minute where nothing in my MMI is accessible. This began around April of 2025. No warning lights or error codes have been found. I have not taken it in for diagnosis, as it seems to be software related. [XXX] This link shows a lot of people that are experiencing the same issue and how it may be related to software updates, as the current software I have matches what is in the link and is incredibly outdated and old. Never once has it been addressed by the company. It is incredibly frustrating, and provides potential safety concerns as access to any GPS services, backup cameras, and any feature tied to the MMI go completely blank while driving. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Related recalls

Electrical systemReported November 25, 2020 · 5,426 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2021 Audi RS5 Sportback, 2020-2021 Audi A5 Sportback, and S5 Sportback vehicles. The wiring harness for the rear lights could be missing the anti-abrasion protection in the area of the spare wheel well.
Risk
Without the scuff protection, the wires may become damaged during a rear crash, disabling the doors from being opened from the outside, causing a loss of hazard lights, and increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy
Audi will notify owners, and dealers will apply scuff protection, free of charge. The recall began January 21, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1‑800‑253‑2834. Audi's number for this recall is 97EU.

Recall number 20V737000 · Recall details

Electrical system: wiringReported October 5, 2017 · 216,913 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2013-2016 Audi A5 Coupe, A5 Cabriolet, A4 Sedan, A4 Allroad and Q5 vehicles. Contact corrosion within the electrical connector for the auxiliary heater may cause the heater wires to overheat or melt.
Risk
The melted wires can increase the risk of a fire.
Remedy
Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the auxiliary heater and, as necessary, update the software, free of charge. The Recall began November 27, 2017. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1‑800‑893‑5298. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 80C5 and 80C6.

Recall number 17V622000 · Recall details

Questions about the Audi A5 screen failure

Which Audi A5 years have screen or infotainment failure problems?

The model years with the most reports are 2020 (16 complaints), 2021 (1 complaints) and 2025 (1 complaints).

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