2012 Audi S5 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (8) · Power Train (1) · Electrical System (1)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Audi S5 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (1)
Fuel System, Gasoline:fuel Injection System:fuel Rail 2015-01-20 · campaign 15V019000 · 26,008 vehicles
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 Audi S4, S5, Q7, 2012 Audi A6, Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid, and 2012-2013 Audi A7 vehicles. In the affected vehicles the fuel injection system may experience a fuel leak.
Risk: A fuel leak in the injection system in the presence of an ignition source, increases the risk of a fire.
Fix: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel rails and corresponding seals, free of charge. The recall began on March 17, 2015. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-822-2834 or Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 24AP for Audi customers and 24BK for Volkswagen customers.
Service bulletins (733)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-25 · TSB_2083409_1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin states that technicians are required to report to the manufacturer when a vehicle has flooded, and specify the height to which the vehicle has been flooded.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-25 · TSB_2052680_2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information for reporting safety related information to the manufacturer.
Steering 2026-09-22 · TSB_2074846_5 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information about vibrations and rotational steering vibrations.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-15 · TSB_2030471_9 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information when the license plate mounting bracket threded inserts are stripped.
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-26 · TSB_2074436_3 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information when the horn sound quality is poor.
Service Brakes 2026-08-21 · TSB_2069904_3 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information for all models regarding brake sounds.
Showing the 6 most recent of 733 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2022-05-25 · Air Bags“i am affected by recall 69r6 for this vehicle. i moved to germany in 2012 and took my car with me. audi in germany refused to honor the recall claiming that it is not applicable to germany due to different "climate conditions". what can i do (other than shipping the car back to the us) ? thanks…”
2021-03-22 · Electrical System · 40,000 mi“the car's backup camera feed has a lot of issues for many owners, myself included. there is a probably 10% chance of the backup camera not turning on when i first start the car each time. lots of other owners are having similar issues on the a5/s5/rs5 platform from similar years. if you google the following: "site:a5oc.com backup camera" you can…”
2020-06-24 · Power Train · 76,456 mi“i get the gearbox malfunction and tpms light flashing and the car jerks and stutters especially from start and coming to a stop. when stopping, it feels like someone hit you from behind. ran the codes and it is a mechatronic malfunction/failure. *tr…”
2017-11-01 · Air Bags · 70,000 mi“ft. collins dealer says replacement airbags not available…”
2017-08-01 · Air Bags“takata recall.safety recall 69n2. i continue to get defect notices from audi but no one at audi has any idea when the replacement or repair parts will be available. when and where will the repair parts be available is my question?…”
2017-05-01 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2012 audi s5. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 16v078000 (air bags); however, the parts to do the repair were unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was unable to confirm when the parts would …”
2017-01-30 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2012 audi s5. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 16v078000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. the contact had n…”
2017-01-29 · Air Bags“takata recall. driver frontal airbag inflator could potentially rupture. repeated call and inquiries to audi dealer about remedy with no timetable provided. i was told that no airbags have thusfar been repaired or replaced with no estimate of when part will be available. it has been almost one year since recall. unacceptable.…”
2017-01-20 · Air Bags“tikata airbag recall audi sent a recall letter several months ago (04/2016) but still has not developed a solution for the airbag issue. is it safe to drive our car? audi says it is safe but based on the nhtsa recall it is not safe to drive our car.…”
2016-07-12 · Air Bags“tl* the contact owns a 2012 audi s5. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 16v078000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was not available. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. the contact had not experience…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.