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What 36 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 Audi A3

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (36)Airbags (15)Electrical system (10)Fuel system (10)Engine (7)Transmission & drivetrain (6)Seats (3)Driver assistance (2)Lights (2)Seat belts (2)Body & structure (1)

6 of 36 complaints match · Transmission & drivetrain · clear filters

Jan 21, 2025Transmission & drivetrain

Car throws P2884 and the internal combustion motor will not start. The issue is gone into detail here: [XXX] recommendation is swapping out mechatronic unit for the upgraded unit. Since the unit is prone to failure this really should be a recall. It happens on all cars 2016/2017 years right around 60k miles. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11637424

Dec 17, 2023Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemFuel system

The high voltage battery no longer charges to full. Only 7 out of 8 possible indicator bars are illuminated, the car now only shows 17-20 miles available. When I purchased the car 3 years ago, it showed 28-29 miles available. Car was at Audi dealership, got tested, Audi says it's within tolerance. I disagree, 30% to 40% of the capacity is lost so far. There are many more owners that are reporting the same issue on the Facebook Audi A3 group.

NHTSA ODI 11560571

Aug 16, 2023Transmission & drivetrainElectrical systemAirbags

“Transmission Malfunction/no reverse gear. Okay to continue driving” comes on constantly the past 2 years now. I’ve only had this vehicle 3 years. Yes , it is available for inspection. This puts my safety and the safety of my other passengers at risk because my vehicle will abruptly slow down in fast flowing traffic and it will uncontrollably accelerate when it’s time to come to complete stops. A local mechanic used a sensor to check for faulty defects and confirmed that my transmission is having sensor issues. There has never been any warning lamps , regarding this problem. There have been no prior warning messages regarding this issue. I purchased this vehicle from Audi Dealership in Van Nuys, CA in November 2020. I have had this vehicle less than 3 years & as of now , it has less than 35,000 miles on it.

NHTSA ODI 11538951

Jul 24, 2023Transmission & drivetrain

This concerns a recall issued. Audi issued a recall/reimbursement for transmission failure. Mine failed. Car stopped in the middle of roadway. I had transmission repaired before recall was issued. I have attempeted reimbursement and am denied by audi due to my vehicle being a theft recovery. However they have performed multiple recalls on this vehicle since I have owned it with the theft recovery title. They also performed the transmission reprogram after I had it fixed at no charge. NHSTA itself states salvage/rebuilt title is no reason for not performing a recall except in exceptional circumstances when car is no longer drivable. I am asking for help in getting audi to honor the recall. Had I been on the highway I would have been smashed when the car shut down.

NHTSA ODI 11534031

Oct 12, 2022Transmission & drivetrainFuel system

2017 Audi A3 Etron Sportsback- Engine light turned on at 50k, when scanned for errors no codes. Then around 55k miles started to stall when slowing down or at a full stop. The car must be turned off then immediately go into drive. Felt very dangerous when driving in high traffic areas and areas with many stop lights/signs. Car error say Transmission Malfunction first then says something about Limited Power. We had changed ATF and filter, still had issues. Then it started to not allow to go into reverse. Issues were intermittently happening then became more constant. Finally towed to Audi dealer they are not 100% but they say a new transmission is needed. After seeing complaints of similar situation I think this should be a recall on the transmission for these cars.

NHTSA ODI 11488888

Mar 12, 2021Transmission & drivetrainEngineFuel system

2017 AUDI A3 SEDAN- WITH AROUND 47,000 MILES -STALLED OUT IN DRIVE THRU AND AT A RED LIGHT INTERSECTION. TWICE. ALMOST GOT IN 2 ACCIDENTS WHILE DRIVING ONCE ON THE HIGHWAY AND ONCE ON A CITY ROAD. ENGINE LIGHT ON DASH WAS BLINKING. CODE READER INITIALLY WAS READING P0300, P0301 AND P0302 .. MULTIPLE CYLINDER MISFIRES. TOWED CAR TO AUDI, AND THEY DID COMPLETE MAINTENANCE SERVICE. RAN CODES AND NOW ALL OF THE SUDDEN IT NEED A NEW TRANSMISSION AND THE CODE IS P0172 BANK 1 SYSTEM TOO RICH. I NOTICED THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THE THE ENGINE CONTROL UNIT (ECU) SOFTWARE AND WHICH CAN AFFECT AIR / FUEL MIXTURE WHICH MAKES ME THINK THAT THIS RECALL WAS PROBABLY THE CAUSE, BECAUSE PO172 CODE CAN BE DUE TO THE AIR/ FUEL MIXTURE GETTING TOO FAR FROM FACTORY SPECS. MY CAR HAS BEEN AT THE DEALERSHIP FOR 6 WEEKS, THE TRANSMISSION WAS FINALLY REPLACED BY AUDI BUT THEY ARE STILL SAYING THAT I NEED A NEW FUEL CANISTER (THERE WAS A RECALL FOR THIS IN 2016, AND MY CAR WAS MANUFACTURED IN 2016 BUT IS A 2017 MODEL) ? I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL OTHER 2017 AUDI A3 SEDAN OWNER COMPLAINTS HAVING THIS ISSUE WITH VERY SIMILAR PROBLEM ON THIS WEBSITE AND OTHER WEBSITES. I WAS UNDER WARRANTY UNTIL 1/25/2021, BUT I LIVE 2 HOURS AWAY AND I WAS UNDER QUARANTINE SO BOOKED APPOINTMENT LOCALLY (I THINK ON 1/22/2021 WITH VOLKSWAGEN BUT SCHEDULING WAS A WEEK OUT AND ON APPOINTMENT DATE THEIR ENTIRE SERVICE DEPARTMENT WAS OUT BECAUSE OF COVID OUTBREAK BY THAT TIME IT WAS TOO LATE EVEN THOUGH I HAVE A TIME AND DATE STAMPED VIDEO OF THE CAR HAVING ISSUES.

NHTSA ODI 11402605

Working with the data? Download all 36 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 20, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2017 Audi A3 verdict →