Audi A3 (2013) Air Bag Recall: Risk of Serious Injury During Crash
Volkswagen recalls 2013 Audi A3s with driver air bag inflator that may explode in crashes, risking serious injury or death. Owners must have inflator replaced free by dealer.
Use caution until it’s fixed
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
What happened, in plain English
Volkswagen is recalling 2013 Audi A3s because the driver's air bag inflator could explode during a crash, potentially causing serious injury or death. Affected vehicles need a free replacement of the inflator at a dealer. Read more at govinfonow.com/recall/1250436-audi-a3-2013-air-bag-recall-risk-of-serious-injury.
Source Summary by GovInfoNow · govinfonow.com/recall/1250436-audi-a3-2013-air-bag-recall-risk-of-serious-injury · Updated October 7, 2026 · Official notice: NHTSA #18V082000
Cite this page
“Audi A3 (2013) Air Bag Recall: Risk of Serious Injury During Crash.” GovInfoNow, updated October 7, 2026. https://govinfonow.com/recall/1250436-audi-a3-2013-air-bag-recall-risk-of-serious-injury. Based on NHTSA recall #18V082000 (https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=18V082000).
Why it’s dangerous
When the driver's air bag deploys in a crash, the inflator can explode due to excessive internal pressure. This can send metal fragments toward occupants, causing serious injury or death.
Who’s affected
Owners of 2013 Audi A3s with the specific air bag inflator are affected. Drivers are at highest risk during a crash.
How to tell if you have this one
Check if your 2013 Audi A3 has the driver's air bag inflator that may explode. The recall covers vehicles from 2006-2013 Audi A3 models.
- Brand
Audi- Category
Vehicle
What to do — step by step
Contact Volkswagen
Call 1-800-253-2834 to get the replacement air bag inflator.
Get Inflator Replacement
Dealers will replace the driver's air bag inflator with a safer alternative at no cost.
What NHTSA says to do
Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator with an alternative inflator, free of charge. The recall began February 23, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69R6. Note: This recall partially supersedes recall 16V-078.
How this recall unfolded
Recall timeline
2 dated steps over 24 days.
- NHTSA received the defect report
- Recall began
Dates from the agency record only; steps without a date are left out.
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Where this comes from
The facts (hazard, remedy, dates, manufacturer) are pulled from the official NHTSA recall record. The plain-language summary and step-by-step checklist are written by GovInfoNow to make the official notice easier to act on — they don’t replace it.
- Official source: NHTSA Recall #18V082000 (January 30, 2018)
- Plain-language summary written by qwen3:4b on October 7, 2026, from the official record above. Not reviewed by a person — if it conflicts with the NHTSA notice, the notice is correct. Report an error on this page.
- GovInfoNow is an independent service and is not a government agency. We republish official NHTSA recall data; we don’t issue, amend or administer recalls.