Audi A6 (2011) Air Bag Recall: Risk of Serious Injury from Inflator Explosion
Audi is recalling 2011 A6 vehicles with passenger air bags that may explode during deployment, causing serious injury or death. Owners must have the air bag replaced free of charge by dealers.
Stop using this now
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
What happened, in plain English
Audi is recalling 2011 A6 vehicles with a passenger air bag that could explode during deployment, potentially causing serious injury or death. Affected vehicles need the air bag replaced at no cost by an Audi dealer. Read more at govinfonow.com/recall/1252256-audi-a6-2011-air-bag-recall-risk-of-serious-injury.
Source Summary by GovInfoNow · govinfonow.com/recall/1252256-audi-a6-2011-air-bag-recall-risk-of-serious-injury · Updated October 6, 2026 · Official notice: NHTSA #18V427000
Cite this page
“Audi A6 (2011) Air Bag Recall: Risk of Serious Injury from Inflator Explosion.” GovInfoNow, updated October 6, 2026. https://govinfonow.com/recall/1252256-audi-a6-2011-air-bag-recall-risk-of-serious-injury. Based on NHTSA recall #18V427000 (https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=18V427000).
Why it’s dangerous
The air bag inflator can explode due to propellant degradation after long-term exposure to humidity and temperature changes. This explosion may send sharp metal fragments toward the driver or passengers, causing serious injury or death.
Who’s affected
Owners of 2011 Audi A6 vehicles with the passenger frontal air bag are affected. Drivers and passengers in these vehicles are at risk of serious injury or death if the air bag explodes during a crash.
How to tell if you have this one
Check if your 2011 Audi A6 has a passenger frontal air bag that was installed as original equipment or replaced previously. This recall includes vehicles that may have had air bags replaced under earlier campaigns.
- Brand
Audi- Category
Vehicle
What to do — step by step
Stop Using the Vehicle
Immediately stop using the vehicle until the air bag is replaced by an Audi dealer.
Contact Audi Customer Service
Call Audi at 1-800-253-2834 to schedule the air bag replacement.
What NHTSA says to do
Audi has notified owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag with an alternate remedy part, free of charge. The recall began June 29, 2018. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69R7. Note: This recall supersedes recalls 16V382, 17V032 and 18V004 and includes vehicles that may have had their air bag previously replaced under one of those campaigns.
How this recall unfolded
Recall timeline
2 dated steps over 7 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 #18V427000 (June 22, 2018)
- Plain-language summary written by qwen3:4b on October 6, 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.