2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet
On the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet, the failure owners report most often is airbag inflator rupture, with 13 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 55,000 miles. Overall it scores 63 out of 100, high risk for a 2010.
High risk for a 2010 — 265th riskiest of the 275 2010 vehicles we can rate. 16 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 2 named failure modes on the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet, and the three most-reported carry 88% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Airbag inflator rupture leads with 13 reports and about 1.2 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other engine problem follows with 1 report, median 85,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (13) and engine (1).
The mileage the reports cluster at
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 5 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Nothing in the reports on the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet mentions a crash, a fire or an injury. That is the ordinary case and it is worth stating: most defect complaints are about a car that stopped working, not one that hurt somebody.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 6.19, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0 and other engine problem at $300–$4,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
6% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 13 | 3 | — | 41k | — | 1.2 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 83k | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 2 | 1 | — | 80k | — | 0.2 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet draws about 1.5 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 82nd percentile of complaint rates among 2010 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 10,636 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2010 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Airbag inflator rupture
Takata recall the passenger side airbags have been recalled in april of 2016. Now its end of march 2017 audi has not replaced the airbag. They have not communicated or responded to my enquiries. I think and it is enough time for audi to take care of problem without further risk to consumer. I request NHTSA to intervene. Thank you for your time.
Takata recall safety recall was received last april 2016. As of today, audi claims they have no replacement parts and that the ntsa says it's safe for me to continue driving my car. I would like to know how I can get my car repaired now.
Other engine problem
Engine light came on when starting car, had some difficulty accelerating. Car taken to dealer within 24 hours. Dealer diagnosed timing chains, head, tensioners and turbo needed to be replaced. Car has approximately 83000 miles and has been serviced at conshohocken audi since purchase from prestige lexus (with 7000 miles). Audi has "offered" an 75% discount on parts because I "have been a good customer" (except the turbo which they say is not a fault of the engine defect). I am responsible for 25% of parts, all taxes for all parts, and labor. When I called audi customer service to question their responsibility and ask for additional financial support, I was warned by the audi customer service rep not to continue to say negative things about audi or their offer of 75% would be taken back. This is not only an expensive repair but a safety concern b/c you can have complete engine failure and loss of steering. Audi refused to accept responsibility for this engine defect and the downstream effects even though there was awareness of this potential in 2010. There are 3 class action suits related to this problem but there needs to be more…
Recalls on the 2010 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet, affecting an estimated 17,713 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator module. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
162,782 vehicles 2018-01-30- Defect
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2006-2013 Audi A3, 2007-2009 A4 Cabriolet and S4 Cabriolet, 2008 RS4 Cabriolet, 2009-2012 Q5, and 2010-2012 Audi A5 Cabriolet and S5 Cabriolet vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.
- Consequence
- 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.
- Remedy
- 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.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
659,493 vehicles 2016-02-10- Defect
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2010-2014 Golf, 2007-2010 Passat sedans and wagon, 2012-2014 Passat sedan and Eos, 2009-2014 CC, 2009-2012 Audi Q5, 2010-2012 S5 Cabriolet and 2010-2012 Audi A5 Cabriolet vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflators, free of charge. Volkswagen issued an interim notification to owners on April 12, 2016, and will send a second notification when parts are available. Volkswagen will notify owners again once parts are available. Volkswagen owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Audi owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2010 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
Where 2010 sits in the model line
High risk for a 2010 — 265th riskiest of the 275 2010 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
What this page cannot tell you
16 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 16 reports, 5 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 31% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet?
The most-reported failures are airbag inflator rupture (13 reports, median 40,000 miles) and other engine problem (1 report, median 85,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2010 Audi A5 Cabriolet reliable?
It scores 63 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 265th riskiest of the 275 2010 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2010 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed