Fuel leak or fuel odor on the 2003 Audi A6
Only 5 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When fuel leak or fuel odor gets reported
There are 5 reports of fuel leak or fuel odor on the 2003 Audi A6, 5 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 85,539 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2001, at a median of 60,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 8; the 2003 has 5. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 audi a6. Approximately one year ago, the contact smelled a strong odor of gasoline whenever he placed fuel in the vehicle. He also noticed fuel leaking on the garage floor. He assumed that he was placing too much fuel into the vehicle. In the beginning of june of 2008, the contact made sure to fill the vehicle to the correct amount to avoid any fuel leakage. Within half an hour of parking the vehicle, the contact smelled a strong gasoline odor and noticed a much larger puddle of gasoline underneath the vehicle. He called the dealer and was advised to have the vehicle towed; however, the contact refused and drove the vehicle to the dealer. A diagnosis was performed and they stated that there was a crack in the check valve of the fuel tank that could not be repaired. The entire fuel tank needed to be replaced. The contact proceeded with the repairs, which were completed within a week. The failure mileage was 38,000 and current mileage was 40,000. Updated 07/16/08. *lj updated 07/16/08
Tl*the contact owns 2003 audi a6, 2.7 quattro. The contact stated that a fuel leak occurred on november 22, 1999. The contact also observed fuel leaking from the vehicle while driving 60 MPH. The contact parked the vehicle and the fuel began leaking out of the vehicle excessively. The rear bumper was hanging off of the vehicle when he returned clean up the fuel that was leaking. The contact notified the bank management of the fuel leak on their property. The police and fire truck were anonymously notified of the fuel leak. The weather was not a factor. The vehicle was towed to his residence, then it was towed to the local dealer for diagnostic testing. The dealer was not sympathetic to the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,600 and the current mileage was 84,610.
January 15, 2011 re: defective investigation pe08008 audi 2003 a6 leaking fuel from gas tank assembly attached, please find evidence I reported my fuel tank leaked fuel to a los angeles audi dealer. I bought the car in 2006 with 66,000 miles and remains with no damage history. In 2008, fuel began dripping at the lower driver side vacuum nipple flange which shifted off the rim of the fuel tank. When the tank was filled passed half full, it would drip onto the ground. There is a valid recall for most 2003 sedan models and the 4.2l off-road quattro. This model is a 2003 sedan with the 4.2l engine size and should certainly be included in these two related recalls. Due to no fault of my own, the nature and severity of the defect, I questioned the problem was a manufactures defect warranting repair and potential recall. They disagreed, said it was out of warranty and quoted me a repair. Valentine asserted the condition was noted to my VIN in their system. Later that year, la audi made different repairs and the fuel leak condition was again put on the work order. Finally in june 2010, a neighbor wrote note the car was leaking fuel. It…
Also reported on the 2003 Audi A6
Misfire or rough idle
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Fuel pump failure
Other wheel or tire problem
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 5 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 5 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel leak or fuel odor happen on the 2003 Audi A6?
Across 5 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel leak or fuel odor on the 2003 Audi A6?
5 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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