2016 Audi A7: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2016 Audi A7
On the 2016 Audi A7, the failure owners report most often is airbag failed to deploy in a crash, with 3 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 15,000 miles. Overall it scores 73 out of 100, high risk for a 2016.
High risk for a 2016 — 101st riskiest of the 255 2016 vehicles we can rate. 18 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2016 Audi A7
Owners have reported 10 named failure modes on the 2016 Audi A7, and the three most-reported carry 39% of everything filed.
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash leads with 3 reports and about 0.5 per 1,000 vehicles.
Airbag inflator rupture follows with 2 reports, median 15,000 miles.
Other fuel system problem follows with 2 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (5), fuel (2) and steering (2).
The mileage the reports cluster at
8 of the reports on the 2016 Audi A7 came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 15,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 63% by 50,000 miles and 88% by 100,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 10,000 and 20,000 miles, which alone holds 50% of the dated reports.
63% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.
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
- Dashed the median reported mileage
What happens when these parts fail
Across the named modes, 3 mention a crash and 3 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 7.11, 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 failed to deploy in a crash at $1,000–$5,000, airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0, other fuel system problem at $300–$2,200 and water pump failure at $500–$2,200. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
17% 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 failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 3 | 3 | — | 11k | — | 0.5 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 2 | 1 | — | 14k | — | 0.3 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Water pump failure | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $500–$2,200 | High |
| Loss of power steering | steering | 1 | 1 | — | 130k | — | 0.2 | $600–$2,800 | Critical |
| Windshield cracking | glass | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $300–$1,600 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 1 | 1 | — | 20k | — | 0.2 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 1 | — | 50k | — | 0.2 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.2 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Unclassified problem | other | 4 | 1 | — | 50k | — | 0.7 | — | 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 2016 Audi A7 draws about 3.1 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 80th percentile of complaint rates among 2016 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 5,898 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2016 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 -received a notice from audi dealership that my car's VIN came up that it was unsafe to drive because of the head curtain airbag needed to be replaced. I dropped off car on july 13, 2017. I was called by audi dealership that no airbags could be ordered so I picked up the car. Today, tuesday, oct 31, 2017, I call the same audi dealership, 1421 wilmington pike, west chester pa 19382 and talked to george in service 610-455-2000, and he stated that the dealership has still not received any replacement airbags.
Recalls on the 2016 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2016 Audi A7, affecting an estimated 16,149 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 fuel system, gasoline:fuel injection system:fuel rail, air bags:sensor:occupant classification and air bags:side/window. 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.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM:FUEL RAIL
74,881 vehicles 2019-01-16- Defect
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2016-2018 Q7, A6 and A7 vehicles, and 2015-2018 Audi A8 vehicles. The left and right fuel rails may leak fuel.
- Consequence
- A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source can increase risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Audi has notified owners, and dealers will replace the left and right fuel rail, free of charge. The recall began February 28, 2019. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 24DP.
AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
139,249 vehicles 2018-06-04- Defect
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Audi S6 and S7, 2012-2018 A7 and A6 Sedan, and 2014-2018 RS7 vehicles equipped with basic seats (with or without heating). Stress or wear of the body-sensing mat within the front passenger seat may cause the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) control module to malfunction.
- Consequence
- If the PODS module malfunctions, the front passenger air bag may not deploy properly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install a PODS system repair kit, free of charge. The recall began November 29, 2018. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 74D5.
AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW
17,694 vehicles 2017-05-01- Defect
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Audi A7 vehicles. The affected vehicles have head curtain air bags that may not deploy properly in the event of a crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 226, "Ejection Mitigation."
- Consequence
- If the head curtain airbag does not deploy properly in the event of a crash, an unbelted passenger has an increased risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the affected head curtain air bags, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin June 29, 2017. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for the recall is 69R2.
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 2016 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
Better and worse years of the same car
High risk for a 2016 — 101st riskiest of the 255 2016 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 5 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2014 comes out best at 65 and 2019 worst at 82, with 2016 itself at 73.
If the model year is negotiable, 2014 and 2012 score lower than 2016 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2012–2018 generation specifically, 2014 is the strongest year at 65 and 2016 the weakest at 73.
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.
Within the 2012-2018 generation, 2014 Audi A7 scores best at 65 and 2016 Audi A7 worst at 73.
What this page cannot tell you
18 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 18 reports, 8 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 44% 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 2016 Audi A7?
The most-reported failures are airbag failed to deploy in a crash (3 reports, median 10,000 miles), airbag inflator rupture (2 reports, median 15,000 miles) and other fuel system problem (2 reports). 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 2016 Audi A7 reliable?
It scores 73 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 101st riskiest of the 255 2016 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2016 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Audi A7 is best?
Within the 2012–2018 generation, 2014 scores best at 65 out of 100 and 2016 worst at 73. Same body, same engines, different luck.
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