NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2019 Audi e-tron. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026
In a parking lot after backing out from the spot and entering car in drive mode - there was spontaneous, sudden, uncontrollable acceleration and spinning of 360 degree on extreme speed bringing the car in the same spot and stopped only with colliding with other parked vehicle on passanger side , pushing it further and damaging another parked car. During the spin process it front of the car first collided rear end of the car parked on driverside, than curb ,than the back of the car parked on passanger side. This entire event happened in fraction of a second without knowledge of the driver , immediately after the car was put in D mode from R mode . Suspecting some sort of TECHNICAL/ MECHANICAL FAILURE that should be further investigated for general safety. The car was regularly serviced at Audi dealership and there was on going issue with SOS SYSTEM notification trigger, which was addressed to Audi dealership multiple times and they tried to resolve it . The latest same issue was handled almost around a month of the accident. This car is technologically extremely advanced car and has every safety features in built. None of the features came on rescue to notify / stop the car . Even airbag didn't blew up on multiple collisions during that undescribable spontaneous acceleration and spinning of a STANDING CAR! Both Audi USA and GEICO are informed about the accident and they have assured investigating the incident too.
The trunk has one of those built in sensors underneath so that you can close it by waving your foot under the trunk. This can end up being very dangerous, especially since the trunk is deep. On several occasions, as I have been reaching deep into the trunk to grab some stuff, but foot ends up tripping the sensor under the car to start the trunk hatch closing, while I'm in the middle of the closing area! If I didn't quickly move, the trunk would have closed on my body. In other instances, the trunk door has hit me on the head.
The vehicle has a squeaky noise on the break no matter what condition the noise is very loud. Dealer said to break hard from 0-60 mph to clean pads and issue has not been addressed. It’s getting worse.
I have a 2019 Audi eTron. The worse incident was when on the freeway, I had a warning signal then thankfully, I exited and was on feeder when he was completely stopped, towed to dealership and was told a major component engine equivalent or battery had to be repaired or replaced. There are records at Audi dominion. Regarding current complaint, I have reached out to Audi for maybe two l+ years? Trying to get safety recall for high voltage battery but they kept saying they have not received software part to remedy this.
When vehicle is in drive or reverse, it rolls forward and backwards when no throttle is applied (as if in neutral), vehicle hit a structure because it rolled back at a rapid pace due to an incline. Audi needs to implement a feature to prevent the vehicle from rolling when at a near stop and the vehicle is in drive or reverse.
The suv has an issue where when you are in drive or reverse, the vehicle can roll backwards of forwards when the accelerator is released and the vehicle is not at a complete stop. For example, coming up an inclined driveway, if you come to a near stop to wait for the garage door to open, but release the accelerator pedal the vehicle will roll backwards rapidly even though it is in drive. The same happens in reverse. The car has brake hold, but it only works when you come to a complete stop and hold the brake pedal for more than a second. If you press the accelerator pedal briefly, the brake hold will release and the car will start to roll backwards or forwards depending on the incline. The gear selection (reverse/drive) does not matter, the vehicle will roll as if in neutral.
My wife was driving our Audi e-tron and after several minutes driving she got she got very large red alert that said "ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: MALFUNCTION! - SAFELY STOP VEHICLE". She immediately pulled over to the side of the road into a parking lot just before the electric motors shut down completely. This put my wife in an extremely dangerous situation, and we consider her to be very lucky that she was not on a highway or in the middle of an intersection when this happened. The car became COMPLETELY immobile, just dead. We towed the vehicle to the dealership, and they informed us that it would be a minimum of three weeks before they can even begin to diagnose this issue. My service advisor has informed me that there is one other Audi e-tron currently at that dealership that has exactly the same issue as I have. Our Audi e-tron is a 2019 with 31,000 miles and the other person who has this same issue has 29,000 miles. THIS CAR IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE FOR THE ROAD. I have a family and there is no way I will feel comfortable letting them ride in this vehicle even if it is fixed.
Early in January of this year - - Got the message on the dash ('ELECTRICAL MALFUNCTION'). - Then a 2nd. message ('PULL OVER WHEN SAFE TO DO SO'). - Then a final message ('DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE'). Vehicle was still driveable and I was able to make it back to the house. - Vehicle was towed to the Shawnee Mission Kansas Audi dealership Where it has been since January 4 First attempt to repair was to replace the battery control module (parts from Germany). That resulted in a series of new error codes being generated. So more parts from Germany (not sure what all this included). Ok so the tech was driving it around the lot at the dealership and the Turtle appeared and the car stopped. So back into the shop. So the latest is they found a leak from the battery coolant system, leaking directly onto the front motor. Ok so now I am waiting for a 'NEW MOTOR' and who knows what else from Germany. Ok so with that said, I did a little digging around on my own. The actual problem is caused by a faulty gasket. Found this below on an auto blog site discussing the Audi E-Tron. The situation described below is potentially extremely dangerous. So my problem apparently is common with this vehicle: ".... The e-tron shut-down appears to be caused in some cases by a failing gasket which allows coolant to leak into the motor. The fix is a new motor which, though it should be covered by the warranty, takes a long time while the dealer waits for delivery of a whole new e-tron motor. Some drivers have been left stranded in another state, hundreds of miles from home, with a vehicle that will not even turn on and takes weeks to repair. .... "
Vehicle freely rolls forward and backwards in drive and reverse without any type of automatic brake hold function to prevent the vehicle from rolling the opposite direction of currently selected gear.
The lane assist in my car will pull me out of the lane I am driving in and into an adjacent turn lane when a turn lane opens up. It happens most often when I am on a two-lane road, with a double yellow line on my left and then when a long space without markings followed by dotted lines for the turn lane opens up, the car abandons using the double yellow line as the guide and pulls the car into the turn lane. This happens most often when a lane opens to the right but can happen on the left side as well. According to the dealership, car must be traveling at least 40 MPH for the lane assist to activate. I can observe on the heads-up display when the car changes its sensor focus to pull the steering and car into the turn lane. I believe this is a very unsafe feature, as it could lead to crashes, overcorrection, etc. Because I am aware of this issue, I am able to correct the course of the car, but the software should not be pulling the car out of the intended driving lane into an adjacent lane. (It can also make the driver look as though driving drunk, because it swerves in and out of lanes, which can put the driver at risk in another way, because of the state of police interactions these days. The car is available for inspection if needed. I have reported the issue to the dealership and AUDI USA on multiple occasions. One person at AUDI USA said the car should not be operating that way; that person is no longer with the company. The people at the dealership have looked into it and say that it is operating as expected, even though I have sent multiple videos showing the car pulling out of the lane and what the lane assist is doing and the sounds the car is making. They have not been able to reproduce it (because they also have not driven the car on similar types of roads with similar markings). Those same people say they hate the feature because it doesn’t work well and so they turn it off in their own Audis. The heads-up display alerts that the issue is happening.
I was traveling down a dip in the road and the Audi Pre Sense initiated emergency braking. There was no vehicle in front, the road ahead was totally clear. The vehicle behind me nearly ran into the back of my car.
Vehicle brake hold does not function as expected, the car will roll in either direction regardless of what gear is selected. If you don't pay attention and are on an incline, the vehicle will roll freely backwards even though you are in drive! Audi does have a brake hold function but it only works when you fully depress the brake pedal and come to a stop. As soon as you press the accelerator to move forward, the car will begin to roll backwards if you are not constantly on the accelerator. Very dangerous!
VEHICLE FAILED TO NOTIFY THE OPERATOR ABOUT UNUSUALLY BAD BATTERY CELL. RANGE WAS DECLINING SIGNIFICANTLY BETWEEN CHARGE CYCLES. SERVICE CENTER WAS DECLINING TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE UNTIL PROVIDED DETAILED INFORMATION AS WHY THERE IS A FAULT WITH THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY. A BAD BATTERY CELL COULD RESULT IN FIRE AND DEATH.
MY E-TRON HAS SUDDENLY ACCELERATED TWICE. ONCE ON THE HIGHWAY AND ONCE GOING LESS THAN 15 MPH ON A FLAT, DIRT ROAD. THE FIRST TIME I THOUGHT PERHAPS IT WAS MY ERROR, BUT WHEN IT HAPPENED A SECOND TIME IT CLEARLY WASN'T. THE CAR REVVED UP OUT OF NOWHERE AND I HAD TO PUMP THE BREAKS TO SLOW DOWN. I NEVER ONCE USED CRUISE CONTROL DURING EITHER SITUATION. FORTUNATELY, NOTHING WAS IN FRONT OF ME DURING EITHER SITUATION AND BREAKING WORKED TO RESOLVE MY SPEED/CONTROL OF THE CAR. FLOOR MATS WERE ALSO NOT AN ISSUE AS THEY ARE FIRMLY IN PLACE (AS ALSO WITNESSED BY MY DEALER.) THE CAR HAS BEEN RECALLED FOR TAIL LIGHT AND AND CHARGE LEVEL INDICATOR SO THEY ARE MANAGING THOSE FIXES WHILE AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FROM CORPORATE. IN THE MEANTIME, I AM NERVOUS ABOUT EVER DRIVING THIS CAR AGAIN GIVEN THOSE EXPERIENCES.
THE AUDI DRIVE SELECT SYSTEM MALFUNCTIONED FOR MULTIPLE HOURS. DURING THIS TIME THE VEHICLE'S AIR SUSPENSION SET ITSELF TO THE LOWEST POSSIBLE SETTING (LOWER THAN THE DRIVE SELECT MODES ALLOW) FOR THIS DURATION. THE AUDI DRIVE SELECT SYSTEM DISPLAYED A SCREEN THAT WAS BLANK WITHOUT ANY SELECTABLE OPTIONS. THE AUDI DRIVE SELECT SYSTEM WAS UNRESPONSIVE TO PUSHING THE PHYSICAL BUTTONS ON THE CONSOLE WHEN TRYING TO SELECT THE AUDI DRIVE SELECT MODE. WHEN I STOPPED THE VEHICLE AND TRIED TO RESET IT, MULTIPLE UNRELATED ERRORS OCCURRED. THESE INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO "PREDICTIVE EFFICIENCY: ASSIST UNAVAILABLE", "REAR CROSS TRAFFIC ASSIST: CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE", "ALL WHEEL DRIVE MALFUNCTION! LIMITED STABILITY", AMONG OTHERS.
WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON A STATE HIGHWAY THE AUDI ADAPTIVE CRUISE ASSIST CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE ERROR MESSAGE DISPLAYS AND DISABLES THE ADAPTIVE CRUISE ASSIST FUNCTION FOR RANDOM/UNKNOWN PERIODS OF TIME. THIS ERROR HAS OCCURRED MULTIPLE TIMES. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN USING THE AUDI ADAPTIVE CRUISE ASSIST, THE VEHICLE WILL COME TO SUDDEN STOPS WHEN USING IF A CAR IS IN THE LEFT TURN LANE, PARALLEL TO THE VEHICLE.
I GOT THIS AUDI ETRON WITH THE SECURITY THAT I WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO 150KW CHARGING STATIONS THAT WOULD CHARGE MY CAR IN 30 MINUTES. THIS WAS A LIE AND THEY DONT EXIST ON THE EAST COAST. YOU ARE LUCKY IF YOU CAN FIND 1 NEAR BY. THE FASTEST CHARGING TIME FOR MY AUDI WHEN ITS ON 26% IS AN 1HR AND 15 MINUTES ON THE ONLY SUPERCHARGE STATTIONS THAT EXISIT WHICH ARE 50KW. THIS MEANS IF I WANT TO GO OUT OF STATES I CAN NOT BECAUSE IT WILL ADD AN EXTRA 5 HOURS JUST TO CHARGE THE CAR BECAUSE UNLIKE THE SALES GUY TOLD ME IT DOES NOT GIVE YOU 250 MILES BUT 204 MILES. THEY ALSO SOLD ME THE BRAND NEW VEHICLE WITH ALL 4 SAFETY HANDLES MISSING. I AM NOT COMFORTABLE DRIVING THE CARE BECAUSE IF SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS SAFETY HANDLES WAS MISSED WHAT ELSE WAS MISSED. . I REACHED OUT TO BRYAN WHO WAS SUPPOSE TO BE HELPING ME FROM THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE DEPARTMENT AND HE TOLD ME THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO THE CAR WORKS FINE AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT IS FIXING THE HANDLES. I INFORMED HIM THAT THEY DID NOT FIX OR CHECK MY CAR. THEY ONLY TOOK PICTURES. THEY ARE TRYING TO WIPE THEIR HANDS ON SELLING ME $100,000 CAR.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 AUDI E-TRON. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, SEVERAL UNKNOWN WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AUDI TYSONS CORNER SERVICE DEPARTMENT (8598 LEESBURG PIKE, VIENNA, VA 22182) HOWEVER, THE MECHANIC WAS UNABLE TO PROVIDE A CAUSE FOR THE FAILURE. UPON RETRIEVING THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT STATED THAT HIS WIFE WAS DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH, WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE A LEFT TURN, WHEN SEVERAL UNKNOWN WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND THE VEHICLE STALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED BACK TO THE SAME DEALER WHERE THE VEHICLE REMAIN UNREPAIRED. THE MECHANIC WAS AGAIN UNABLE TO PROVIDE A CAUSE FOR THE FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 5,000.
Vehicle dangerously rolls backwards on driveway when in drive, the vehicle does not brake hold when in drive or reverse, it will roll either direction freely as if in neutral. Audi needs to release a software update to hold vehicle when rolling opposite direction of selected gear.
DUE TO AN ACCIDENT, FRONT AIRBAG WAS DEPLOYED CAUSING A DEEP LACERATION AND A THUMB DISLOCATION TO MY RIGHT HAND ( ACCIDENT WAS ON THE LEFT SIDE AND DIDN'T HIT DRIVER DOOR ) BLOOD STAIN WAS ON THE STEERING WHEEL, ESCALATED THE ISSUE TO AUDI USA STATING THAT THE AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT CAUSED A SERIOUS INJURY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL BUT THEY SAID THAT AIRBAGS WERE DEPLOYED AS DESIGNED
The contact owns a 2019 Audi E-Tron. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the contact attempted to charge the vehicle and the high voltage battery overheated. The contact attempted to unplug the charger and got shocked; however, no medical attention was sought. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle remained at the residence. The contact was notified that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V867000 (Electrical System). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.
ON JANUARY 13, 202, THIS 2019 AUDI E-TRON WAS THE 2ND CAR STOPPED AT A RED TRAFFIC SIGNAL ON A PUBLIC ROAD. THE DRIVER'S FOOT WAS ON THE BRAKE. WHILE THE LIGHT REMAINED RED WITH THE DRIVER'S FOOT STILL ON THE BRAKE, THE CAR LURCHED FORWARD INTO THE REAR OF THE FRONT CAR CONTINUING PUSHING FORWARD FOR SEVERAL SECONDS AS THE DRIVER PUSHED HARDER ON THE BRAKE, TRIED TO SHIFT THE CAR OUT OF DRIVE, FINALLY STOPPING THE CAR BY PUSHING THE POWER BUTTON. THE CAR WAS IMMEDIATELY TOWED TO THE DEALER AFTER THE ACCIDENT, AND THE DEALER AND AUDI OF AMERICA WAS IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED OF THE INCIDENT. AUDI FINALLY SENT AN ENGINEER TO INSPECT THE CAR ON FEB. 14, 2020. ACCORDING TO AUDI, THE ACCELERATOR AND BRAKE PEDALS WERE OPERATING PROPERLY AT THE TIME OF THEIR INSPECTION, AND THE CAR'S DATA RECORDER REVEALED NO INFORMATION REGARDING THE ACCIDENT. THEY CONCLUDE THAT THE ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE EXONERATES THE CAR AND AUDI. INASMUCH AS THE ACCIDENT HAPPENED EXACTLY AS DESCRIBED ABOVE, THE ABSENCE OF ANY DATA ON THEIR RECORDER, IF TRUE, AND THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THE PEDALS UPON LATER INSPECTION, ARE NOT EVIDENCE THAT THE ACCIDENT DID NOT HAPPEN AS DESCRIBED AND THE ABSENCE OF SOME ELECTRONIC MALFUNCTION THAT IS LIKELY TO HAVE OCCURRED AS BEING THE CAUSE. THEREFORE, THIS VEHICLE IS INHERENTLY UNTRUSTWORTHY AND UNSAFE. *TR
THE VEHICLE PULLS TO ONE SIDE AND DESTABILIZES THE VEHICLE MOVEMENT BOTH ON THE HIGHWAY AS WELL AS LOCAL ROADS. THE AUDI DEALERSHIP CLAIMS THAT IT IS DUE TO A HIGHLY SENSITIVE LANE DEPARTURE SYSTEM THAT CAN NOT BE EITHER DISABLED OR ADJUSTED. THIS IS RESULTING IN UNSAFE DRIVING CONDITION AS VEHICLE TRIES TO STEER ITSELF WHENEVER IT IS CLOSER TO THE LANE DIVIDER LINE OR EVEN WHEN IT ENCOUNTERS A MINOR DIP ON THE PAVED SURFACE. ADDITIONALLY, THE STEERING APPEARS TO GET STICKY AND LOCKED WHENEVER THE CONDITION IS ENCOUNTERED. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL SITUATIONS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THE AUTOMOBILE GOT UNBALANCED WHILE CHANGING THE LANES. I AM CONCERNED THAT SOMEDAY IT WILL LEAD TO A MAJOR ACCIDENT. I REPORTED IT TO AUDI AS WELL AS THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP TESTED IT AND ACKNOWLEDGED THE SIDEWAYS PULL BUT FAILED TO ADDRESS THE FLAW. IT FEELS EERILY SIMILAR TO THE BOEING 737 MAX ISSUE WHERE APPARENTLY THE SOFTWARE WAS DESIGNED TO CORRECT THE AIRCRAFT PITCH AND THERE WAS NO EASY WAY TO DISABLE THE SYSTEM. THIS APPEARS TO BE A MAJOR DESIGN FLAW WHICH AUDI IS TRYING TO OVERLOOK AND IGNORE.
Vehicle rolls freely in drive and reverse, very dangerous because it is difficult to control on hills and steep driveways. The vehicle will roll in either direction regardless of selected gear with no safety system to keep the vehicle in "hold".