Photo: Audi
On December 1st, 2021, the Audi Product Safety Committee within the Volkswagen Group decided to issue a voluntary recall for certain Q5 vehicles to install a protective cover for the gateway control module. The remedy included extra underbody sealing out of an abundance of caution. No fewer than 288,991 units of the Q5, SQ5, and their Sportback-bodied siblings were called back in the United States of America alone.
At that point, Audi wasn’t aware of warranty claims in the United States for A6- and A7-family vehicles. Come August 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asked the Volkswagen Group of America for an overview of this issue. Why did the federal watchdog flex its muscles this way, though? As it happens, the NHTSA received two vehicle owner questionnaires indicating gateway failure due to liquid ingress.
Through September 2022, the four-ringed automaker from Ingolstadt evaluated the field situation and warranty cases. No fewer than 38 were deemed potentially related to this issue, which is why the topic was presented to the Audi Product Safety Committee. The safety boffins decided on further analysis of the concern. Liquid spillage was eventually confirmed as the root cause for the gateway control module failing in all cases. The number of potentially related claims grew to 46 in October 2022, prompting the German automaker to issue a safety recall stateside for certain A6 and A7 vehicles.
Audi dealerships in the United States will be instructed on January 20th, 2023 to install a protective cover for the gateway control module. Said cover prevents liquid from entering the module, which is located under the rear middle seat. If liquid does get in there, the module is programmed to shuts off as part of the safety concept, resulting in the engine entering emergency mode. Owners will be notified by mail on January 20th as well.
The affected population numbers 50,883 vehicles produced between the 2019 and 2022 model years. The nameplates included in this recall come in the guise of the A6, A6 allroad, S6, RS 6, the A7, S7, and RS 7.
Through September 2022, the four-ringed automaker from Ingolstadt evaluated the field situation and warranty cases. No fewer than 38 were deemed potentially related to this issue, which is why the topic was presented to the Audi Product Safety Committee. The safety boffins decided on further analysis of the concern. Liquid spillage was eventually confirmed as the root cause for the gateway control module failing in all cases. The number of potentially related claims grew to 46 in October 2022, prompting the German automaker to issue a safety recall stateside for certain A6 and A7 vehicles.
Audi dealerships in the United States will be instructed on January 20th, 2023 to install a protective cover for the gateway control module. Said cover prevents liquid from entering the module, which is located under the rear middle seat. If liquid does get in there, the module is programmed to shuts off as part of the safety concept, resulting in the engine entering emergency mode. Owners will be notified by mail on January 20th as well.
The affected population numbers 50,883 vehicles produced between the 2019 and 2022 model years. The nameplates included in this recall come in the guise of the A6, A6 allroad, S6, RS 6, the A7, S7, and RS 7.
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