Verified government source

NHTSA complaint #11760469

This page summarizes an official U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration owner complaint. Use the verification links below to confirm the record directly with NHTSA.

Vehicle

2021 AUDI Q5

Manufacturer

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Components

POWER TRAIN

Dates

Incident: 06/15/2026
Filed: 08/28/2026

Owner complaint summary

VIN number: [XXX]. Audi Q5 Prestige 2021 Mileage 48,540 I have contacted Audi Corporate regarding a catastrophic Transmission Failure while driving. The dealership investigation discovered that bolts had loosened and the fluid was not getting to the transmission and it stopped dead while I was driving. I was on surface streets going to pick up my baby granddaughter from daycare. I heard what sounded like a "slip" in the gears, a yellow notification appeared stating that the car is safe to drive. A few minutes later it happened again and the same warning appeared. I continued to the daycare and in the driveway the car stopped dead with a Red warning that it is a transmission malfunction. I luckily was not in a busy intersection or the freeway as that would have been catastrophic for my life and the life of my young granddaughter. I have contacted Audi via telephone at [XXX]. They took my statement and gave me a case number: XXX. I have worked with my Audi dealership and they are giving a "goodwill" discount that requires me to pay $800 for the defective bolt replacement. I purchased the vehicle as a certified pre-owned from the Audi dealership on [XXX]. I purchased an extended warranty they refused to cover the repair as it was a manufacturing issue. I have taken the vehicle in for all maintenance. This transmission failure is nothing that I did and not the result of neglect. This failure of the bolts is a manufacturing error. The bolts are supposed to stay bolted. I want Audi to pay in full for the repair, to include replacement of the entire transmission, in addition to replacing the defective volts. I also want a letter stating that this is a permanent fix and will not happen again. I trusted the Audi name and reputation to build a safe vehicle. The abrupt stop of the transmission could have been the death of me and my young granddaughter had it happened on the freeway or a busy intersection. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This is an owner complaint filed with NHTSA (ODI #11760469). It is not automatically an official recall, investigation outcome, or manufacturer admission unless the complaint text itself describes one.

Official record ID (ODI): 11760469. This page is the human-readable source link used across afterwarranty. The raw JSON link proxies NHTSA's public API for machine verification; prefer this page when reading the complaint.