TTSWV

That sucks! Mine has been jacked up for months, its getting pretty old. I spoke with AOA customer experience this week and they said no date for the newly designed part.

irenesbob

This information has been quite useful for me, if depressing for you folks. I am on the process of deciding on a replacement for my leased 2016 A6 and had narrowed it to a TT or an A5 Sportback. The number of posts like this one on both forums are making me think the replacement might well be something other than an Audi. I have been leasing new Audi’s since 2005, my current 2016 A6 being my 5th one, but some of this stuff seems to me totally unacceptable for any car in the Audi’s class. Anyway. I will remain open to another Audi, but at this point an Outback Touring seems to be looming as a better bet. The Subie dealer is less than 1.5 miles away, whereas the nearest Audi dealer is 60 miles away – that is a consideration as well.

Huey52

This may very well be the crux of the issue. Engineering compromise between firm attachment and ease of airbag deployment. Still we come to Audi for superior engineering, fit & finish, and yet ...

21tesla

The seat problem sucks but the car has a lot of merits. For example, it holds a lot of stuff !

Looking at things in a positive way, my car has been to Audi so many times that I have drank at least 20 free cappuccinos and driven the entire loaner fleet and used their valet service. Having tried A3, A4, Q3, Q5 - the TT is superior in styling and performance. Can't talk about the S and RS versions but I'm plenty happy with my choice now that is has a tune and some cosmetic mods.

I had the seat clips and air bags done a month or two ago and they are holding up well. My dealer is always really apologetic about the issue, I imagine they have seen enough of them now.

Can_Quattro

I had hoped this was pretty much over and that nobody else was going to be affected.
Sadly, all the German manufacturers are painfully slow in getting these types of issues rectified.
My first A5 was a lemon, with a clutch issue Audi could not fix.
I was tempted by a BMW about 8 years ago, their High Pressure Fuel Pump (HPFP) debacle was one of the things that stopped me.
My TT is not 3 months old, but so far it has been without issue (knock on wood).

Fun101

Awww, too bad Huey...it seemed you had a lucky charm in your seat(s).

To the fellow who is now getting gun shy: Other than the seat separation...the car has been a true joy. I'll take this issue in the name of safety (air bag deployment). I'm still a very happy camper!

TTSWV

It is unacceptable that this hasn't been corrected by now. More troubling, the AOA rep acted like she didn't care and seemed bothered that I was complaining about it. Also, let's not forget about the joys of our windows freezing up. Looking forward to that again. Audi is passing the window problem down to the mechanics at the dealerships while they pretend it isn't a design flaw. Nice support Audi!!!

farmerjones

Sadly this flaw continues for me..... I have now had my 3rd set of trim pieces fail on me. At this point I'm not really sure what I should do (or what I would even expect my dealer to do). This has to be re-engineered by Audi, and I can't understand how a car on sale since 2014 still can not have something as simple as seat trim figured out. I'm half way through my lease, and I've never had the seat trim not broken since day one....on my first Audi ever owned. Instead of the upper airbag clip breaking this time the lower one broke (which is different from the past 2 failures).

It has NOTHING to do with airbag deployment or this specific model....A4/A5 models use this exact seat and trim (but have a different side impact air bag part #), and they are not failing. And don't give me that excuse about the trim having to have only a few clips for the airbag to deploy. I worked in the auto industry for years, and I've even detonated defective airbags personally after being replaced under warranty and trust me, the force of those bags have plenty of power to break a few plastic clips!!! This is just something Audi has placed a low priority on fixing at the owner's expense.

I can tell you the air bag replacement along with new trim is due to an actual change in the airbag. The photos show the metal mounting frame for the bag has an area where there is a plastic attachment clip for the trim. I can confirm that this clip was broken on my car, hence the airbag must be replaced if that SPECIFIC clip is broken on your car. Whoever decided the airbag should be part of trim mounting probably should be fired..... Also, the new trim piece is of a different design. You can see in the photos the grey felt trim that wraps around the bag and attaches to the side trim (which is responsible from letting the trim piece become airborne after bag deployment). The newest trim piece (along with a new airbag) now removes the felt strap and has a cloth mesh that runs a good portion of the length of the trim piece and is attached to the airbag. What is unclear to me is if the airbag and trim piece are now connected with this mesh and must always be replaced as one part, or if they can still be separated. At any rate, the latest design is indeed substantially different in design, but the plastic clips are still as wimpy as ever.

I'll stop by the dealer again and ask what they would like to do, and probably contact AoA. Another replacement is silly if it's just the same parts...it will just break from the 4th time. I am a small-framed guy, at only 5'4" and 140 lbs, so it's seems crazy I can flex the seat/side bolster enough to brake the trim. The way the entire thing is put together just seems very fragile, and I think we have proven the design is not robust enough. But why don't the A4/A5 have this issue? Clearly they have a design that works. Can't they just copy that design? It's a minor annoyance, but not becoming more of a indicator on how Audi responds to problems, and that's disheartening to a new owner. Thankfully when seated you can't even see it, and the way this car looks and drives infinitely outweighs this issue. That said, what happens once it's out of warranty for future owners, as the repair is approx $2,000 to repair?!?

I'll keep you updated and am happy to entertain your thoughts or questions. Still.....this is the most enjoyable car I have ever owned!

TTSWV

Please keep us posted if you decide to contact AOA. They played a waiting game with me pretending they were ignorant of the seat problem. Weeks later (9/19) they advised that Audi does not have an expected date for a solution to the seat failure.

Some advice if you want...If you happen to get Mrs. Dawkins immediately hang up the phone. I would rather have a firey poker stuck up my rear end than speak to her again.

Good luck!

TTSWV

Masochist only.

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