NHTSA Complaint #11402696 — 2020 AUDI Q3

ON FOUR OCCASIONS, THE ENGINE STOPPED WORKING AND THE STEERING WHEEL WAS NOT ABLE TO BE TURNED. THIS PREVENTED THE DRIVER FROM MOVING THE VEHICLE FORWARD AND STEERING OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. IF THE CAR IS TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED, THE PROBLEM RESOLVES WITH THIS RESET. THE INTERVALS BETWEEN THESE EPISODES HAVE BEEN SEVERAL MONTHS. THERE ARE NO SPECIFICALLY COMMON VARIABLES, OTHER THAN A LOWER SPEED - START/STOP AS IN WAITING TO CROSS A LINE OF TRAFFIC OR PROCEEDING THROUGH A STOP SIGN. I HAVE TAKEN THE Q3 TO THE DEALER 3 TIMES NOW AND HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT A SOFTWARE UPDATE IS THE FIX. RECENTLY THE CAR HAS BEEN MAKING A VIBRATING NOISE WHEN COASTING, AND IT LOST POWER IN AN INTERSECTION ON THE WAY TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE. THE CAR COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN AND EVEN ACTIVATED THE PARKING BRAKE. WE ALWAYS DISABLE THE CAR'S AUTO START-STOP FEATURE, AS WE SUSPECTED THAT TO BE INVOLVED, BUT THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE. WE FEEL THIS CAR IS UNSAFE AND THE AUDI DEALER SEEMS UNABLE TO DIAGNOSE AND RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. OUR FIRST AUDI PURCHASE, WE HAD ONE OF THE FIRST 2020 Q3 TO ARRIVE IN THE US AND FOUR SHUT-OFF INCIDENTS SINCE WE PURCHASED THE CAR IN OCT 2019. THE CAR WAS DRIVEN LESS THAN ANTICIPATED DUE TO COVID, REMOTE SCHOOL/WORK AND NO TRAVEL. PERHAPS MORE FREQUENT DRIVING WOULD HAVE ACCELERATED THE CLAIM PROCESS FOR US. IRONICALLY, WE CHOSE THE CAR FOR ITS SAFETY FEATURES PRIMARILY FOR OUR TEEN/YOUNG ADULT DRIVERS. THE CAR HAS SHUT DOWN FOR THREE DRIVERS, TWICE FOR OUR TEEN AND ONCE FOR EACH OF THE PARENTS, SO WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE PROBLEM EXISTS AS DESCRIBED AND PERSISTS DESPITE ATTEMPTS TO FIX IT. EACH TIME WE FELT IT WAS RESOLVED DUE TO A LONG INTERVAL BETWEEN INCIDENTS, BUT TODAY WAS MORE FRIGHTENING THAN OTHERS DUE TO THE INTERSECTION WHERE IT OCCURRED. THIS COULD CAUSE A CRITICAL ACCIDENT.