NHTSA Complaint #11434300 — 2017 AUDI A4

The passenger side air bag warning light and/or passenger seat sensor mat has failed 3 times (twice since we've owned the car and once before). We purchased a used 2017 A4 Audi Sedan in October 2019. In early November 2020 the passenger side airbag warning light came on. After adjusting the front passenger seat, the light went off. Thereafter, the light would intermittently go on and off. We took the car to the dealer from whom we bought it - Royal Automotive Group in San Francisco. Their technician tested the car and confirmed a fault code #DTC B1225F1. They found "tsb #2051242/5 for issue and fault" and installed "cable tie per tsb." We continued to drive the car without incident until September 2021when the problem happened again. The passenger side airbag warning light began going on and off intermittently both when the front passenger seat was occupied and when it was not. Since we had moved from San Francisco to Novato, we took the car to Audi Marin. They verified the concern and found fault code P122F51. They confirmed the tsb recommended repair had already been done and told us it was first repaired on August 2, 2019 (before we bought the car) and again in November 2020 when we reported the problem to Royal Automotive Group in San Francisco. Audi Marin's recommended repair is to replace the passenger side seat POD which would cost approximately $2,000. We have been advised that the defective passenger side air bag and/or seat sensor pad constitutes a safety hazard because the airbag system may not work. We have since learned that several Audi models have been recalled for defects in the passenger occupant detection system (PODS). In March of 2021, it was announced Audi is recalling virtually all A3, RS3 and S3 cars built from 2015 to 2020 to address the risk that the PODS may malfunction and turn off the airbag when someone is in the front passenger seat.