NHTSA Complaint #11679117 — 2016 AUDI A5

On August 3, 2025, my wife and I came home from dinner and I couldn’t get out of the driver’s side door. I took it to Naples Audi where I bought the car and delt with its Assistant Service Manager and Service Advisor. Audi estimated the repair to be over $1,300. I called Audi USA Regional Customer Service and Mike B opened a Case 06968056 for me. He got back to me today, August 7, and said Audi Corporate and Naples Audi will still make me pay $800 to do the repair. I'm submitting this claim because an inoperable door handle is a huge safety problem and liability to any Audi owner. The parts to repair cost $500, which includes a part to connect the interior handle to the door latch that opens the door, and 4 bolts! I found out the interior part of the door handle is made of plastic – unbelievably not metal. Audit Assistant Service Manager told me over time, especially in the southwest Florida heat, the plastic can become brittle and crack off the latch. One would think Audi Engineers would know to use metal versus plastic for this critical part that enable the door to open. Audi should fully cover the cost to fix my car due to “engineering mistake.” The part wasn’t broken based on anything I, or any other consumer, could do to provide service maintenance to keep this plastic part from cracking. This breakdown of the driver’s side door not being able to let me out, is a huge safety problem for anyone driving this car.