Front Air Bag Sensor Control problems of the 2015 Audi A3

I am having the same issue with my 2015 Audi that so many others I read are having, my passenger seat air bag sensor keeps turning on and off when the seat is occupied. I?m now concerned after reading all these reports that I?m going to get hosed since Audi isn?t doing the proper thing and fixing what?s actually wrong with this car. Who?s responsible when the passenger in my car dies because the air bag system was off due to a manufacturer?s defect that was ignored?.

Pods failure. Passenger occupancy device. When not working, passenger airbag is turned off while passenger in seat. In my case the part was replaced at 10,208 miles and failed again at 13,924 miles. Audi replaced the sensor the first time after a lot of debate, but refuse the second time. There was a recall on the harness that plugs into the sensor, but not the sensor itself. Critical airbag safety system should not fail at this mileage. There are numerous failures highlighted in many Audi forums. This is a known problem for Audi, and the numerous owners experiencing this failure.

June 2018 paid out of pocket for passenger pods due to faulty sensor for passenger air bag. 10/2019 recall for wiring was done. October 29 2020, pods need replaced again! out of warranty! this is a huge safety concern and after viewing multiple other complaints of the same issue, a recall must be done! Audi needs to take responsibility and address their faulty issue which should he covered under recall. God forbid someone become seriously injured or lose their life due to Audis lack of response. I am now being told that I lust pay out of pocket once again to repair!.

Car received pods recall fix coded 69z4 in January 2020. The fix did not solve the annoying and life threatening malfunctionion that leads to Audi presense failure alert and deactivation of the passenger airbag system when a passenger is seated. It would also trigger the error when no passenger was seated, requiring to fasten the seatbelt to an empty seat to get rid of the seatbelt beeps. Car was taken in to Audi dealership October and after an inspection, the issue was found to be the sensor itself this time. The diagnosis report diligently ruled out any problem with the connector and wiring whose fault would mean a potential repair and the inspection would be at no cost to owner. However, like everyone else's complaints owner was presented with a 1,500 dollar quote for replacing the sensor + $250 fee for using their vagcom ("inspection"). The error code was b12251b (mat resistance too high). Audi's internal documents accessed through NHTSA report that "if fault, �b12251b: seat occupied recognition sensor mat resistance too high� is stored in the airbag control module, do not diagnose or replace any components for this fault before performing this repair. The 69z4 topic is not the only cause of this fault. Any diagnosis related to this fault will not be covered under this campaign. " Audi openly admits that the scope of the 69z4 recall and the sensor issue are linked together by virtue of having similar behaviors for the car systems as well as fault codes. However Audi performs the cheaper bandaid out of pocket and expects the owner to pay for the faulty part which should have been part of the recall in the first place. This many complaints about the same behaviour and same part (that is traditionally not your usual wear&and&tear part like a battery) warrant an investigation of the malpractices of Audi in dealing with this recall and its customers.

My Audi A3 continually has a presence system fault when the car starts which indicates that the system is not functioning properly. As a result it turns off the passenger airbag even with the seat occupied which is a safety hazard. Audi has indicated that this is due to a faulty sensor. I have brought this issue to Audi. S attention for over four years with no resolution. This issue has continued despite a prior recall service on another connector with the pods system however immediately after that fix the isssue continued and Audi indicates it actually likes with a faulty sensor. This issue occurs randomly when the vehicle is started or while already driving, the error makes a loud noise and put an alert on the main dashboard which is unnerving and distracting while driving. I previously provided Audi pictures of the alert messages multiple times over several years with no resolution.

Audi has a recall to fix the wiring in the pods system, acknowledging that the components to detect and protect a passenger in the seat exists. The recall does not fix the sensor itself which has been identified as an existing failure issue. Knowing this is a safety issue Audi has yet to recall the sensor as part of the system to detect a passenger in the seat. This is as bad if not worse then the airbag recall that exists today. Their explanation is that the sensor is not part of the recall because its a different component than the wiring harness, even though the harness plugs into the sensor and the connection was part of the previous recall. Instead they want to charge between 1200 and 1300 dollars for each replaced sensor. This issue will cause the passenger airbag to fail to activate because the sensor does not register correctly whether there is a passenger or not. Additionally there could be injury to the driver on deployment of the passenger airbag inadvertently due to sensor failure to correctly identify occupant. This is not a wear and tear item and should not be managed as such as a failing use part. It should be recalled as a safety item.

In 2019, I was notified of a recall consisting of the pods(passenger occupant detection system) system stating that the wiring and connector needed to be changed. I took the vehicle in to the dealership to have the recall service repairs done. After completion of the recall repairs, I have now began to have issues with my airbag sensor which is part of the pods system. Around March 2020, I began having issues with my airbag turning on and off while a passenger is sitting in my passenger seat with the seatbelt on. I would have to instruct my passenger to disengage the seatbelt and re-engage it in order for the airbag to come back on and recognize that there is a person over the minimal weight requirement occupying the seat. This issue have continued to occur on and off throughout the year. On Nov. 6th, I was in an accident(rear-ended) with no major injuries. That accident was luckily not very severe and I am very fortunate that I didn't hit the car that was in front of me and needed my airbag to deploy and I wouldn't due to a faulty airbag sensor that was fine until the recall campaign in 2019. So on Friday, Nov 13th, I took my car in for diagnostic testing at the dealership and when the service department called, I was told that it was in fact my sensor inside my front passenger seat that is malfunctioning. This did not occur until the wiring and connector was changed in Dec 2019. I have contacted the corporate office of the auto maker and they are refusing to pay any part of the cost to have the sensor replaced and I am being quoted a repair price of $1200 and that's just for the part alone. This is a safety issue and I feel that since the company issued a recall campaign for the replacement of the wiring and connector, they should do the same for the airbag sensor before a fatal accident occurs to a passenger of the same type of vehicle with the same issue. There are currently several complaints about the exact same issue posted on this site and several others.

There was recently a pods recall for the wiring harness going to the occupant detection sensor the recall did not fix the issues for many people. Car will randomly think someone is setting in the passenger seat and activate airbag and cause the seatbelt light to chime constantly while driving causing the air bag to turn on and off. The sensor imbedded in the bottom of the seat is faulty.

Audi recently had a recall (#69z4) to address an issue with their pods sensor system. Audi claimed the fix as a revised wiring connection and cable routing. My A3 experienced the exact symptoms and issues the recall covered. I took it in for repair however immediacy after picking up the car the issue still persists. Dealer says it is actually an issue with the pods sensor itself but that they will not repair this under warranty. I called Audi USA who claims the same. It appears their fix is not robust enough to fix the actual problem but they will not correct it further. As it stands now my car still will not allow the airbag to work properly while a passenger is there or not. Airbag warning goes off constantly and "air bag off" light is illuminated nearly all the time but will intermittently go on and off at random times.

Passenger air bag sensor not properly functioning with passengers in seat. Air bag would not activate due to sensor not functioning properly. This was reported to Audiusa and the dealership however I was told this was not covered and I would have to pay out of pocket. I was go en a discount, however this is a huge safety concern!.

Passenger air bag sensor not properly functioning causing the air bag to not turn on when passenger is in seat.