Automatic Emergency Braking Problems of Audi A5

Over the course of 3 days about 6 weeks ago, my new leased vehicle abruptly slammed on the brakes 3 separate times for no reason whatsoever. The first time the vehicle was in drive mode and abruptly slammed on the brakes from a speed of 10-15 mph in the middle of a left hand turn. The second time the vehicle was in reverse and slammed on the brakes from a speed of 5-10 mph. In neither case was there any reason for the suddenly abrupt and startling braking to a complete stop. The third time the vehicle was in park and idling in an empty parking lot and again the pre-sense system abruptly alerted and although braking could not be applied (because the car was in park), the seat belt system abruptly slammed me against the seat. I brought the car into Audi, who evaluated the vehicle and found nothing wrong with it. They said, "maybe a paper bag flew near the sensor or the sensor was dirty. " I expressed that I did not feel safe driving the vehicle and they said I have to take the vehicle back. I requested that they disable the pre-sense system and they reported that they were not permitted to. I reported the incident to Audi corporate who agreed with the dealer. I feel the vehicle is unsafe and because of past performance, could suddenly and abruptly slam on the brakes causing a major car accident. Please assist if you can.

See all problems of the 2023 Audi A5 🔎.

The pre-sense; alert, seatbelt tightening and braking, was triggered unexpectedly when driving on the straight area of my side road without cause. There were no other vehicles, flying debri or animals in the path of the car to cause the sudden and abrupt braking. My car has since been inspected by the dealer and the result was the pre-sense safety feature is properly working. The report stated it was possible the sensor detected mailboxes or shrubs along the road. The final statement in the diagnostic report was “the customer can change the settings to red”. I now have no confidence in the safety performance of my car and fear it will happen at a time which will cause an accident.

See all problems of the 2022 Audi A5 🔎.

There was no damage caused. The Audi pre sense technology (automatic braking) has come close to causing several accidents by braking extremely hard when there has been no reason to brake.

See all problems of the 2021 Audi A5 🔎.

I have had multiple issues with this vehicle. After having it for a few months while on a road trip the car begin high pitched beeping and several warning lights displayed with messages stating Audi pre sense malfunction: contact customer service/ aes/aeb unavailable. Safety system: malfunction: see owners manual. Drive system malfunction. Three warning lamps illuminated as well. I wasn’t sure what was happening and pulled over at the next exit, called my husband. After turning off the vehicle the lights remained illuminated and the warning lamps didn’t change, it also continued to beep but I had not choice but to continue on as we were far from home but it left me rattled and nervous of the safety of the vehicle. After the dealership advised us there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and they weren’t sure why the lights and malfunctions displayed. They turned off the lights and the car was fine for another few weeks until it suddenly slammed on the breaks while driving down the road for no reason at all, all the lights and malfunctions begin again as well as the beeping. Luckily there wasn’t a car behind us but we were quite afraid of this breaking issue happening leading to a car accident or worse. We took the car to the dealership again where they told us there “needed to be an update to the software” but it wouldn’t be out until sometime “hopefully” next year but couldn’t guarantee a date and informed us we just needed to bring the car in if it happened again. We questioned the safety and asked for a loaner vehicle due to our fear but were assured the car is safe however I’ve lost count of the number of times the lights have come back on and the car breaks unexpectedly. We’ve returned to the dealership each time and told the vehicle is ok but the warning lights and safety alerts are on again as of today however it no longer beeps.