The 2001 Audi S4 has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 62,812 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 92 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
AIR BAGS21V4700002021-06-2362,812 affected
Defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2000-2001 Audi TT Coupe, TT Roadster, 2000-2002 A4, and S4 vehicles equipped with Non-Azide Driver Air Bag Inflators (NADI) that do not contain phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. Due to a manufacturing issue, the NADI inflators may…
Consequence
In the event of a crash necessitating air bag deployment, the air bag may not properly protect the occupant, increasing the risk of serious injury or death.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the driver frontal airbag inflator with an alternative inflator, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 2, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69CJ.
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“I took the vehicle into the dealer (westwood audi) for a safety recall repair as requested by audi. It was for a driver front airbag inflator replacement. The work was done but when the car was returned the airbag warning light was on. I went back in to the service department and was told that the…”
“Instrument cluster that shows safety information doesn't work so don't know what's issue with car”
“I just happened to look up recalls and saw the complaints on the audi s4 2001. I noticed my car wasn't the only one where the instrument cluster has lost pixels and ends up unreadable for all warnings and manufacturer programmed safety warnings. It has been like this for years and did ask my…”
“Yokohama yk520 335/45r/17 tires... Driving along with my 2001 audi s4 and started noticing a wobble or shimmy in the steering wheel. Kept getting worse. The tires have less than 20k miles on them so I though I needed an alignment. (entire front suspension has been upgraded).. I took the tires off…”
“Cold start on a cold january morning (5 degrees f); upon starting the car the air bag warning light came on and would not shut off. Research (discussions with the dealer and air bag repair businesses) indicate that this is a very common defect for audi s4, model year 2001 and that to repair the…”
“I own a 2001 audi s4. The center display on the gauge cluster is failing due to missing pixels. The center display normally displays critical safety information regarding failing engine and body components. It is always missing pixels, and is never clear enough to read properly. Recently, I…”
“1) there is no triggering event leading up to the failure. It just appears over time. 2) the lcd screen in the instrument cluster has lines of pixels that do not light up. This is constant, with more lines of pixels going out and permanently staying out over time. As a consequence, important…”
“Information display on instrument cluster is failing; pixels no longer operate rendering the display useless. Display is used to inform the driver of vital safety information but with failed display the important safety information cannot be read! *tr”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2001 Audi S4 as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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