VW, Audi recall cars for potential fires, separating spoilers, incorrect child seat anchor icons

Volkswagen and Audi announced a series of recalls affecting multiple models sold in the United States to address a variety of issues, including incorrect transmission oil fill levels in Audi’s R8 supercar that can lead to overheating and fire if left unaddressed. 

Of the three, the most serious but smallest affects the Audi R8; just 10 units are covered by the campaign (eight in the U.S. and two in Canada). Audi says the vehicles were assembled with transmissions that did not receive a proper gear oil fill before shipping. If these units slipped past the delivery inspection without being topped off, customers could encounter drivability issues, premature clutch wear and, in more severe use cases (such as track use or other heat-generating activities), the transmissions could leak oily foam through their breather outlets, potentially catching fire. 

Dealers will reach out to customers to have their R8s looked at and potentially repaired if they show signs of damage or accelerated wear. Remedies could include anything from topping off the gear oil to component replacement if deemed necessary by dealers. 

The largest of the three campaigns targets the Volkswagen Tiguan. Between 2017 and 2021, more than 6,500 Tiguans rolled off VW lots with accessory rear hatch spoilers that were installed improperly. Since they are not adequately adhered to the vehicle, they may spontaneously detach and become projectiles while underway. VW says this campaign covers only those spoilers that were installed at the port or through other official channels, where the wrong instructions were given out to authorized installers, meaning VW won’t pay to replace your spoiler if you DIYed it incorrectly. Sorry; that one’s on you. 

VW says dealers will replace and properly attach the spoilers for all vehicles where the initial installation was performed improperly by an authorized installer. 

The third recall is even less dramatic. Audi is recalling a chunk of A3 and S3 models because they shipped with the wrong symbol on their child seat anchors. Unfortunately for those with a sense of humor, assemblers merely placed the E.U. standard icons on the appliqués rather than the U.S. ones. Here we were hoping for a leftover “eject” button from a CD player. Oh, well. This campaign affects just 466 vehicles and the remedy consists of swapping out a tiny piece of plastic. 

Related Video