Volkswagen and Audi were called to NHTSA’s offices again, this time through the infotainment system’s tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and voltage regulator. Large recall includes 225,704 units Some VW and Audi models have TPMS software that can react slowly in an extremely rare situation. If all four tires simultaneously lose pressure at the same rate, the system may not notify the driver within the allotted time. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) #138 S4.2, which requires an alert within 20 minutes after certain conditions are met. The automaker says the system will notify drivers “before potentially safety-related tire pressures are reached” – that is, before they drop to dangerously low levels. But because the alert is outside of the FMVSS response time spec, the system needs fixing.
The fix is to go to a VW or Audi dealer to update the TPMS software. Population recall model year includes:
VW Corporation of America will send a letter of notice to owners by December 30, 2022. Owners who do not want to wait seven weeks for official information can contact Volkswagen customer service at 800-893-5298 and refer to internal recall numbers 45J6 and 45J8, contact Audi customer care at 800-253-2834 and refer to internal recall number 45J7, or contact NHTSA’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) and cites campaign number 22V815.
Audi needs its dealers to take a close look 6,076 other vehicles recalled from the 2021 and 2022 model years for their infotainment systems. A faulty voltage regulator can damage the infotainment center console when the vehicle is off. When starting up afterwards, the display will not work, which means the rearview camera image cannot be displayed either. Not having a rearview camera on a modern vehicle is federal taboo. Dealers will replace the entire instrument cluster in vehicles in need.
Although the vehicle population is much smaller, the range of vehicles likely to be affected is larger. It includes:
- In 2021 & 2022: A6 All roads, A8E-Tron
- 2022: A3, A4A4 Allroad, A5 Coupe and Cabriolet, A6, A7E-Tron GT, Q3, Q7, Q8, RS Q8, RS6, RS7, S3, S4, S5 Coupe and Cabriolet, S6, S8, SQ7, SQ8
Letters will be sent to owners by December 25. Before that, owners can contact Audi customer care at the number above and refer to the internal recall number 91EI, or contact with NHTSA and cites campaign number 22V806.
