What breaks most · 2015 to 2018 model years
Audi A3 Cabriolet problems by year
Owners have filed 75 safety complaints with NHTSA about the Audi A3 Cabriolet across model years 2015 to 2018. Three years stand out: 2015 for air bags complaints, 2016 for fuel system complaints and 2017 for engine complaints.
- Years to check closely: 2015, 2016, 2017
- Complaints on file
- 752015 to 2018, all trims
- Worst year
- 201549 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 02 fires · 0 injuries · 0 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 19kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 16Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | 0 | 5 | Air bags (9) | |
| 15 | 0 | 3 | Fuel system (6) | |
| 8 | 0 | 3 | Engine (5) | |
| 3 | 0 | 5 | Exterior lighting (1) |
What fails on the 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air bags | 18% |
9 | 0 | Check recalls for air bags on NHTSA.gov |
| Fuel systemFuel pumps and injectors | 18% |
9 | 0 | Shop fuel system parts for the 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet |
| EngineEngine gaskets and seals | 14% |
7 | 0 | Shop engine parts for the 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet |
| Exterior lightingHeadlights, tail lights and bulbs | 10% |
5 | 0 | Shop exterior lighting parts for the 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 8% |
4 | 0 | Shop all powertrain and transmission parts, not filtered to this vehicle |
| Wheels | 8% |
4 | 0 | — |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 8% |
4 | 0 | Shop electrical system parts for the 2015 Audi A3 Cabriolet |
| Unknown or other | 6% |
3 | 0 | — |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
-
High pitch noise you can hear from the fuel pump. Car stalled on me. My VIN is not apart of the current NHTSA campaign number: 15v229000. Would like to get my fuel pump replaced before it stalls or won't start again on me.
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 30, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which Audi A3 Cabriolet years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2015, 2016, 2017 carry the most filings on the Audi A3 Cabriolet. The 2015 alone has 49 complaints, led by air bags.
What is the most common Audi A3 Cabriolet problem?
On the 2015 model year, the most-reported component is air bags with 9 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do Audi A3 Cabriolet problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all Audi A3 Cabriolet complaints that include mileage is about 19,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.