— Audi passenger airbag lights that stay on have caused a class action lawsuit in Canada for consumers who purchased or leased any of these vehicles.
- 2016-2020 Audi A3
- 2016-2018 Audi A3 E-TRON
- 2018-2020 Audi RS3
- 2016-2020 Audi S3
The Audi Canada lawsuit includes the above vehicles which were included in a Transport Canada recall for defective passenger occupant detection systems.
The Audi passenger airbag Off indicator activates when the frontal passenger airbag is deactivated.
The Canadian plaintiff leased a new Audi A3 in 2020 but within months the vehicle started beeping and the airbag warning light on the dash activated.
The plaintiff contacted the Audi dealer about the constant passenger airbag light and beeping sound and was allegedly told Audi was looking into the problem.
The plaintiff says she was worried about safety and was told "it would be safer not to have passengers in that seat in case of an accident and airbag malfunction."
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff received a notice about Transport Canada Recall 2021-169 regarding the Audi passenger airbag Off problem due to the passenger occupant detection systems.
"The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may detect a malfunction and switch off the passenger airbag even though the seat may be occupied. However, the airbag system and the warning strategy operate as designed. If the PODS malfunctions, a warning light in the instrument panel comes on together with an acoustic warning sound and an error message is displayed in the instrument cluster. The airbag indicator light shows “passenger airbag off." — Audi passenger airbag recall letter
The plaintiff was told when the warnings disappear the passenger airbag works again without any action by the owner.
The Audi class action lawsuit alleges the plaintiff tried to get a loaner vehicle and asked to be financially compensated because she is paying for a vehicle in which a passenger cannot use the front passenger seat.
And the plaintiff says she has been waiting seven months for something to be done only to be told to keep waiting.
The Audi passenger airbag class action lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court for the Province of Quebec District of Montreal Canada: Karine, v. Audi Canada Inc., et al.
The plaintiff is represented by LPC Avocat Inc.
