2001 Audi A4

The contact owns a 2001 Audi A4. The contact stated that upon closing the driver's side door, her husband heard a loud gun-like sound and he noticed that the passenger-side curtain air bags had deployed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact's husband cut the curtain air bags and drove the vehicle to his residence. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000. The VIN was not available.

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE ON A HIGHWAY GOING STRAIGHT AT ~65MPH THE PASSENGER SIDE CURTAIN AND SEAT AIRBAGS DEPLOYED FOR NO REASON. VEHICLE MANUFACTURER CITED A "CRASH" SIGNAL FROM SIDE IMPACT SENSOR WAS THE CAUSE OF THE FALSE DEPLOYMENT. NO PHYSICAL CAUSE COULD BE FOUND, NO DAMAGE WAS FOUND ON VEHICLE AND ALL AIRBAG SYSTEM WIRING WAS FOUND TO BE INTACT AND ORIGINAL. MANUFACTURER WOULD NOT OWN FAILURE AND CITED THE VEHICLE BEING LOWERED AS THE CAUSE. MANUFACTURER WAS UNABLE TO PROVIDE ANY EVIDENCE FOR THIS CONCLUSION AND VEHICLE IS WELL WITHIN LOCAL LAWS/REGULATIONS FOR LOWERED VEHICLES.

ALL AIRBAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY IN A DRIVER'S SIDE "T-BONE" COLLISION. A-4 IS EQUIPPED WITH SIDE AIRBAGS. A-4 WAS STATIONARY AND OCCUPIED, MINIVAN CRASHED INTO DRIVER'S DOOR AND PART OF FRONT QUARTER PANEL. VAN'S RATE OF TRAVEL WAS 20 TO 30 MPH IN REVERSE! MY WIFE SUFFERED NECK AND SHOULDER INJURIES. LOCAL AUDI DEALER REPLACED THE SIDE AIRBAG # 8D0 880 241 AA AND THE AIRBAG CONTROLLER MODULE # 8D0 959 655 G. ONLY AT MY INSISTENCE, WAS THIS WORK PERFORMED WHEN I CONTINUED TO QUESTION WHY NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. MY DIRECT QUESTIONS WERE MET WITH, "YOU KNOW, MORE INJURIES OCCUR WHEN AN AIRBAG GOES OFF, SO, YOUR WIFE IS PROBABLY LUCKIER THAT THEY DIDN'T WORK". WTF?! HEY BUDDY, LET'S PUT YOU IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT AND RAM MINIVAN INTO IT WITH THE SAME SPEED AND MASS! ALSO, REST YOUR ARM ON THE OPEN WINDOW AND SEE IF YOU DON'T LOSE AN ARM LIKE MY WIFE ALMOST DID. WHAT ARE THESE GUY'S TRYING TO COVER UP FOR AUDI?! HAS THERE BEEN A CORPORATE DECREE OF TOTAL LIABILITY AVOIDANCE WITH DECEIT BEING PUSHED DOWN TO THE DEALER LEVEL, OR ARE THEY JUST IDIOTS? I'M ALSO IN THE CLASS ACTION REGARDING THE OIL SLUDGE LAWSUIT. NOW THEY ARE DENYING 1/2 OF MY CLAIM BECAUSE THEY SAY I'M MISSING PROOF OF A SINGLE OIL CHANGE THAT SHOULD BE IN THE RECORDS OF THE DEALERSHIP THAT PERFORMED THE WORK, WHICH FOR SOME REASON ALL THE RECORDS PERTAINING TO THAT CRITICAL TIMELINE HAVE BEEN WIPED OFF AUDI'S CORPORATE COMUPTER SYSTEM. WHEN WILL IT ALL END? I'M ABOUT TO DRIVE THIS [XXX] CAROVER A CLIFF! ANY AUDI EXECS WANT TO GO FOR A RIDE? I FEEL I HAVE BEEN TAKEN FOR A LONG ENOUGH RIDE AFTER SOME $15,000 TO $20,000 IN REPAIRS OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS. LET'S HOPE OUR AIRBAGS WILL BE FREE FROM FAILURE IN THE EVENT OF A FUTURE ACCIDENT. SOMEONE ELSE'S EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN THAT SWITCHING OUT THE MODULE WITH THE SAME MODEL MODULE HAS NOT ELIMINATED THE PROBLEM COMPLETELY AND IT HAS RE-OCCURRED, I.E., RED LIGHT IN DASH COMING ON AGAIN AND FAILURE TO DEPLOY AIRBAGS IN CRASH. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 AUDI A4. THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE REPAIR SHOP AND THEY STATED THAT THE DRIVER SIDE AIR BAG DEPLOYED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE WAS UNKNOWN. THE VEHICLE WAS NEVER INVOLVED IN A CRASH. THE VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN REPAIRED. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 41,800. UPDATED 11/26/07.