Reliability & cost of ownership
Audi S3 Reliability & Common Problems
How reliable is the Audi S3? Compare every model year side by side — NHTSA recalls, owner complaints, and crash-test stars — then open the year you're shopping for a full reliability and repair-cost forecast.
Audi S3 problems by model year
10 recall entries and 87 owner complaints on file across 8 model years, sourced from the federal NHTSA database.
| Year | Recalls | Complaints | NCAP stars | Full report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 S3 | 0 | 2 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 2022 S3 | 0 | 2 | No NCAP test | Reliability forecast → |
| 2020 S3 | 1 | 1 | 5.0 | Reliability forecast → |
| 2019 S3 | 1 | 2 | 5.0 | Reliability forecast → |
| 2018 S3 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | Reliability forecast → |
| 2017 S3 | 2 | 9 | 5.0 | Reliability forecast → |
| 2016 S3 | 3 | 14 | 5.0 | Reliability forecast → |
| 2015 S3 | 2 | 52 | 5.0 | Reliability forecast → |
Most-complained-about components
Owner complaints filed with NHTSA against the Audi S3, grouped by the component each complaint names — the fastest read on where this model gives trouble.
- air bags49 complaints
- electrical system11 complaints
- power train10 complaints
- fuel/propulsion system9 complaints
- seats8 complaints
- seat belts7 complaints
- unknown or other6 complaints
- visibility/wiper5 complaints