Your vehicleHome›Audi›S6› 2018

Audi · Midsize Sedan

2018 Audi S6

Gas

Midsize Cars
1 EPA-rated configurations
Data refreshed 2026-10-26

Safety Signal

92 / 100 from the NHTSA recall record

RecallsNHTSA campaigns 1

Complaintsnone reporting a crash, fire or injury 4

Crash ratingNHTSA overall 5★

Fuel economybest combined, EPA 18 mpg

2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2018 2017 2016

The 2018 Audi S6 is sold in the U.S. as a gas midsize sedan. The most efficient version, the S6, is EPA-rated at 18 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of A. Owners have filed 4 complaints, most often about the steering. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall.

Audi S6 — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Audi S6 · Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Specs & fuel economy

Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov

Configuration	Powertrain	Drive	Engine / motor	City	Hwy	Comb	Annual fuel*
S6	Gas	AWD	4.0L 8-cyl turbo	16	24	18	$4,550

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 39393.

Emissions & certification

Source: EPA emission certificates

Configuration	Smog rating	Emission standard	Where it can be sold new	SmartWay
S6	3 / 10	California LEV-II ULEV / Federal Tier 3 Bin 125	All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards	—

Certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S.

The smog rating scores tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, 1 (worst) to 10 (best), and is comparable only within a model year. The standard is the federal bin or California tier the configuration was certified to. Both come from the EPA certificate behind the window sticker.

Specifications filed with NHTSA

Source: NHTSA vPIC

Dimensions Exterior

Body style	Sedan/Saloon
Doors	4
GVWR class	Class 1: 6,000 lb or less (2,722 kg or less)

Engine Basics

Cylinders	8
Displacement	4 L

Engine Output

Horsepower

450 hp

Fuel Economy

Fuel	Gasoline

Transmission

Drivetrain	AWD/All-Wheel Drive
Transmission	Automatic

Filed by the manufacturer with NHTSA under the federal vehicle-identification rule and decoded from the VIN pattern — not a manufacturer press kit, so it describes one configuration rather than every trim (seen: quattro Prestige). Figures for the trim you are looking at may differ.

Dimensions & weight

Source: Transport Canada

Length	193.7 in
Width (body, without mirrors)	73.6 in
Height	57.5 in
Wheelbase	114.6 in
Track, front	64.2 in
Track, rear	63.8 in
Curb weight	4,398 lb
Weight distribution, front/rear	55/45

Measured by Transport Canada for its Canadian Vehicle Specifications database, which covers the North American versions of each model — here one configuration: 4-door Sedan 4.0 Tfsi Quattro. Where a range is shown, those versions differ. Width is the body without mirrors, which is why it can read narrower than a brochure figure. Before we used it we checked it against the US manufacturer press kits we hold (27 Sep 2026): wheelbase agreed within 1% on every vehicle we could compare, length on 98%, and the curb weight fell inside the manufacturer's range on 96%. Source dataset. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Licence.

Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.

Recalls (1)

Source: NHTSA recall database

▲high

Air Bags

74D5

139,249 vehicles 85% reported repaired built Feb 6, 2015 – Apr 26, 2018

Problem Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2013-2018 Audi S6 and S7, 2012-2018 A7 and A6 Sedan, and 2014-2018 RS7 vehicles equipped with basic seats (with or without heating). Stress or wear of the body-sensing mat within the front passenger seat may cause the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) control module to malfunction. Risk If the PODS module malfunctions, the front passenger air bag may not deploy properly in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Fix Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install a PODS system repair kit, free of charge. The recall began November 29, 2018. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 74D5.

Filed with NHTSAOwner letter PDF

NHTSA campaign 18V370000 reported Jun 4, 2018 Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.

Whether any of this applies to one specific S6

A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2018 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Audi publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.

NHTSA VIN check →Audi’s own VIN lookup →

Hear about a recall before the letter does

The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2018 Audi S6, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.

Owner complaints

Source: NHTSA complaint database

4complaints filed

0 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 0 injuries · 0 deaths reported

Filed per year: 2017: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2023: 1

Most-cited components

Steering 2

Service Brakes 1

Visibility/Wiper 1

Electrical System 1

In owners' own words

Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.

First off let me start by saying the vehicle has 45k miles on it. There were no fault codes or system errors prior to the issue that developed. I was driving to a meeting in heavy rain, no issues or suspicion of issues arising.

Steering Dec 10, 2023 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11559336

I own a 2018 Audi S6 which I began driving in march 2018. Since then the windshield has shattered three times, due to only minor impacts of rocks or road debris each time. This happened most recently a few weeks ago while driving on the highway at about 70 MPH.

Visibility/Wiper at 21,000 miles Apr 22, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11413376

I purchased the vehicle on 11/18/2017; on 11/21/2017 a dead battery caused the vehicle not to start. On the 11/22/2017 after charging the vehicle battery over 20 hours the vehicle started; however the vehicle displayed several warnings: steering system fault, dynamic stability, adaptive suspension, adaptive lights, etc...

Steering at 420 miles Dec 4, 2017 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11052290

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP

Configuration	Overall	Frontal	Side	Rollover	Rollover risk
4 DR AWD	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	9%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program.

Service bulletins & campaigns

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications

Communicationsfiled with NHTSA 579

Most recentmanufacturer date 2026-09-25

Kindsas classified by NHTSA 575 service bulletins, 4 others

Most often about: Equipment, Electrical System, Engine, Unknown Or Other, Structure.

TSB_2083409_1 Service bulletin
2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin states that technicians are required to report to the manufacturer when a vehicle has flooded, and specify the height to which the vehicle has been flooded.
TSB_2052680_2 Service bulletin
2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin provides information for reporting safety related information to the manufacturer.
TSB_2074846_5 Service bulletin
2026-09-22 · Steering
This bulletin provides information about vibrations and rotational steering vibrations.
TSB_2020552_15 Service bulletin
2026-09-22 · Visibility/Wiper
This bulletin provides service information regarding exterior glass cleaning.
TSB_2078648_4 Service bulletin
2026-09-18 · Structure — Body
This bulletin provides information about billing for a broken sunroof glass panel.
TSB_2030471_9 Service bulletin
2026-09-15 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin provides information when the license plate mounting bracket threded inserts are stripped.
TSB_2068999_5 Service bulletin
2026-09-08 · Structure — Body
This TSB describes a corrosion issue due to outside influence and the prohibition of warranty in these cases.
TSB_2051095_12 Service bulletin
2026-09-08 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin provides infomraiton abou the Audi frequency analysis application, which is available in the App Store for Android and Apple phones.

A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.

Diagnostic trouble codes on file

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaints

Codes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.

Code	What it means	Most often filed under	Where it appears
B2000	Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard.	Steering	1 owner report

Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.

S6 by model year

all years, side by side →

Year Safety Recalls Complaints

2025 A 1 3 22 mpg 2024 A 1 0 22 mpg 2023 A 1 0 22 mpg 2022 B 4 4 22 mpg 2021 D 10 0 22 mpg 2020 C 6 2 22 mpg 2018 this page A 1 4 18 mpg 2017 B 2 5 21 mpg 2016 B 2 19 21 mpg

Common questions about the 2018 S6

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Does the 2018 Audi S6 have any recalls?

NHTSA has posted 1 recall campaign for the 2018 Audi S6. The most serious on file is 18V370000, covering Air Bags. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.

How safe is the 2018 Audi S6?

NHTSA gave the 2018 Audi S6 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 5-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 5-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it A (92/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.

What is the fuel economy of the 2018 Audi S6?

For the 2018 Audi S6, the best EPA combined figure is 18 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.

What are the dimensions of the 2018 Audi S6?

Transport Canada measured it at 193.7 in long, 73.6 in wide (body, without mirrors), 57.5 in tall, on a 114.6 in wheelbase. Curb weight: 4,398 lb. Those are its measurements of the North American versions; every figure is in the table above.

What do owners complain about on the 2018 Audi S6?

Owners have filed 4 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Audi S6, most often about steering, service brakes, visibility/wiper. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.

How clean is the 2018 Audi S6?

The EPA smog rating for the 2018 Audi S6 is 3 out of 10. That score covers tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, and it only compares vehicles within the same model year. It is certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Its configurations were certified to different standards — California LEV-II ULEV, Federal Tier 3 Bin 125 — which the table above lists per configuration.

Are there service bulletins for the 2018 Audi S6?

The manufacturer has filed 579 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2018 Audi S6, most often covering equipment, electrical system, engine. The most recent is dated 2026-09-25. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.

What we hold, and what an empty row means

Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.

Data	Held	Source	What it covers — or what empty means
Fuel economy & configurations	1 configurations	EPA certification records	Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures.
Emission certificates	1 configurations	EPA emission certificates	Smog rating, standard and the sales area that decides where the car can be sold new.
Recalls	1	NHTSA recall campaigns	A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags.
Owner complaints	4	NHTSA complaint database	Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold.
Crash ratings	1 tested	NHTSA NCAP	Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them.
Service bulletins	579	NHTSA manufacturer communications	Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall.
Investigations	none	NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation	No defect investigation has been opened.
Driver-assist crash reports	none	NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01	No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like.
Specifications filed with NHTSA	9 fields	NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns	What the manufacturer filed under the federal VIN rule — a configuration, not the full trim ladder.
Measured dimensions	7 fields	Transport Canada, Canadian Vehicle Specifications	Length, width, height, wheelbase, track and curb weight, measured on the North American versions.
Trims, pricing & equipment	none	Manufacturer press kit	We have not transcribed a press kit for this model year yet. This is our gap, not the manufacturer's — the one row here where an empty cell means we are behind.

Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly.

JSON for this page · API