Owning or driving a vehicle with a third row of seats can be convenient when hauling around your family, the neighbor’s kids, or when you simply just need to get more people from point A to point B. But you know what’s not convenient? When those seats don’t stay where they’re supposed to in a crash. For that reason, Audi is recalled nearly 20,000 SUVs.
Audi issued the recall of 19,205 model year 2015 Q7 SUVs after finding that the third row seats may move forward during a frontal collision, posing an injury risk to passengers.
According to a notice [PDF] posted with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the lower transverse pipe used in the 3rd seating row was improperly manufactured which could lead to a weakening of the seat structure.
The issue means that the vehicles are in violation of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 207 for seating systems.
Audi says it became aware of the issue in May 2016, during internal periodic quality testing.
The carmaker then launched an investigation to determine if the test failure was the result of an incorrect test procedure or a defective part.
On August 25, 2016, the matter was presented at the Product Safety Committee where a decision to conduct a Compliance Recall was made, the carmaker says.
Owners of the affected vehicles will be notified by Audi, and dealers will install additional support brackets to the third row.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist