Audi Q5 8R.II (2012-2017)

Terrible car. I thought Audi is quality German engineering, but I was wrong. Bought brand new in December 2018. I bought it from Audi Penfold Burwood In Melbourne. In 6 years we have done only less than 90,000km. Nothing but trouble. On 27th… Read more

December, we were travelling from Canberra to Sydney. Suddenly car RPM went very high on Middle of freeway, I stopped on the side of the road to see what’s going on. After switching off the engine, car would not start. Ended getting up tow truck to towed to the Audi Canberra Dealership. They could not find any fault, why car wouldn’t start. After 10 days of constant follow up finally answered to me that there is less compression on all engine cylinders.

To do further testing and investigation they need to strip the engine which will be charged to me $9650, if they find that engine needs replacement, new engine of Q5 3.0 TDI will cost approximately $30,000. Plus plus plus ….

All this unnecessary electronic cr#p keeps going wrong. Parts are extremely expensive. Audi Australia and their dealership are not willing to help or taking any blame of defective piece of German engineering.

Do yourself a favour and don't Audi cars.

Honest opinion of Owning a Q5Tdi – Had this for almost 8 years and fully serviced by AUDI Doncaster & Penfold. I am quite pleased with the SUV and the service provided by the 2 Agents but the cost of maintenance and especially when parts needs to be replaced it is extremely costly. I have finally decided to sell it when I had a last major drama with the engine and was told that in… Read more

the next 6 months I would need to fork out around $16K for other parts that needs to be replaced. I mean honestly, the Q5 TDI is a nice and pretty comfortable SUV to drive expecially out of the city roads and pretty economical on fuel.... but the cost of maintenance to me just do not justify keeping it forever. That is why these brands are mainly for corporates where they get rid of them when their Warranty is over.

Very expensive to maintain and unrealiable – 2016 model tfsi q5. Only 5 years old .always serviced from Audi centre, well looked after car but hard to maintain.already given 6000$ quotation work to do on next service.

Comfortable ride but extremely unreliable – Bought 2012 Q5 TFSI MY13 model with 85k on the clock in Oct 2016 with service history. Had it until June 2020 when I sold it with 119k on the clock. In this short space of time, I had 12 separate issues with the car ! Spent more time at the mechanics than on the road. Car looks great, is very comfortable on long drives and is fun to drive when… Read more

dash error lights are not on but I cannot believe the poor build quality on this car ! On average there was something wrong with the car every 3 months...

Issues in the order that I experienced them: 1. Cracked coolant tank causing coolant leak. Coolant tank was replaced. 2. Faulty electronic wastegate actuator arm. I was lucky I found the part I needed online and had it shipped from Europe as otherwise you have to buy the complete turbo assembly at price of $4k plus labour ! 3. Turbo wiring harness loose connectors causing intermittent EPC light. Had to rewire complete harness. 4. Drivers inside door handle broken. 5. Brake Vacuum Pump leak 6. Right hand engine mount leak 7. Poor connection to starter motor leaving us stranded and unable to start the car. Had to get towed to mechanics to fix the connection. 8. Faulty ignition coil on Cylinder 1 making engine shudder. 9. Front cv boots (right and left) leaking 10. Rear left shock absorber leak 11. Lost Air con due to faulty high pressure switch. In middle of QLD summer no less... 12. Complete front right/left cv shafts replaced (Lucky I found independent shop which only cost me $500). Audi and other independent mechanics wanted $3k plus labour.

With the issues experienced you'd think the car was thrashed and not maintained appropriately, which is far from the truth. Buyer beware !

Terrible car, worse customer service from Audi – 2014 Q5 owned since new. Riddled with problems over the years. Has been recalled several times. Now an airbag crash sensor has failed during an Audi service and they are refusing to fix the problem. Claiming a sensor is a consumable item Show details

this is a perfect car for us – The car size is perfect and just enough sitting room. It is easier to steer than Q7. And it is perfect for a family of 4-5 and with a pet! We have this car for more than 5 years apart from occasional flat tyres (may be due to driving skills) no major repairs needed to be done.  Show details

Good SUV for family but I miss my Mercedes Benz C-Class for quality – I definitely prefer the fit and finish of the Mercedes Benz C-Class I had previously. Shame it started falling apart which I expect will happen to the Q5 based on my friends' experiences. The 2.0 TDI doesn't quite have the power or responsiveness I need to feel safe. Get the bigger engine! It also feels less airtight with notable road noise and… Read more

excessive windscreen condensation. Otherwise it's running well, 15 months in. No complaints about the AUDI service centre which is the best I've experienced.

Too many issues for a luxury car – Originally I loved my Audi Q5. Good amount of room. Good power. Nice and comfortable. However, I have just come out of my 3 year warranty and I didn't expect to have these many issues with a luxury car (I had a lexus previously with no dramas in 3 years). Doing some googling, it also seems these issues are not uncommon. -rattling sunroof … Read more

-defective adaptive light module

-paint peeling from front bumper

I understand issues come about, but the amount of times I have been back to the dealer getting these things resolved has been ridiculous (maybe I should be writing a review on them....). They did EVERTYTHING to try and avoid fixing the issues. And the paint peeling off the bumper, I was told "Audi won't even consider that under warranty." Thanks Audi, you've just confirmed my next car purchase WON'T be another Audi

Air conditioning is a dissapointment – Bought this car in Jan 2014 with high expectations. Not happy with the air conditioning since day 1. Brought it back to the showroom few times and were advise that there's nothing wrong with the AC. Fan noise is loud but not much air coming out from it. It does blow cold air but I feel like there's something blocking the air so the performance is… Read more

not maximum.

Sun visor clip snapped on the 3rd year. First time experiencing this, had much older car and never snapped the sun visor clip.

Dont buy Audi - worst customer service | useless audi service – My Audi 2011 has had several significant problems in recent time. Firstly the megatronic unit on the transmission failed at approximately 60,000Km. repairs to this were relatively straight forward with a repair bill of approximately $3,000. Then transmission light started coming and I took to sudi 3 times, they charged me everytime but were not… Read more

able to fix the issue. Local mechanic charged be 120$ and fixed the issue which Audi service center did not by charging 4000$

Even after the replacement of PCB unit of transmission CAR is not working well, it rolls backward while standing on red light . I took it back to audi service and I was adviced to use a handbrake everytime I stop at the red light so that car should not roll back.

Comfortable & pleasant drive, – Compared to the previous AUDI models I have experienced (& admittedly they all constantly offered more than i've expected), the Q5 is a completely new excitement. I have had it since 2015, though compared to A4 the acceleration is not as quick but the ease and comfort of driving is just irreplaceable.  Show details

Very happy with the Q5 – Just bought a Q5 to replace my VW Touareg. I have the 2.0 diesel Quattro. Great value for money, especially as I bought it in a run-out sale. The car is very comfortable and well appointed. It might not be the fastest thing off from a standing start (especially when the stop/go function is operating), but once it gets wound up, it's brilliant… Read more

- smooth ride and very confident feel in corners. Audi don't make claims that the car is an off-roader, but I didn't need that capability. Instead I wanted something that was sure footer and economical for some long country roads.

Very nice idea but some fundamentally flawed details that need fixing – This was a replacement for a Lexus RX350, and it fitted the requirements as being just as comfortable while being just a bit easier to park and using about half the fuel. We decided on the 3 liter turbo diesel as giving the best combination of performance and low running costs. Most of the time the car was great, and the very low fuel… Read more

consumption was fantastic, giving nearly 1000 km between refuel stops.

There were however several issues that made it less than perfect.

1. The start-stop operation. Generally the diesel is quiet and vibration free, but there is a second or two of truck noise when it starts up. Which is acceptable except that the computer turns the motor off at every stoplight and halt in the traffic. So you get that truck noise all the time, despite paying $80k for a luxury car. You can't turn the start-stop off, you can only temporarily halt it. It will reset to start-stop every time you get in the car.

2. Start-stop also makes the car slower to get away from a start. Maybe less than a second, but with Sydney having some traffic lights that are only green for 10 seconds that gets you the horn from the car behind.

3. With the fancy DSG gearbox the car is probably faster round a racetrack, but it can roll backwards doing a hill start. Which is more important for a luxury car? THEN, the computer sees you are rolling backwards, it panics, and disables the engine start-stop so you keep rolling backwards even with your foot on the accelerator. Until you hit the car behind. Audi said this was "normal".

Test driving the next model, most of these problems have been fixed. So clearly Audi really didn't think it was OK.

Great safe car – Owned it for 3 years now. Great car and I Can't wait for the next gen Q5 in 2017. This one handles well albeit a little light on response. Quite quick for its weight. Interior finish is very nice, As i expect of all Audi's. Controls are intuitive and easy to navigate. Negatives-burns too much oil -1ltr per 1800kms but for the economy and performance suppose it's ok. Will definitely be buying the next gen Q5!!  Show details

Amazing - beautiful, smooth, stylish – Have a 2015 Q5 TFSI Petrol, handles so well. It is so quiet and I love the look and feel of it as well. I test drove so many cars but it was the interior and dash of this car that made me fall in love with it! Very fuel efficient and had no issues so far. Also we had the best customer experience!  Show details

Scary stalling experiences – Brand new 2015 q5, less than 3k on the click. Automatic car stalls on me in traffic! Took it in for review, but stall did not register on the computer -must be driver error (I am not sure how you stall an automatic).... 2 months later, car stalls as I am turning right into a round-a-bout -extremely dangerous situation as I was only half way… Read more

around. This time alarm sounds. Managed to get it going, and no one hurt.

Turns out it needs a new gear box. I hope this fixes it as this problem is seriously scary.

Anyone else had this of late???

Not the car I dreamt of – The car has a great engine (3 litre diesel ) and is powerful and quick however it does t feel luxurious inside. The seats are not particularly comfortable, it's difficult to adjust the heating/cooling while driving . The size of the car is great and it is easy to park.  Show details

Stalling Q5 when cold – This is exactly what is happening with my Q5, only 76,000km had every service (except for 1 minor service) done through Audi. If the car is cold and i drive it and stop the car will stall, particularly when the car changes from 2nd to 1st, i have often found myself putting it into neutral just before stopping so it doenst happen. Plus if I… Read more

havent driven the car for about a week or so, when i put it into D and drive off, the car shudders, again need to stop put into neutral and start over again. Had my car serviced today and they said my transmission needs replacing for a basement price of $7k, however they are going to see if Audi will cover this through "good will". Fingers crossed i get some good news that audi recognise this as an issue with their vehicles and cover the replacement / labour costs as its clearly not my driving causing this problem. I mentioned these issues at the major 60,000 service and they didnt pick anything up.

Excellent.. Love it 2014 Q5 – No complains.. Purchased Brand New 2014 TFSI.. Very smooth and comfortable drive.. Great looks..Most beautiful car i have ever driven...  Show details

Excellant design, reliability and quality – I purchased an Audi Q5 2.0 TDI MY12 just on two years ago and have been very impressed with the vehicle. The build quality is very high, the engine highly efficient and overall the car has a quality feel about it. I use the vehicle for family driving around town (two adults, two children), camping and driving to the snow each year as well. … Read more ·  1

For each of these the car performs well and is great to drive.

For four people the space inside and boot space is well suited to general use or holiday driving. Three adults can reasonably comfortably fit across the back seat, though a mix of children and adults is better for space.

My only issue when purchasing the car was the number of things that were considered "options". You need to bargain hard and carefully include worthwhile options or you will find the cost of the car much higher than the expected price. Audi should include more equipment as standard and provide better prices on options.

Services have been hassle free with no unexpected costs and good after service support from the Audi dealer. Very reliable, efficient, good design, quality build, excellent to drive. Too many things considered options when purchasing, options expensive.