Audi Q5 8R.II TDI (2012-2016)

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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.