Table 1 shows one common equipment related problems of the 2021 Audi Q5.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Equipment problems |
The small buttons that are part of climate control on the dashboard pop out and fall off. The pieces aren’t supposed to do that. They are actually designed to work as buttons that stay in place but whatever mechanism that is designed to keep them is place comes off. I have tried just putting the buttons back in but they will eventually pop off again. My car is relatively new and should not have buttons popping off. No car of any age should have buttons just falling off. These are small buttons that pop off at any moment if there is a defect and I think could be a potential choking hazard for children and pets. If one falls off and I don’t notice and is just rolling around on the ground, it could be an issue with pets especially. My buttons fell off in the middle of the night and I had to search the vehicle for it. This is also the control system for the fan in the car. In extreme climate, if this falls off, there are no means for controlling the climate of the vehicle. Yes, the problem has been reviewed and confirmed by an Audi dealership. The only solution seems to be to order a brand new dashboard and climate control system but it’s the same system and can’t guarantee that the buttons won’t pop off on the new ones. There are no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to failure. The buttons will randomly pop off sometimes with no one in the vehicle or in the middle of just driving somewhere. They will just pop out. Several people are having this issue but Audi refuses to address the problem and instead forces everyone to by a brand new climate control system with the same faulty button system.
The instrument panel cluster assembly (screen behind steering wheel) needed to be replaced because it would intermittently stop working and I had no idea of how fast I was going, what gear I was in, how much fuel I had or whether the lane assist and other safety features were working. Without knowing speed, I may have followed cars too closely to safely stop or I could have run out of gas and left stranded somewhere. I thought it might have been software updates occurring but after a few days, I went to the dealer for service. Audi naples was able to detect fault, replicate problem and replaced the assembly on 4/10/2025 for $3,391. 96. The dealer kept the part and told me to keep my receipt in case there is a recall. My car currently has 31,489 miles and had a total inspection and was last serviced on 1/22/2025 with 31,487 miles. I find it outrageous that a part like that would fail in such a short period of time. I was lucky I wasn't on a long trip away from home when it occurred.
The engine has failed and I am not sure why my Q5 was not included in the recall for coolant issues leading to engine failure. My issue started last winter when the car would suddenly kick in a loud fan. It would flash a warning that the start/stop malfunctioned as it only happened when stopped and/or parked. It was extremely alarming to hear so I would turn the car off and let it sit. When I started it up, there were no warnings and would drive normally. This continued to happen randomly. Then came the coolant low warning, engine temp, along with an rpm warning that kicked on the loud fan. I added coolant as it was the reservoir was low but never empty and temp gauge was in normal range . All messages would go away, car would drive normally. The coolant message happened a couple more times and always the same but eventually did not return. The max rpm and temp continued in conjunction with the start stop messages. It was always the same. It would be stopped or parked with the start/stop engaged. The fan would kick on and increase in severity and the temp gauge always was within normal. I eventually stopped using the start/stop function and it seemed to resolve the issue. The warnings never stayed on so I was not overly concerned since it drove fine and didn't sound rough when the messages and warning weren't active. Then it expelled the oil under the hood and gave zero warning lights. I only figured it out when the oil low warning came on. I thought it was weird because I had just checked the level since I see lots of complaints that Audi burns oil. When I opened the hood, I saw the oil. I know this happened suddenly and was not a leak because I was checking may parking spots. I took it the oil change place and it was cleaned up and replaced. I then took it to have the source of the leak identified but a pressure test revealed nothing. Again, no warning persisted and it drove fine. The next time the oil was expelled, it seized and failed.
My sunroof exploded while I was driving. No apparent cause and it was not a hot day. . 79 degrees. Glass landed all over me, my passengers seat and the back seat. I was startled and confused and was fortunate that no cars were near me. I was 2 miles from home and did not call police but paid almost $1400 for repair and Audi took no responsibility.
The backup camera in the car randomly stops working while driving in reverse. These cameras are mandated by federal law and malfunctions can lead to collision with unforeseen living beings while backing up. The mmi screen also goes completely white/blue while driving forward. Additionally, the adas package comes with a birds eye view camera that is completely skewed created a deceptive understanding of objects in the surroundings. This can lead to collisions making the adas packing (and perhaps the collision warning) totally unreliable. The vehicle is available for inspection as needed. Took the brand new vehicle to the dealer, they refused to fix it as their engineer could not reproduce the issue. Later after a lot of argument, they mentioned they cannot fix it because of resource shortage. Argued they cannot sell brand new vehicles that are faulty, we were told their other cars may have the same issue so they cannot guarantee a loaner will fix this problem. We have spent hours on phone and in person with the dealer service center in vain. There were no warnings of the problem. The screen went blank during the drive. This happened for the first time around November 2021. This happens fairly arbitrarily.
I have an issue with my vehicle where when the car is in reverse gear, the video from the camera sometimes is shaky, and sometimes instead of showing a rear camera, it shows a front camera, and sometimes the rear cross-traffic warning doesn't work even when in reverse gear when this video malfunction happens. It happened a few times and took me to the dealership for service. When they try to reproduce, it didn't, however, after a few days it started happening. I have few videos of this instance.
My 2021 Audi Q5 has a manufacturing recall (safety recall 42l1 - rear axle trailing arm lock nut) on it and my dealer cancelled my appointment and informed me that they will not perform the recall repair unless I schedule (something that I have to pay for) at the same time - they will not perform the recall repair otherwise. This was the Audi minneapolis dealership located at 9393 wayzata blvd, golden valley, mn 55426. I was told that this needed to be reported to you guys.