Table 1 shows one common power train related problems of the 2021 Audi Q5.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Power Train problems |
My car always did a weird shuddering thing when taking turns a certain way. I just thought it was part of how the new vehicle worked. I thought it was strange when I took my car in to repair a front tire, and was told / showed that the back two tire treads were worn down. The new car only had 20,249 miles. But I read somewhere that some new car dealers use lower tread tires to save money, so I did not pursue anything. Then, when someone pointed out that the 'weird shuddering' was not normal, I took it into Audi to have them look at it. Audi did a repair, and said I had to drive it 600 miles to know if it would be resolved. After the 600 miles, the problem continued. I took back, and they said they know what it is but they have to go through certain steps first. They told me this time that the good news was that they would replace with a new center differential, but the bad news was they were not sure how long it would take to get one in. I waited patiently, and then received a call saying it was fixed, (but they did not replace the part). What I did not know at the time was that a message was left 10 minutes earlier saying the part came in and they would be replacing it. After further questioning, the Audi guy said the new 'fix' heats up the fluid better and allows it to work its way through better. He said he was informed moments after he left the vm (where he said they were going to replace it), that the technician told him, and he took it for a drive, and it was 'fixed. ' he then told me what he drives, saying his does it too. He said the technical bulletin says I must drive 250 miles (again) and later when I picked it up he said 500 miles. I pointed out my concerns regarding the safety of driving a malfunctioning differential (loss of traction, poor handling, and the potential for complete failure while driving), as well as uneven tire wear. He emphasized that it's fixed and completely safe, even though they did not replace like I was told they would.
When turning at low speed the vehicle bucks and jitters affecting steering and control of the vehicle. Audi issued a technical service bulletin to address this issue so it's clearly a widespread problem.
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.
The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated while driving approximately 5 mph and coming to a stop or making a turn, the vehicle shuddered. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle shuddered at slower speeds. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the 4-wd clutch and rear differential needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
While driving on the road, multiple warning and error messages suddenly appeared on dashboard. Entire car shut down in very short time left no time for driver to safely pull over. The car cannot move in the middle of the road and put the driver, passengers and surrounding vehicles at risk. The car was towed to a dealer and they confirmed the gate way module under rear seat is wet and shorted.
The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated that while she was driving 65-70 mph, the warning message "transmission engine failure" appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle inadvertently stalled while attempting to veer to the side of the road. The contact stated she was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts however, the vehicle was towed to her residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to take the vehicle to their location for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the ecm chip had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact also stated while she was reversing, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the clutch had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000.
I leased a 2021 Audi Q5 (VIN: wa1baafy7m2008173) in November 2020. 2021 Audi Q5 has gateway module underneath the middle row seat. The gateway module is like the brain of the car and if it stops working the car stops - basically the car is brain dead. In my case, I was driving the car with my family I. E. Wife, 7 and 3 year old kids when the car abruptly shut off. Luckily, I was on a road with 45 mph speed limit and no traffic, so nothing happened to us. If this happened on a highway or other situation anything could have happened to me and my family. After safely parking the car and getting it towed to Audi westmont, the car was inspected, and I was informed about the gateway module issue. To my shock, the mechanic said that it’s a design flaw that Audi is aware of but doesn't have a solution yet. Furthermore, he said that just at laurel Audi in westmont 4 cars were repaired for this problem. When I googled, several Audi owners have faced this problem. As I mentioned earlier, despite knowing the issue Audi didn't inform the owners and yet to inform the owners despite this being a serious enough problem that could put owners/families in a life threatening situation. Here's the link to the video taken during the diagnosis of the problem: https://asr. Autonation. Com/tv0ij5ym5c. I have also attached picture of the hodgepodge fix I. E. Wrapping gateway module in plastic. The reason I say it is hodgepodge is that wrapping in plastic won't prevent water from condensing on gateway module and the problem repeating. Preceding the days my car had this problem, there were heavy rains and humidity was very high, as noted in the video there is no source of water leak or water entering the gateway module externally, given that finding and the fact that there was heavy rains, high humidity in the preceding days - condensation can likely be the potential cause of the problem. There are thousands of 2021 Audi Q5's and every single one has this risk.
Q5 has a very serious defect, that is, there is a gateway module located under the rear seat cushion/cup holder. All of the communications to all the controllers go through this little box. If water spills, it collects around the gateway and corrodes it, which will shut down the car. This shutdown occurred while I was driving my family. Lost all power, engine, electrical, everything. Barely coasted out of the roadway. This is a design flaw to locate this sensitive module underneath rear cup holders and will lead to dangerous situations for people in the car.