Table 1 shows one common service brakes related problems of the 2025 Audi Q5.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Service Brakes problems |
Check engine light is on almost constantly on my car. It might turn off and stay that way for a couple of days, but always comes on again. Dealership had made two attempts to "fix" it by just clearing the faults. However, according to the service department the reason why check engine light came on was "faults for loss of communication to powertrain electronics and brake electronics" which I think is a real safety concern. After my last trip to the dealership the check engine light came on after just two days of normal driving. There was also a situation when I was unable to shift to park with the risk of rolling along with some other error messages on the dash. I was unable to lock the vehicle because of that and of course there was a risk of it rolling.
On December 22nd I got into the vehicle and a few errors popped up which consisted of “loose wheel warning malfunction” “brakes: limited functionality drive with causation” “active front assist and emergency assist unavailable”. I called the nearest dealer and was told it’s ok to drive it’s just a software glitch and if I don’t feel comfortable driving I should take it to the dealer and come back tomorrow for a loaner since service was closed already. So I proceeded to drive home, about 10 minutes into the drive a warning for the coolant came up so I pulled off into a parking lot and as I went to park another warning came up saying coolant too high turn off vehicle and as I was approaching the parking spot the car started to overheat and smoke. This is a brand new car with barely 1000 miles on it.
I moved into a parking spot and pushed the brakes to stop but the car accelerated and hit a tree. However when the police drove the car out of the parking spot the brakes were working properly.
This vehicle misrecognizes intersections on two lane highways and causes the vehicle to unexpectedly slam on its brakes without warning in anticipation of an intersection that either does not exist or where my vehicle has the entire right way. This behavior has persisted since the date of purchase and has not been corrected at all. Audi has confirmed that the vehicle is operating as designed however, I have personally almost had two major traffic accidents when this system engaged in the process of overtaking a vehicle, slamming the brakes and almost causing a accident where he and I was rear ended. This is not a vehicle. I would let a child learn how to drive in.
Two weeks after purchase, experienced multiple, random driver assistance failures. After attempting to repair issue once unsuccessfully, the dealership was unable to provide a second service appointment for two and a half months. Was explained all 2025 Audis were having issues, so couldn’t get car in any sooner. Before that second scheduled service appointment and while driving in traffic, the brakes failed.
While driving home from the dealership on route 65 at approximately 45 mph, the vehicle suddenly and forcefully applied the brakes without warning. My husband and I are experiencing symptoms of whiplash including back and neck pain. There were no vehicles, pedestrians, or obstacles nearby that would have triggered this response. This was a scary experience, and I am concerned it could happen again in traffic or at higher speeds. This incident presents a serious safety hazard to me, my passengers, and others on the road. The auto was purchased one week ago. Had it in for service. According to the service summary, the driver assist system had a coding error, and a hard reset of the module was performed. Unfortunately, after the braking incident, upon arriving home and restarting the vehicle, the same error message “initializing active front assist” immediately reappeared. I drove the vehicle for an additional five minutes, and the message remained. This suggests the issue was not resolved and may indicate a deeper fault in the system.
The vehicle experiences sudden, uncommanded braking on clear roads due to a malfunction in the Audi pre sense system. The system falsely detects obstacles and applies the brakes abruptly, creating a safety hazard for occupants and surrounding traffic. The issue was reported to Audi beverly hills multiple times beginning July 2023, including through the dealer's online service request system. However, the dealer repeatedly failed to document braking concern on repair orders until insistent during latest visit. In one visit (August 7, 2023), the dealer reduced the pre sense sensitivity without creating a repair order or performing diagnostics. At other times, service advisors stated the vehicle was 'operating normally' or refused to record the concern unless it could be duplicated during a short test drive. On August 25, 2025, the dealer finally documented my complaint as 'car would brake randomly' and performed an svm reconfiguration, but the issue persists. The vehicle is currently used rarely for safety.