What's Wrong with the 1st Generation Q5?

Front 3/4 view of a Audi Q5

The 1st generation Q5 spans the 2009 to 2017 model years.

It has accumulated 93 owner complaints over those year and ranks 36th in reliability out of 39 eligible Audi generations.

Our reliability rank is based on our PainRank™ system. A higher number means you can expect more significant problems. The average Audi score is 0.92 while this generation comes in at 3.91.

Compare With Other Q5 Generations

The Worst 2009-2017 Q5 Problems

  1. Excessive Oil Consumption

    It's normal for cars with six-figure odometer readings to burn a little oil. But recently a few automakers have been building specific engines that require a topping off of the oil reservoir in between changes. Audi tries to tell you this i…

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  2. Busted Timing Chains

    Audi's EA888 2.0-liter engine has a history of tensioner problems in its timing chain. The loose chain is to blame for multiple occurances of catastrophic engine failure. Audi was forced to offer settlement offers, including an extended war…

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  3. Fuel Pump Flange Leaking

    It’s been quite a journey figuring out how to stop Audi's Continental fuel pump flanges from leaking, but it appears the automaker is finally offering a solution after years of interim repairs.

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  4. Cheating Diesel Emissions

    Audi was caught cheating on its diesel emissions with defeat devices. Twice. It started with the widespread dieselgate story for 2.0L 4-cylinder engines and was followed with a lesser known cheat for vehicles with the ZF 8-speed transmiss…

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What Owners Complain About

Sometimes it helps just to tally up the complaints and see where the biggest stacks are. Use this information to learn about troublespots or to run for the hills.

Worst Issues

What Breaks

Years to Avoid

1st Generation Q5 Key Numbers

  1. 9 model years

    Grouping all models by their year can reveal some baddies.

  2. 93 complaints

    Running tally of owner grievances filed to CarComplaints.com.

  3. 36th in reliability

    Overall reliability rank out of 39 eligible generations.

Recent 1st Generation Q5 News

There's a lot of news out there, but not all of it matters. We try to boil down it to the most important bits about things that actually help you with your car problem. Interested in getting these stories in an email? Signup for free email alerts over at CarComplaints.com.

  2. A couple years ago the 2007-2012 Q7 and 2009-2012 Q5 were recalled to fix leaking fuel pump flanges.

    At the time, there weren't enough replacement flanges to go around. In a let's-see-if-this-works move Audi slapped some butyl tape around the existing flanges to prevent future leaks. It didn't.

    Turns out if the flange has already been exposed to outside contaminates, covering it in tape will only prolong the inevitable leak. About 6,000 vehicles are being recalled again, hopefully this time for a more permanent repair.…

    keep reading

  3. When Volkswagen agreed to a multi-district settlement for selling polluting engines marketed as clean diesel,

    it did so knowing it’d have to pay billions of dollars to customers that owned or leased an affected vehicle when the news about the scandal broke.

    Some owners that had sold their affected vehicles before the news came out tried to file for compensation in court, but didn't get very far. That may be about to change due to an interesting court decision in California.…

    keep reading

  5. Audi coolant pumps have been recalled (twice!) but their replacements aren’t ready yet.

    So what’s an owner who can’t drive their car supposed to do? Wait, apparently.

    A new lawsuit wants Audi to at least pony up for free loaner vehicles. Heck, I’m guessing some owners would even take an actual pony. Anything to get to work without starting a fire!…

    keep reading

What Q5 Owners Say About This Generation

Excessive Oil Consumption

Car suddenly stopped while driving. A lot of lights on the dashboard came on. there was smoke and a burning smell inside the car. Car had to be manually pushed to the side of the road ... After inspection, I was told the engine is damaged on the inside and [had] to be replaced at my cost!

Excessive Oil Consumption

We've had the car since it was new and I've have personally maintained the car. Started noticing that it was using about 3 quarts between oil changes. Scheduled service but they said that's not bad when I mentioned 3 quarts between oil changes.