Audi Q5 defective transmission

q5_frustrated

I took delivery of my Q5 in the last few months; it has less than 3,000 miles on it. The check engine light has been on 3 times, the transmission clunks when shifting into gears (which I'm told is "normal"), the steering wheel vibrates at slow speeds sometimes when turning, but best of all, the whole vehicle shudders at times while driving. I mean the entire car. It is somewhat frightening to experice this. Appearently there may be a fix, but I'm not sure. This Q5 has been in the shop more than outof the shop. I am frustrated and trying to figure out how to proceed. Any suggestions? I wish I would have read all of these posts before deciding on the Q5. it's a nice looking SUV, but who needs all these problems with a BRAND NEW car?

manup

Go here:
http://forums.audiworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=129

search,it has been discussed quit a bit previously,same symptoms you talk about. My 2010 model did the downshift "clunking" until the dealer did a software update and it went away. I've heard of others with the same problem stopping after several thousand miles on the odometer. No problems now at all...love the Q5. I hope you get it sorted out because it is a great car.

alex102

I disagree, the Q5 it's not a good car, safety it's your best argument, decide what you want, and it is not normal all that's going on, they got tougher to fight with, report it to highway safety in order to push for a nation recall, n read all this posts, we all had diferent experiences and solve them in diferent ways according to our patience. go directly to managment at your dealer n to Audi coorpirate for a formal claim, don't waste time n energy arguing with mechanics m floor or service managers, they'll report up, so cut to the chase. good luck!!!

lmariorod

And I disagree with you. The Q5 is a wonderful CUV. Just because you had issues, doesn't mean everyone will have similar issues. You've taken many opportunities the blast the car but you're in the minority. Get on with your life and give people useful advise on software updates, break-in periods etc. It seems you live to blast Audi for the rest of your life....MOVE ON!!!

mrod81

Has anyone else experienced a loud squeaking sound when finishing braking (from 5-0 MPH)? It happens everytime. Audi claims this is completely normal for the Q5, but it is super annoying and just doesn't seem right.

juddmaltin

I was doing 65 miles an hour on the interstate, straight on good road, and my 2011 Audi Q5 with 3000 miles on it experienced total transmission failure. The engine just revved with no power to the wheels. I was lucky to have pulled over.

I got a flatbed tow to the nearby Audi of Brookline in Boston. They said it will take a week, that the transmission computer is shot.

I had to leave to go to work. They offered me a loaner.

I'm so furious at Audi I could just spit. I called the dealership that I bought it from, and he told me to call Customer Relations. I was nice. I'm not going to be so nice anymore. I'm going to have HIM call customer relations and I'm seriously considering a buy-back. I've had the car less than two months.

Any advice out there?

bmwbob

Hey Juddmaltin,
Any automobile is prone to mechanical/electrical failures. Not only Audi. Talk to Mercedes, BMW owners etc. Go to Edmunds forums for them and take a look!!
Excrement occurs!!

juddmaltin1

If your brand new car almost killed you and your family with a major system malfunction, would YOU chill out?

Or maybe you're a shill for Audi.

juddmaltin1

I got word from the Brooklyn, MA Audi dealership that my 2011 Q5 with the 8 speed transmission will actually need a completely new rear axle and differential. Seems like the car pretty well killed itself, and nearly killed me.

Audi customer service is saying "we'll make a determination once it's fixed." I told them, "your car almost killed me, I want my money back, and damages." They said they couldn't do that. They said the car had to be repaired first. I'm not interested in owning the car anymore. How can I trust it?

This was not small technical issue. This was the transmission. This was at highway speed. I could have easily died if the highway traffic wasn't very light because of the holiday.

Lawyer time? Anyone have the address of the executive management?

stma1

My 2010 Q5 was repurchased due to a faulty transmission, I had the same response from Audi customer service that you had, I do not care what anyone says, I had two Audi's and both were POS when it came to reliability, I never experienced this lack of reliabilty with Mercedes, BMW or Acura. To the person who said " chill out " you must be a ' troll " !!!

alex102

if your loaner is an Audi, the info it's on the glove compartment. first call customer relations n very nicely they'll guide you to send a letter to corporate, that's where you can make progress based on your allegations.
also start and arbitration with the bbb auto, that process it's fairly easy n it will help you cut to the chase, of course the security issue it's alarming n should be enough to proceed before achieving the 30 days required of the car in the shop, and more important it will tell Audi you are serious n will put pressure on them.
hope that works, and good luck!
:lemon:

chicagotiger

i'm curious what q5 package do you have? is it the prestige or premium? do you have auto ignition starter? just curious as we've been having same issue... starting to wonder if it has to do with the auto ignition.

danipersing

Took delivery on our 2011 Audi Q5 2.0T about two weeks ago and right away heard a noise. Happens when you turn the car to the left; most noticeable during turn acceleration and when turning the wheel back to center after turn complete. A sort of high-pitched rubbing/squeal noise. Took it back to the Audi dealer 3 to 4 days after we bought it and had 3 different techs tell me there is no noise. My husband hears it, thinks it could possibly be a wheel bearing? but we are not sure. We are in Spokane, WA. The (best) closest dealer to us would be in the Seattle, WA area, +300 miles away. Since the dealer can't hear it, their solution is to tear apart the steering column and lubricate everything, which doesn't seem much like a solution to me since they don't know if that's where the mysterious noise is coming from. Hubby thinks it is outside the car. Any ideas?

kurtamaxxxguy

What was the resolution to your problem?

The only 8-speed Audi I've driven was the A4 2.0T Avant, and I noticed a fair bit of drive-line lash, and clunkiness during downshifts while exiting the freeway.

BTW, I once encountered a chirping sound when turning my Subaru XT to the left. The source was the heater fan motor, whose bearings made noise whenever the car was turned to or circled left. Replacing the heater fan motor got rid of the noise.

sumatraboom

How did you come up with Audi? Did they replaced or bought the car? It seems I have have same problem like yours, except mine is 2010. Would appreciate feedback.

danipersing

I still have my car, and there has been no resolution. Its been to Appleway Audi in Spokane, WA and Barrier Audi in Bellevue WA. Appleway told me they didn't hear anything, and wanted to tear apart my steering column. We took to the car to Barrier and while they didn't find anything obviously wrong they did say there was a service bulletin regarding new Audis and CV boots making noise. They said this was a problem that would resolve on its own, in the "break in" period. Well, I'm at almost 4000 miles and it still squeaks. At this point I don't worry about it. It's not a major problem, and my car is covered unter warranty and Audi care. If it breaks, they will fix it.

eric113

I am looking at buying a new small luxury SUV and had narrowed it down to the Q5, MDX, one of the Volvos, or RX350.

I had also looked at many other competing vehickes

Right now I have a 2004 RX330 that my wife now drives, and a 2006 RX400h, and was thinking about trying something different to replace the 330.

Before these cars, I have had two other Toyota vehicles. I have never had a problem with any of them except the NAV on the 330 went bad. I replaced it, foolishly, because I wanted to keep the car in mint condition.

I agree the maintenance costs at my Lexus dealer are very expensive, but they do do an excellent job.

I once owned a 1986 BMW 735 which had transmission problems. The transmission was replaced three times. Sometimes the transmission would never shift out of second gear! And sometimes it was OK. Other times, the transmission would never downshift once it hit the top gear, unless coming to a complete stop. Slowing down to make a turn, for example, it would stay in top gear.

Normally my wife drove this car. Actually, I do not think the transmissions were bad. I tell this story because I know how frustrating it is to have a problem that cannot be fixed

After replacing the transmission the first time, one day in January I was driving her car home from work. It was getting dark, so I turned on the head lights. Immediately, the transmission switched from top gear to second gear! This was after it was replaced the first time.

I turned off the head lights, and it went back into top gear. This problem was 100 percent repeatable. I took it to the dealer, showed it to them, and they fixed this problem. I could never get them to tell me what they did. But after this the problem of not downshifting occurred. This problem was only after the transmission heated up. Finally, they replaced it again. Same problem. I sued them under the lemon law (my dad was a retired lawyer, and it did not cost me anything). We lost on getting them to buy the car back, but the judge ordered them to replace the transmission yet again. I assume they replaced it again (I did not watch them do it), but it still had the same problem.

At that time I gave up, and let my dad drive it and he eventually sold it.

This is so frustrating, especially the way the BMW representative dealt with me when the downshifting problem occurred. He would not admit there was a problem. That is when I sued them. At least I had the satisfaction of costing them some legal fees having to defend the suit.

Due to this experience, I would never buy another BMW. Mostly due to the way the BMW of America rep dealt with me. From this forum, even if the problem is a random car here and there, and I realize all cars will have problems, I would not take the risk of purchasing a Q5.

Perhaps if I do not want to stick with Lexus, I will try the Volvo, although seems a little behind the technology curve. That might, however, be a good thing. Right now, Japanese cars might be scarce due to the tsunami? Might put excess demand pressure on all makes?

eric113

P.S. Obviously, my wife had never been driving the 735 at dusk, and had never turned on the headlights while driving the car. After this happened, I realized the problem of not shifting out of second gear always had happened when we were driving the car at night!

Really strange problem. The BMW dealer insisted the transmission was not electronically controlled, but never would tell me why the headlights would make this problem occur!

pmartens

i have an Audi Q5 3.0 litre turbo diesel. From rest I accelerate into oncoming traffic, back off a little to await an opening and then accelerate quickly to slip into the oncoming stream of traffic. The Q5 falters long enough to put me in a dangerous situation.
The delayed acceleration response is dangerous to the degree that I am considering selling.
This also happens in reversing.
Has anyone experienced this?

bellesaudi

I love my 2010 Audi Q5 but it does have recurring problems. Water pump went out 3 months after I got the car. Was replaced, but yesterday the coolant light came on again and there was no fluid in the coolant tank. Dealership is saying they can't find a leak so they don't know where the fluid went. We're still waiting to see what they do. I also have that grinding noise when I turn left, especially a low speed when pulling into or out of a parking spot. Doesn't do it when I turn right, only left. Waiting to see what that's about too. I've read a lot of posts complaining about engine speed issues. It took me several times of accidentally knocking the gear shift into manual before I figured out that's why the engine was revving but I had no power. There is no button to push, no nothing, just a very slight touch and the gear shift will switch to manual. Doesn't matter how fast you're going. I've bumped it when reaching over to my purse in the passenger seat, when moving my arm to adjust the radio or hit the button to answer a handsfree call. It takes about as much effort as breathing on it to make it switch to manual. So now I check it every time I get in the car and make sure I keep my arms and hands away from it. That's a design flaw but could cause a serious accident. I love the handling and the ride of the Q5, but it does have some problems. This was my dream car. If they don't fix the water pump/coolant issue and the left turn grind this time, I'm going to be really pissed and we're going to have to go to plan B.

amkmeco90

hey alex, at first i feel sorry for being treated like that at the dealer. in my opinion, dealers are specialized in ripping off their customers as they can. i've an 09 Q5 and i got that jerkiness only at a bump, near my house, where i usually slow to get over that bump without making my baby jump off his car seat ). other than that, i don't get it at red light or stop signs. so is that the same case with you or what?

sunnyday7

I bought a brand new 2012 Audi q5 2 months ago. I drive very little around town. In six weeks I put on max of 300 miles. My first weekend away outside of my bubble I head 45 miles away. The next day I am driving a short trip on Pacific Coast Hwy and my car jets forward. My passenger looks at me like I am crazy for drag racing. It wasn't me! Then every time I slow down and start to put the brakes on the car loudly downshifts seemingly by clunking. I turn the car off and wait. I try it again same results. I let the car rest overnight at the hotel and test drive it in the morning and don't get half a block without the same terrible noises and results. The car is towed . They claim they can't replicate it. Then I get a call saying they will replace the tranny and it is coming from Germany in 10 ish days. Then I get another call saying the tranny is in after 2 days (how can it get here that fast from Germany??). Everything is very fishy. Any advice. I don't feel safe with the car anymore. Its a brand new car and a major system had to be replaced.

Advice anyone?

avery1

Just get a clear understanding of how they got the tranny so fast. Maybe they got from another dealer. Just want to be sure they aren't rebuilding it. Keep a clear written record of everything said and by whom. All mechanical devices have problems it is how it is dealt with that determines the future importance. I would give them a chance to fix it but be prepared in case they don't treat you right.

jcsheltonusa

Any resolution? How is the car now? I am having a nearly identical experience.

yellow777

My Q5 has started jumping forward when going down in first gear, it has recently been to the garage for transmission update. So glad I am.not the only person having this problem. 

Katherine

Not sure if this page is still active. I bought a brand new Audi 2021 Q3 within the first 24 hours of Car ownership, I have noticed a transmission Malfunction error on the screen and Immediately drove to the dealership. After a couple days of back and forth conversations the dealership confirmed that there are transmission defects and they are going to replace the whole transmission. Why would someone buy a brand new car for it to be repaired within the 24hours and the dealer ship and Audi Canada both are reluctant in actually resolving this and we requested either a replacement or buy back of the vehicle. At this point we are waiting with no clue on what's happening at our end there is no proper response from both Audi Dealership and Audi Canada. Is there a way to resolve this issue. We do not have any lemon law in our state and in this situation we feel like this may be fraid where they might have already knew this issue. I researched everywhere online and this page seems to be relevant even though the model and year of vehicle is different. Any opinion matters at this point. It's been more than 15 days and the car is still at the service I Appreciate your help.