2011 Audi Q5
This year drew an ordinary 142 complaints for a Audi Q5 — the model's median is 51. What they were about is the unusual part: 33.1% of them mention takata, against 2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 142 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 51 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- takata — 33.1% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the model's other years (16.2×). Owners wrote it as: takata, takata recall, takata airbag, unacceptable.
- fuel — 19.7% of this year's complaints, against 6.3% across the model's other years (3.1×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
TAKATA RECALL.. NOTHING... HAS HAPPENED, AND I HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED OF THIS ISSUE BY AUDI.. BUT WANTED TO RECORD THAT NOTHING HAS NEED DONE. THERE IS ALSO A FUEL PUMP FLANGE RECALL THAT HAS NOT BEEN ADDRESSED. NO ISSUES AT THIS TIME.
TAKATA RECALL - HAVE NOT RECEIVED INDICATION THAT DRIVER AIRBAG IS AVAILABLE FOR INSTALLATION. THIS CAR IS ALMOST 6 YEARS OLD AND WE LIVE IN A HOT HUMID CLIMATE. IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THESE FACTORS INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF AN AIRBAG PROBLEM.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V818000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 17V001000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 18V082000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V660000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16V078000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Audi Q5 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2011 Audi Q5? What happened to yours?
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