2013 Audi Q5
Complaints about this year name steering far more often than the model's other years — 21% of them, about 3× the usual rate of 6.3%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 182 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 51 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Involving a fire | 8 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- audi driving — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.3% across the model's other years (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: audi driving, opened, contact able.
- indicated — 7.7% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the model's other years (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: indicated, replaced service, able exit.
- closed — 6% of this year's complaints, against 1% across the model's other years (5.8×). Owners wrote it as: closed, outward.
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.
Also unusual this year
- coolant pump — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
- timing chain — 9% of complaints, 22× usual
- steering wheel — 13% of complaints, 6× usual
What owners wrote
2013 AUDI Q5 PREMIUM PLUS. THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE STEERING WHEEL , IT ACTS WEIRD AND FEELS DIFFERENT THAN USUAL. IT FEELS SOFTER AND THEN STIFF DURING THE SAME MANEUVER WHEN DRIVING THE CAR AND TURNING ON A DIFFERENT CITY STREET , AT SPEEDS LOWER THAN 40 MPH…
I WAS DRIVING MY CAR ON A CITY STREET AND THE RED LIGHT CAME ON. " STEERING DEFECTIVE! DO NOT DRIVE VEHICLE!" AT THAT MOMENT THE STEERING WAS DISABLED. IT WAS VERY HARD TO MOVE THE STEERING WHEEL. THANK GOD I WAS ON A LOW SPEED LIMIT STREET. I GOT VERY SCARED…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 17V622000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 17V002000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 17V001000 VISIBILITY Fixed free of charge.
- 18V229000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 17V298000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 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 2013 Audi Q5? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…