Audi Q5 Mechanical Review

Thoughts on Symmetrical AWD? Can you make a Subaru Mechanical Review, and be kind, to confirm my bias? 🤓👍

Shoemaker reviewing Swiss watch, no engineering knowledge

I own a 2018 Q5 and here is my feedback from 5 year ownership (bought in Oct 2017):

No Dipstick? There is a engine oil level display feature in the tablet and I find it very convenient. You can check even when driving. Also there is an engine cover that was not shown.

Regarding ease of maintenance. For the oil change, the dealer and many people just use the dipstick hole to suck out the oil then fill the oil and change the filter which is super easy. I prefer the conventional way, drain & fill which is still easy too. Regarding the plastic oil drain plug, it has an O ring and you cannot overtighten because it will top after half turn same with the transmission drain & fill plugs.

I just replace the transmission fluid. In this video, the 2nd plug he talked about is actually the fill plug which is the same part# as the separate drain plug. There are 3 canister filters inside the transmission which Audi does not recommend changing; only recommends changing the fluid which is easy. I did it at 33K by measuring how much I drained out and filled it with the exact amount of OEM DSG fluid using a $10 modified garden sprayer. Audi recommends changing the DSG transmission fluid @ 40K interval but since it's so easy, I plan on doing it every 20K from now on.

I plan on changing the rear differential fluid which looks like an easy job just drain & fill.

Fuel Economy: I get 25 city and 33 mpg on the freeway.

Engine performance of the 2018 Q5: Even though the engine may look the same as the VW Tiguan but it's much more powerful @ 252 hp/273 lb/torque in Q5 vs 184 hp/221 lb/tq in Tiguan. The Q5 goes from 0-60 in only 5.8 seconds per Car & Driver(5.9 per Motor Trend) that's pretty hard to beat and it's also very smooth & torquey. 2022 Tiguan 0-60 is 9.1 seconds by Car & Driver. That is a day & night difference. The Q5 is very smooth & quiet; much more quieter than my wife's 2010 Golf 2.5 which is still running strong with 135K a very reliable and great car.

Jesus, you make me want to go and sell my Q5, is there any car you actually like?

Its the same engine but has more hp. I don t understant where is your dissaapointment . Therr is also a 3.0 t with 354 hp , great engine

This engine is also in macans! I ran a euro repair shop and saw a bunch... How disappointing to buy a Porsche and get a Tiguan engine.....

Very informative. Thank you. So... should I buy one?

I dont even have an audi but i sat here and watched the entire video. Good job bruh

I own a 2018 Q5 that now has 110000 trouble free miles. It’s dealer maintained except for oil changes, filters, and brakes that I do myself. No issues with this car at all.

I can give you about dozen of problems with it bad intake manifolds bad steering racks bad timing chains panoramic sunroof failures electrical failures coil pack failures carbon build up on the intake s high pressure fuel pump failures oil shaft failures water pump failures rear independent suspension bushing failures poor interior seat wear I work on these junks and these are common problems I see everyday stay away from vw and Audi plastic oil pans crack and leak causing engine failures

Get rid of it before the warranty expires. For simpler life & long life, buy a Toyota or Lexus.

Junk its a vw on steroids with more of the same shit that fails on vw’s junk with a bigger price tag

Great review but don't let the 4 cylinder fool ya, that is the same motor that's in my A6 and the very reason I bought it. Much improved EA888 gen3 over the previous gen's. Most of the issues with the older generations were resolved in the gen3 and mated to the ZF 8 speed...oh yeah! I love the Q5 since they started using them in 2018 just sucks they changed to the 7 speed dual clutch tranny. But overall reliability on my A6 has been pretty good, bought it with 105k miles and now has 130k+ and still going strong. Biggest thing is to change the oil every 5k miles, NOT 10k. DI engines have way to many issues when you don't change the oil for that long a period.

Amazing car. Only peasants complain about costs.

the solenoids on the rear of the valve cover are for the variable valve lift .. it’s not electronic valve adjustment as these are maintenance free

The under-body covers help to prevent corrosion but this car will be a giant paperweight long before it can rust out😅

Low wages for the Mexican workers yet you still pay big for the European name!

I absolutely love your videos.

Germany : Why make it more simple when we can make it more complicated ? 😮😢🤔🤣

that bulbous coolant reservoir has been roasting vw/audi engines for decades... pathetic to see it still around.

Where is the starter..lol

I pretty much resigned myself to keeping cars only for the duration of the warranty. There are several reasons for this. First is, Reliability isn't the only criteria that needs to be solved for as far as I'm concerned. Japanese seemed to have mostly solved that and only that. Most warranties are 5 years and any issues you find in that period will be covered. Plus you can buy the maintenance for the 5 years when you're putting the order in for the car. Second reason is with all this tech making its way into cars now 5 years is an eternity. It just doesn't make sense to hold on to anything for longer than that. In 2018 Mercedes didn't have a level 3 autonomous driving certified car. In 2023 they do. And we are at a point where it makes so much sense to have the car do most of the heavy lifting in undesireable driving conditions. The i35 and the I10 here in Texas are kind of undriveable most of the day. Anwyay cool review. And I agree with you about the engine. Audi should maybe consider doing a bit more here. But they had this engine for some time so some advantages to that too.

What year is this Q5?

A already done 190000km / 115000 miles on Q5 FY .Only driveshaft support bearing failure at this milage

Great walk around!👍

Very unreliable and high cost to keep running once out of warranty. Too many things go wrong with these. I can't beleive he said the timing chain lasts the life of the engine. This engine is famous for poor timing chain life, they last about the same as a timing belt. Poor quality plactic timing chain guides that discintegrate also. Okay I'm a bit slow, I just got the joke, the life of the engine is over when the timing chain fails not long after 100000 km haha, yep then the life is over agreed !!!. Also since when did an intake mainfold become a consumable item ? Buy one of these and you will probably find out. The words poorly engineered and unreliable are very kind to use for these cars. As always beware of the VAG !!!! Especially when out of warranty !!!!

I wonder if you're one of the Mexican technicians who build these vehicles you're very knowledgeable and explain everything well ✌🏾🇺🇲

Hey, thanks for this. I've watched a few of your lexus/solara videos to help fix mine. But I have to say, I thought the 2018 engine is a newer one than the previous one which had issues with timing chain. I thought the 2018+ has more power than the previous one, and hopefully fixed the timing chain issue. I really like this in depth review of the mechanicals. Thanks for doing it. I've been on the fence between buying a 2018 Q5 and a Tesla model Y. It looks like transmission fluid change is a lot of work. And jacking it up just to brakes is not going to be easy either.

Dont sleep on that engine, it makes easy power with little work.

In my mind its easy to turn it into a Golf R / Audi S3 level SUV with a tune,intake and downpipe.

Doesn' t look worth the new or used pricing.

One of the best cars I’ve ever owned. Does everything really good. 2018 with 108K miles. Been in the shop 4 times. One for a recall, one for AC vent motor, one for passenger door lock, and one for a leaking oil pan. The leaking oil pan did get me flustered. Plastic oil pan???? (They do have aftermarket metal pans) removal requires front sub frame dropped and a new laser alignment done. This was an expensive repair. Unbelievably my extended warranty (until 185K from Olive) covered it.

The dipstick hole is designed for use of an oil extractor. That way you don’t even need to lift your car for an oil change

Wow, and this right here is why I can't buy one of these. Every single thing about this is dumb.

I just bought a Mazda CX-5, and everything about it makes sense. Veey happy

👍🏿

The best 2.0 4 cylinder engine on the market. Powerful, efficient and reliable.

looks like a piece of cake to work on, compared to mercs and bmw

2.0T have an engine bay that have a lot of room to work with - which means money pit for the customer and ease of time for the mechanic.2.0T are notorious list of failures from: coils, misfires, timing chain & tensioner replacements, carbon build up and turbo failures because it is an "economical engine" that is pushed by the regular driver,easily leak and crack failure of the plastic oil pan, DSG that requires a no-miss-sensitive interval. If you don't want to deal with the 2.0T engine platform, spend the extra money on the V6(B8 supercharger,B9 & B9.5 turbocharger engines) motors because they are more sturdy and have less failures since it can take more of a beating.
Avoid the extra features of radar cruise and lane departure features because you'll easily spend hundreds of dollars for recalibration if any one of them goes out of alignment or when you need to replace the windscreen, forget the air suspension because that will eventually fail and be costly AND having a wheel alignment w/the bags... you are practically at the mercy of the dearlership - I know this because I used to have air suspension w/my 2017 Q7 and tire shops always tell me they cannot do the alignment and that I have to go to the dealership

i really like the calm, neutral explaining going on!

If you buy a late model like 2022 - 2024 they most likely ironed out all little bugs, and it should be pretty reriable if you maintain it well. You can expect normal amount of repair for a SUV of this class for a 10 year ownership. Audi OEM parts are expensive and the dealership rates are crazy, find a specialized independent shop. Most bugs like oil consumption, water pump leak and timing chain issue are fixed now woth most recent updates.

2017 and later vw 2.0 Gen 3B is great . You should review one of them new vehicles

What year is this Q5?

Engine doesn’t sound like a luxury car 😂 what a stupid statement!

Thanks. Now I've almost decided not to buy the Q5. There are so many points of failure adding up the cost of repair because of complexity and accessibility.

My 2020 Q5L 40 TFSI, now at 65,000 km, has experienced the following issues:

Evaporator leak: At 63,000 km, a confirmed leak in the evaporator was discovered. // Claimed under warranty.
Coolant leak: Coolant pipe leak. // Claimed under warranty.
Engine mount oil leak: Engine mount oil leak. // Claimed under warranty.
Severe body vibration at idle while turning the steering wheel: Severe body vibration and shaking at idle while turning the steering wheel. // Claimed under warranty. Solved by changing the transfer case oil, ?
Right-side mirror malfunction: Right-side mirror failed to open. // Claimed under warranty, the entire mirror assembly was replaced.
Infotainment system issues: Before 30,000 km, the central screen of the infotainment system went black. This was resolved after a system update and hasn't reappeared. At 65,000 km, the infotainment system crashed once, restarting after about 20 seconds.
These are all the issues. They have all been resolved under warranty. Audi is a real pain in the neck. Thankfully, I negotiated an extra year of warranty when I bought the car.

I have a 2018 Q5 2.0 and the engine blew up at 20,100 miles (leaving us stranded. Audi replaced it (and the turbo) even though we were out of warranty on time basis by six months, so they didn’t have to. Grateful for that, but now realize why they tend to have some of these problems. Thanks to your EXCELLENT VIDEO; Seems like a lot of the design is forced change and not designed well from the ground up. My latest problem is Oil Pressure sensor gone bad (on new engine after 4K miles). $40 part and $1,250.00 to replace at the dealer (“difficult to get to and complex” according to service writer). I also bought a new Q7 in 2018 (realizing the Q5 was too small for long distance road trips). Q7 has been more reliable and is definitely more reliable, but it is a Prestige model, not Premium Plus. If I had it to do over again; I would have either traded the Q5 in, or sold it shortly before the warranty expired. In the future, I will probably lease for a period that includes ALL Factory Service and maintenance included; then turn it to Audi. They are making a lot of their profits on Service vs. New car sales; it is evident after you have owned one for 5 years. Once again GREAT VIDEO!!! Wondering if OIl Pressure sensors is a thorn in the side to many other Q5 owners.

Fantastic information, thank you