2014 AUDI Q5 Complaints

I am writing about an incident that happened to my wife while she was driving my car from Los Angeles, CA to Phoenix, AZ on June 16, 2021. My wife was driving the Audi Q5 at approximately 75mph and 125 miles west of Phoenix (near the CA/AZ border) when the car suddenly loss power. She stepped on the gas and noticed the speed gradually dropping. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind and barely had enough time to pull over to the shoulder. It was at this point that she called to tell me that the car would no longer start and the “check engine” and “EPC” light indicators were illuminated. This occurred at approximately 12:30 noon during a severe heatwave where the outside temperature was 117 degrees. I asked her to wait for 10 minutes to try to restart the car; the car would not restart. She called AAA Towing and was told the wait would be over one hour because of the rural location (Quartzsite, AZ). She ended up waiting a little over 3 hours in her car, without air conditioning, in 117 degrees for a tow truck driver to arrive. The car was towed to her sister’s house in Goodyear, AZ at a cost of $673. The next day, she had the car towed to the Audi Dealership in Peoria, AZ where it was diagnosed the car had suffered a fuel vapor lock due to the heat. The car has less than 28,000 miles on the odometer when the incident happened. Audi Peoria kept the car for a couple of days because the parts had to be ordered from Los Angeles. Ultimately, the repair bill from the dealership came to $1,983. I felt helpless and scared for my wife that I was not able to assist her as I was 3 hours away. What if my wife (or another driver) was unable to pull over to the side of the road? The chances of an accident are dramatically increased if the vehicle was stuck on the highway. As you can imagine, my wife has been traumatized by this incident and we are both fearful that this incident can happen again. Therefore, we request that NHTSA investigate this incident.

This SUV has a 2.0 engine that consumes oil. I have to add a quart every 200-300 miles as the IP light indicates the engine is at the minimum oil level. This is not normal to be adding oil this frequently. Audi/VW has had problems in the past with vehicles that used excessive amounts of oil and a settlement was reached with owners. It seems they have not fixed the issue and I believe an investigation is needed and corrective action should be taken again by Audi/VW to make owners whole and to finally fix the problem. They need to find the root cause of this problem and fix it.

WHILE DRIVING, THE ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING FAILED, ALMOST CAUSING A HEAD ON COLLISION. MY DAUGHTER WAS TURNING LEFT WHEN SUDDENLY SHE WAS UNABLE TO PROPERLY STEER. THANKFULLY, SHE WAS ABLE TO VEER OFF THE ROAD SAFELY. THIS PART HAS BEEN RECALLED ON THE AUDI SQ5, BUT NOT THE Q5. ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH, MULTIPLE AUDI Q5 OWNERS HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE.

SLIGHT OIL LEAK FROM OIL COOLER LINE SLIGHT LEAK AT THE COOLANT RESERVOIR. BURNS OIL QUICKLY

WHEN CLOSING THE TRUNK THE DASH MARKS AS IF IT WERE OPEN. I HAVE TO OPEN AND CLOSE THE TRUNK SEVERAL TIMES SO THAT IT STOPS MARKING AS IF IT WERE OPEN.

AFTER 53661 CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON,AFTER DRIVING IT IT WENT OFF ONLY TO COME BACK ON AND STAY ON. AFTER TAKING IT TO THE DEALER "FOUND TIMING CHAIN STRETCHED. REPLACED TIMING CHAIN AND TENSONER"

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 AUDI Q5. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE REVERSING OUT OF HIS DRIVEWAY, HE LOST CONTROL OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME LOOSENED. THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AUDI GAINESVILLE (1920 N MAIN ST, GAINESVILLE, FL 32609) WHERE THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE RACK & PINION AND ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST STEERING SYSTEM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 40,000. *LN CONSUMER STATED POWER STEERING SHUTS DOWN IN COLD CONDITIONS AND SUDDEN LOSS OF POWER.*JB*LN*JB

SERIOUSLY DANGEROUS STEERING FAILURE IN 2014 AUDI Q5: WARMED THE CAR UP, DROVE 15 MINUTES TO A GAS STATION, TURNED IT OFF TO FUEL UP AND WENT TO RESTART AFTER ENGINE WAS OFF FOR APPROXIMATELY 5 MINUTES, UPON START UP AND THE MESSAGE DISPLAYED "STEERING DEFECTIVE" DO NOT DRIVE VEHICLE. THE POWER STEERING WAS NON FUNCTIONAL AND THE WHEEL ESSENTIALLY LOCKED UP. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE, BOTH AT VERY COLD TEMPERATURES (ONCE AT -40 DEGREES BELOW AND ONCE AT -15 DEGREES BELOW ZERO). SOME QUICK INTERNET SEARCHING LEADS TO LOTS OF COMPLAINTS OF THE SAME SITUATION FOR 2014-2015 Q5'S. THE SQ5 OF THE SAME YEAR HAS A RECALL FOR THIS VERY ISSUE BUT THE Q5'S FOR SOME REASON DID NOT GET THE RECALL. IT SOUNDS LIKE IN SOME INSTANCES ITS A SIMPLE SOFTWARE UPDATE AND IN SOME CASES ITS AN ENTIRE NEW STEERING RACK REPLACEMENT COSTING UP TO $5,000. IT SOUNDS LIKE AUDI HAS NOT COVERED THIS ISSUE UNDER WARRANTIES NOR HAS IT ISSUED A RECALL TO COVER THE SAME ISSUE ON THE Q5'S AS WAS EXPERIENCES WITH THE SQ5 OF THE SAME YEAR (RECALL #48M1 & NHTSA #11184036). I AM 300 MILES FROM THE NEAREST AUDI DEALER. AUDI SAYS THEY WILL NOT COVER IT BECAUSE ITS OUT OF WARRANTY. I EXPLAINED IT MATCHES A RECALL FOR THE SQ5 AND BELIEVE THE Q5 WAS OVERLOOKED WITH THAT RECALL, THEY WERE OF NO ASSISTANCE. AUDI SAYS I CAN PAY SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP BUT THEY ARE NOT LIKELY GOING TO COVER ANY OF IT SINCE THERE IS NO RECALL. SEEMS AS THOUGH THERE ARE A LOT OF US OUT THERE THAT HAVE THE SAME SAFETY ISSUE, WHAT CAN BE DONE TO GET THIS SAFETY ISSUE FIXED BY AUDI? LUCKILY I WAS STATIONARY ON BOTH OCCASIONS OTHERWISE THIS WOULD HAVE CAUSED A SERIOUS CRASH AND POSSIBLE INJURY. IM SCARED TO DRIVE IN COLD WEATHER ANYMORE. I WOULD THINK AUDI WOULD CARE ABOUT SUCH A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE!

MY CAR IS A REALLY STRONG ODOR OF FUEL OR GASOLINE IN THE CABIN IT'S SUPER SEVERE AND I DON'T KNOW WHERE IT'S COMING FROMDOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S RUNNING IF I'M DRIVING SUMMER STARTING IT IT'S IT'S JUST TAKES A LITTLE WHILE FOR IT TO START TO STINK AND THEN ONCE IT'S BEEN ON FOR A COUPLE MINUTES IT STARTS TO JUST WREAK

STEERING ESSENTIALLY "LOCKED" UP FOR NO APPARENT REASON. WARNING ALARM SOUNDED AND "STEERING DEFECTIVE, DO NOT DRIVE" WARNING APPEARED. VERY DANGEROUS, CAN BARELY TURN WHEEL. IF THIS WOULD HAVE OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING I'VE NO DOUBT ACCIDENT, POSSIBLY INJURY, WOULD HAVE OCCURRED.