jason1635

Today for the second time in 5 months a computer failed causing complete loss of power from a left lane at highway speed. First time in Feb, just me this time whole family. Don't know hat to say, have loved this car since buying one of the first one in late april 2017, but now questioning the car and the brand... audi roadside stranded me again today, as well first time 4 hours in freezing rain on side of the road, today 2 hours and then thankfully car started again in safe mode and dealer was 6 miles away.
Symptoms: Complete lost power, multiple flashing indicators ( engine control failure, steering failure, brake failure). After both failures, airbag light also came on. Car started again after first failure but died within 500 feet. The comfort control module was repaired in Feb/March waiting for dx this time. In happier news the Cherry Hill NJ service dept stayed late to receive and get me a loaner. On road trip, don't know them or buy car there...

Anyone have similar issues or ideas?

Here is my note to audi customer care:
Hi I would like a call or an email. I love my 2018 Audi Q5, but for the second time in 5 months it has had a major engine computer failure at highway speed nearly killing me--this time, today with family in the car on a family vacation. I am frustrated beyond belief. Today like the last time, the car lost power and a series of lights flashed indicating engine control malfunction, steering and braking malfunction and lost all power, leaving me to navigate across three lanes of 70 mph traffic. This time in 98* heat, like last time in a snowstorm, audi roadside assistance didn't assist, cancelling original service call and advising another one 150 minutes out. This time fortunately, I was able to restart after 20 minutes in safe mode with all kinds of lights on and limp 6 miles to a dealer in Cherry Hill NJ who was kind enough to give me a new loaner 10 minutes before service dept closed. Please contact me--I no longer trust the car or my favorite brand. Two times for 2018 car with a catastrophic failure is too much. I want to hear what you can do to address this issue. The last time the comfort module was replaced and the car was fine from Mar to July. Thank you. My previous address was XXXX(serviced at West Chester PA Audi, this time Md and serviced at Cherry Hill Audi.

KaDeTime

why not call your dealer??? why do people think that Audi exacts sit and read American (and other nations) forums and will contact you by your username ? so confused.

Have you went to post on forum after your tweets were not responded to..... what is this world coming to

2018_SQ5

Sounds like another troll. Curious to see if this dude ever follows up with more posts concerning what the dealer found the issue to be.

The clear hyperbole in his 'letter to Audi customer care' also lends to this being a troll post (i.e. "... failure at highway speed nearly killing me")

spindlewood

He's no troll. Check out his other posts. In this post he implies the car is at the dealer. Looks like he's contacting Audi Care for a higher level of support.

yeah, some hyperbole but if this happened to me I'd be sufficiently pissed off to use similar language. To OP, keep us posted on Audi's response.

KaDeTime

ok so no Troll, but why post on the forum? why not call dealer and Audi?

spindlewood

I presumed this means he's already talking with the dealer.
Maybe he thinks emaling Audi Care is how to begin the talk about lemons. I agree the letter doesn't make sense. Pick up the phone.

if he doesn't reply back here soon, I'll change my opinion. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

With a second post describing engine failure coming right after this one, it's kind of unnerving.

jason1635

I am not a troll, just wanted to know if anyone had had similar computer problems. Mine was significant and I was still shaken from the experience when I sent the email after calling Audi customer service only to get a message that they were closed for the holidays for 60 hours... I did bring to a dealer, but was far from home so not my dealer of purchase or service. That said, they were phenomenal getting me on the road in less than an hour. I plan to follow up and ensure dots are connected in my service record. I am not sure what can be done or what I can ask for--I love the car but not sure I will trust to anymore. The failures. were dramatic and very dangerous

I am an experienced driver and lifelong VW/Porsche/Audi lover even with a few bumps along the way. They are great cars with character design flair and awesome blend of comfort and performance. I am used to and expect mechanical issues. With this car I have had a now repeated issue that caused 100% system failure at highways speed without warning or ability to control to safe spot. Yesterday was extremely lucky not to have a major accident in busy rush hour traffic. Audi customer care never followed up after the first repair and dealer treated as routine issue, replacing a small computer for comfort module despite larger failure messages. Honestly , I did too after a few weeks of back to normal.This time I went to a dealer who was not the purchase place--mine still closed for holiday and I was traveling at time of issue. Audi roadside assistance is worse than zero. Both times they have sent repeated message that someone was coming only to cancel. It is rather dramatic my luck (unless extreme weather is a trigger for the computer fault, but first time in an ice storm , this time in a heat wave with two small kids and a dog in car. Audi roadside told me to leave the keys in the car and uber to the dealer... I left a long message via phone and followed up with the email. I have not heard back but to be fair it is the 4th.
This is a first for me and turned to the forum to see if any body had a similar experience, not for a shoulder to cry on or to share drama. Thanks Jason
Anyway this is a repeat computer failure--with no warning, other then a few random warning lights that went away on both occasions a few days before event (one for airbag, one for light LED failure (it wasn't)

KaDeTime

jason1635

So audi customer service has not yet replied. i called back with follow up and they said my situation had been forwarded for review. When i picked up my car the great service team left the number for audi customer service on my dash, just in case I needed a nudge to engage with them. They couldn't replicate the failure and changed a power relay and wished me luck. They were great, just had not seen this and limited tech support from corporate on a fault like this. After 2 weeks of no action by Audi, I traded the car in with disclosure of the warranty issue. The car without issue for 2 miles before trade. But it did the same for 5,000 miles between engine control faults, Probably cost me a bit on trade but got a good deal on another model and some good loyalty money on the table. I continue to ask Audi to refund my audi care (which was mostly unused) and also at least by me a new audi care on new model. Yet to hear from them. Extremely disappointed that a company producing such great stuff is an utter fail with service. They were out two days for holiday and no out most of this week for customer service training. Happy I was able to move on and getting 13-14% off a new 18 which helped dull the pain of trading in a one year old car for a lot less than I paid,. I loved this car, but for me and family, this was not a good feeling continuing ownership, so I traded out. Thanks

deschbr

Hi Jason1635, I know your post is a bit old but I found it as I was searching online for the exact same issue that happened to me.
Fortunately it happened as I was pulling out of a driveway but the vehicle was completely immobilized, the transmission paralyzed and the cockpit looked like a Christmas tree.
The dealer (Audi Ottawa) searched for about 10 days, testing all connections and the transmission (I learnt on that occasion that there are 6 computers in the car). The cause was a couple of faulty connections under the driver’s seat due to corrosion: allegedly, a few wire connections had been left bare during the assembly. As the car is driven in the Canadian winter, there is a lot of humidity and salt that make way into the cockpit.
The dealer said the issue was reported and that they checked the more recent Q5 that they had in stock (mine is from January 2018, trouble happened in June 2019). Reportedly, they did not find the same faulty connections in more recent car. I discussed it with another Audi owner who had the exact same issue, same cause same effects, with a Mercedes C-Klass a couple of years ago.
I have been driving the car for two months since the repair (under warranty) without any issue. We shall see after next winter :-)