gagethrash

I drive a Brilliant Black car and it's beautiful, but so difficult to keep clean as it shows dirt, swirl marks, and water spots easily. I'm looking for a stunning color that's also low maintenance, and I like white and dark grey. From your experience is the Q5 easier to keep looking good in white (ibis/glacier) or dark grey (Daytona/lava)?

ex-quattro PETE

I'd say that white shows dirt slightly more than grey. However, the Q5 looks stunning in white. Granted, this is personal preference, but I think white looks better than grey on the Q5.

DennisMitchell

Cuvee Silver is the most maintenance free color in my opinion. I previously color on a Q5 was Quartz Grey.

S4forDC

This is always so subjective. I had a tough time deciding on the color for my new '15 3.0T. I choose Daytona Gray, but Lava Gray was a close second. I had Phantom Black previously, and really liked that. Mythos Black didn't have enough metallic like the Phantom, so it didn't seem too different from Brilliant Black which made me think I'd see scratches and swirls, etc. quickly. You may want to check out Utopia Blue or Moonlight Blue too. You can't go wrong with any color!

eric strauss

Black is so beautiful when it is clean, but it is a huge commitment to keep it right. If you are going with white, I suggest the Glacier White as it is infused with metal flake, which is a boon for hiding swirls, etc. Ibis white is unforgiving. Daytona Grey or other metal flake greys, such as Florett Silver are beautiful as they highlight the surface detail of the car, but are pretty forgiving with respect to dust, etc.

In addition, when you are waxing, drying, or in any way pushing cloth/microfibre, etc across your car, refrain from using a circular motion. Doing so places micro scratches in an arc, which will then show the scratches from any angle. If you wipe back and forth in a straight line, any scratches have parallel orientation and are thus visible across a more narrow angle of viewing. Remember, paint is a sacrificial surface and washing, drying, detailing are accelerating the process. Only waxing is additive. Be wet and gentle - no dry cloths, ever. Every few Audi's I break down and get a black car (2009 A4 Cabriolet, 2001 TT Quattro 225hp) but have fits keeping it clean. The latest beast is below. I still do my best, but it gets flogged through the mountains every weekend. The car was filthy in the image below, but still looks good.

Happy Motoring

Eric

DeltaFX1942

I have a midnight blue Q5 with OptiCoat Pro. After half a year, the paint still looks really good and the shine is amazing. Yes, it gets dirty. Yes, there a few scratches here and there, but not from washing. Like eric said up top, straight line motion when wiping.

CharlieG

Cuvee is hard to beat at hiding dirt. We constantly get complements on how clean the car looks even when we know it's not. Surprisingly, even the the wheels stay clean on our 15 ... brake dust just doesn't seem to be a problem at all. Nothing like my 13 S4, which shows brake dust just about as soon as you drive it after a wash.

Q5 Bob

I agree on the Cuvee for hiding dust and dirt.

Unless Audi has changed it, the color on the web site and in brochures, looks nothing like the actual color. Not sure why that is.

awryexperiment

I also had a Quartz Grey and then a Cuvee Silver. Both were easy to keep clean, but Cuvee is definitely the easiest.

S4forDC

That photo of your RS5 is what convinced me to go with Daytona on my new 3.0T Q5. Yours is a stunning car!