sERKZ

I apologize if this has been asked a lot. But I'm new to this forum and I'm looking to get a Q5. Anything to look out for? My budget is around $15,000 and I see a couple of 2010-2012's on craigslist. I'm coming over from a "05 MDX and I made a few mistakes when buying that car since it was my first car and I don't want to make the same when buying my next.

How reliable are Audi's? People always say honda's are cheap but I can assure you fixing my Acura, the parts were not cheap at all. Replacing water pumps and valve adjustment (105k service) alone is around $1500 and that's not from the dealer. The dealer quoted me $900 alone for the valve adjustment and another $850 for the water pump. Just throwing some numbers out there to compare.

Which model is the best one to look for? Thanks in advance, if I have any more questions I'll post here.

bhiggins80@gmail.com

You'll want to avoid 2011 & possibly 2012 as they have a defect that results in excessive oil consumption.

Good luck,

Brian

sERKZ

That's a shame! I was looking at this beautiful white '11 s-line on craigslist! Thanks for the info Brian.

Bob Petruska

The 2011 - 2012, 2.0T also have questionable timing chain tensioner versions, unless they were changed to the latest version. When
the tensioner goes bad the valves hit the pistons, about a $7K repair at the dealer!

sERKZ

Jeez and I thought Acura was expensive lmao. Welp, I guess I'll get a 2011 MDX. Got a friend selling hers and she hardly drives much. Only has 65k miles on it too.

ex-quattro PETE

The one that still has some kind of warranty remaining.

apoelistas

Having a 2.0l Q5 with TFSi 211 bhp, MY 2009, with all fixes and firmware updates applied, and 60k miles, the only wish I have and worries me is ESP brake type torque vectoring which was never offered (only sport differential had active torque vectoring as an option). The reason this is somehow important to me is cornering and roundabouts, where oversteer under steer gets eliminated with torque vectoring technology. So it is an additional safety feature which I wish I had.

Having said the above this SUV is almost perfect because I have no other worries. I totally recommend performance, luxury, and design over any other SUV brand. For me Audi TFSi 211 or 225 bhp (facelift) either are perfect though I would preferred to have purchased the facelift with ESP torque vectoring enabled (S-tronic version).

When you have such technologies such as efficiency program and oil temperature on instrument cluster, S-tronic 7 speed, huge torque output 350Nm, 0-100km in 7 seconds, s-tronic cooler, and quattro permanent AWD system 40/60, 20cm ground clearance, what else can one wish for??
​
​​​Reliability is there since all problems were sorted out by Audi service, at no additional expense to me.

Bob Petruska

The OP is looking to buy used, $15K budget. That gets him maybe a 2011 without a normal factory warranty, maybe he could find one with an extended 6 year warranty, but that will run out this year max.

ex-quattro PETE

Yup, in which case my suggestion would be to up the budget and look for something newer with more warranty left. If budget can't be stretched, then skip the Q5.

uberwgn

Serk, welcome aboard! I think if you are sensitive to maintenance costs and repairs, the Audi may take you to a place you don't want to be if you must rely upon the local dealer. You should give this some serious consideration as you shop.


Welcome aboard!