Bad Andy

I am at 198,000 miles on my 2010 Q5 (with 3.2L engine). I have not had any problems with carbon deposits. I only use top tier gasoline, and an occasional additional bottle of techron.

Here are the non-maitenance issues that I have had to deal with so far....

All 4 electric door locks have gone out. Replaced by an independent shop.
Daytime Running Lamp module has gone out (replaced under warranty).
Shocks and control arms (may be considered wear and tear to most people).
Just now, the sun shade (electric closing shade over the panorama roof) is in for replacement.

Had a bad fuel smell, and paid to have a leaking fuel thing fixed, but was later re-imbursed as there was a recall to fix this. All monies were returned from that repair.

All other items have been routine maintenance. I still love this car. Have been looking at other cars, but can't find anything else that I like just as much. It has been my most dependable car, and I plan on keeping it longer.

Moonlightblue

Thanks to everyone who responded to my original question. Sounds like I was right, the third party warranty isn't worth it. And no big surprises except for the carbon deposit issue, and maybe the electric door locks, the latter of which I would also turn to an indie shop to do if necessary. If someone paid $1k to clean the carbon deposits, my guess is that my dealer's service dept is going to charge closer to $1.5k or $2k. Dealers around here always seem to charge so much more for service than I'm hearing from the rest of you..

josepeter22

My Q5 3.2 P+ just hit 100k miles, and literally at 99.5k I had to replace the front ball joints. Other than that, I have had no issues at all. Great car..

Moonlightblue

Great. Ball joints sound like wear/tear. As do control arms. As long as suspension parts aren't needed every two years as was the case with my 03' BMW, I'd be content. I do live in New England though where we get a lot of snow/salt.

Redd

Warranties ARE insurance, plain and simple. If you need one, it pays to have one. But you need to remember, insurance companies generally make great profits. They charge way more than they pay out.

In the auto warranty business? The profits are often EXTREME and the dealers can make more selling extended warranties, than they make on the car sale itself.

I'd rather shop for a car with high reliability ratings, and self-insure.