DrV

Audi ranks more or less at the half-way mark on the reliability scale, however the relative reliability of vehicles today is way better that it was, say in the 70's. With that in mind it means there is a small difference in overall reliability between the best and where Audi ranks. I'd recommend Audi in a heartbeat. For safety, fun to drive and utility, the Q5 is amazing!

The G Man

You seem to put reliability very high on your list when shopping for a new car, stick with the Japanese cars, they are more reliable but less fun to drive.

abacon09

I had this issue on another car. The brake rotors had rust ridges in them when I bought the car new. They had to replace the rotors and pads, and they even put on new tires for good measure. Vibrations when braking at highway speeds usually means the rotors are warped and when they "try" to fix it, the usually just turn the rotor with an on-car lathe. Sometimes that doesn't give a very straight cut and it obviously wears your brakes down faster. Not sure what you had the dealer do, but if you still have low miles push for them to change the brakes out completely and I think you will see a difference.

FitzLA

They did replace all the rotars, which did not help.

takisot

I drive it for a year now, no problems whatsover..
The Q5 exceeded my expectations and I don't see myself replacing it, not until its gets really old...

spraggih

I have only had my Q5 for 2+ months but I had one problem (the phonebook microphone did not work). Come to find out it never worked! When we purchased and went over the car the salesman just thought it was not recognizing his voice -- but when the factory built it the microphone cable was put in a pinched position and thus did not work. Was fixed within hours.

I was very concerned about realibility but wanted a SUV-like fun to drive car that looked good. At the time (and possibly still) the Q5 was the only car available. I tried the Infiniti FX and EX but they were only partially fun to drive and not too high off the road. Acura RDX looked -- well not to my liking and the BMW I knew was harsh on the road and the look was not too great.

On the road I cringe a bit when I see a Q5 or Q7 because so often those LED lights are out and I wonder if this will happen to me. But so far so good.

fastd1

You can turn the LED lights on or off. When I picked up my Q, they were turned off. Those people may not even know they have led lights!

jrjunior31

I have exact same issue with voice recognition. Doesn't work at all. I've also had minor low speed steering shudder when parking. But very minor hasn't bothered me at all. I have 800 miles. Car drives beautifully. Gorgeous body styling and interior. Tons of compliments. Yes Japanese is more reliable but Q5 is badass. best 40-50k SUV on the market... Just don't tell too many people...

MaybeSomeday

Your comment is rather unsettling.
Here's the thing
I'm not expecting the maintenance free reliability I've gotten from Japanese cars, I just want to know that if I take it in for scheduled maintenance, keep it in good condition. That it won't fail in a catastrophic manner on me.

The G Man

I would say you have been very lucky with Japanese cars. I have owned Lexus and Toyota for the last 15 years. My last Lexus actually spend more time in the shop than my Audi. Its all in the luck of the draw. New cars now a day are overall more relaible. The gap between the most reliable car and the least relibale car have narrowed quite a bit in recent years. Also, I think European cars have make more progress recently in reliablity than the Japanese, but never the less, Japanese cars are generally more reliable. The question you need to ask yourself is, if it is worth your while to give up a little bit of reliabilty for better driving dynamic and better quality.