munsabin

Hi everyone, new to the Q7 forum, but a regular on the A4 B9 forum - been driving one for the past 4.5 years and still drives like new.
I've started looking now into cars I'd be interested in in about 1 - 1.5 years for a growing family and it seems like the Q7 is the best package in terms of 2nd hand price and being fully loaded with goodies + Audi workmanship. Others I'm considering is X5, XC90, new Jeep Grand Cherokee L, new MDX. Having an Audi already though - difficult to see myself break the rings...
Looking to land on a late 2018 or 2019 build Q7, with the Technik (Prestige in USA) package.
I understand pre 2020, only Technik came standard with Air Suspension, but starting with the 2020 Q7, all trims have air suspension standard.
In doing general research, it seems air suspension are not as reliable as spring suspension, and because of the components, it makes sense, however, air suspension has been around on the Q7 for a long long time and seeing as Audi is making it standard, I want to jump and say, it's nothing I should really worry about if I get a slightly used Q7 as Audi has done their due diligence in limiting any potential issues.
Opinions?
Lastly - when one looks to buy an Audi with air suspension, is there any way to actually check the condition of the suspension system?

keg97

Where have you seen the air suspension is not as reliable? I know many on these forums have made that suggestion/assumption, but I can't recall seeing actual first hand comments. I know b/c I have the air suspension (57K now) and have been especially wary of the reliability.

munsabin

General air suspension - as in... the technology in general, not specific to the Q7.
I had problems finding anything on the reliability related to Q7 air suspension on this forum as well, reason I bring it up.

Carl78

Air suspension was not “Standard” on Prestige Q7’s in the USA. It was an option. Not even sure it was that common. In looking for mine, i didn’t see any with it including my mostly loaded one.

wukaizen

My Q has air suspension and it’s been trouble-free so far. I figure the same - that Audi has done its due diligence - and if anything, knowing Audi, it’s likely even over-engineered. I guess that can mean more costly repairs too but that’s already an inherent downside to these AS systems... the tech has been around for decades and Audi has been testing/revising over many years so at this point I’d have to imagine issues are uncommon. I’ve seen only one Q7 AS-related issue in these forums, relatively recently, where the front passenger side was stuck in the lowest position, which I believe it was resolved at low cost by applying grease. It’s a little concerning nonetheless, but for me the pros of AS far outweigh the cons. Plus I’m under CPO warranty until 2024 so that gives me extra peace of mind.

ameoba

I can speak from experience that the air suspension doesn't like ultra-cold weather. Was traveling for a hockey tournament a few weeks ago and had to park outside. Air temps dropped to -25F that night. Air suspension deflated and it was so cold that it didn't want to reinflate. after several hours of running the car to warm things up it finally thawed out and reinflated - right before we needed to drive home.

Other than that one time, it's been flawless. Love having it for both driving and towing (which I do somewhat regularly).

methodtim

I only have 23k miles on my 2019 Q7 w/ air, but I felt sketch enough about it to have bought the extended warranty. I hope I'll end up eating the money, but peace of mind was worth it.

1Move

Mine is a 2017 Q7 fully loaded Technik without air suspension. I don't think I am missing a single option other than the air suspension and it was ordered this way specifically due to the fact that new air suspension replacement would run $6500 Canadian to replace all 4. I purchased mine used and got lucky that it came this way, however it is a nice feature to have and speaking with a few Audi techs that are friends, they told me that in the past on other vehicles usually they would see replacement between 80-120k kilometers. This made me worry if I did get the air suspension I would probably have to replace it twice during the time I own the vehicle if their statement was true. This is why I went ahead with my particular vehicle and decided against the air suspension. This is my personal opinion and experience, not here to spread rumors but it helped me with my decision.

My previous vehicle was a 2012 Acura MDX, I would suggest as great of a car it is we had nothing but trouble and recalls on top of recalls. To a point where they replaced all four magnetic shocks, the engine was eating away at the oil, every 1500km's I would need 1L of oil. It was a great car that served us well, but a million and one headaches.

mhoran89

Weird fluke occurrence. I have repeatedly been to Vermont and parked my car for short and long periods of time at temps ranging as low as -25F with no issues.

The air suspension has been a8, s6, q7, etc for years and no one really complains about reliability of it... I wouldn’t sweat it. Mercedes air ride is another story. Road grit wears away at the bags and they start to leak. Pretty regular issue on the mercs

Aphor

My 2017 Prestige with 41K on it is in the shop right now for replacement of the compressor and relay, due to a fault that came up when we loaded a couple hundred pounds of tongue weight on it. I had a 2006 A6 Avant with the air suspension, which worked great for 10 years or so, 100K+ miles, before a front strut failed. My fear this time around is the compressor went bad because a shock is leaking, but that was not the diagnosis.