Hi there, long time Audi owner, first time considering a Q, hoping someone more knowledgeable can help clear a few things up.
I’m currently looking at buying a 2013 Q7 3.0T S-Line Prestige.

The owners know almost nothing about the car, and I’m a bit confused as it has a few differences from other Prestige S-Lines I have looked at.

First question is if I understand correctly, the 2013+ Q7’s got an updated chassis/electronics/options? Was there a split in the model year or would every 2013 have the newer updates? What should I be looking for?

2nd, The car I looked at has no rear climate control (only manual dials for heated seats) and no window shades. This seems strange for a Prestige no? Were these both options? I have seen base Q7’s with rear climate control very strange for this one not to have it.

3rd, Is there any way to confirm if the car is the 333hp version? From what I can tell all S-Line Prestige should have it but being as this car is missing some other key options, I’m now second guessing. When I drove the car the power was underwhelming, maybe that’s just par for such a heavy vehicle. I have only driven TDIs in the Q7 so obviously much different power delivery and used to my tuned 2.0T A4 which has some serious jam when the turbo kicks in.

Finally I spotted a small and very recent looking oil or maybe coolant leak on the front of the engine, any idea what it may be? (Circled in pic)





Thanks for any feedback!

 

Get the VIN# and you can get basic Carfax info or even the actual window sticker from any Audi dealer sales department, free. The window sticker will disclose exactly what you are buying and options equipped. There are different levels of 'S-line' packaging, and some are just about the appearance/internal trim pieces, rather than the full-blown S-line setup with bigger engine, diff front/rear fascias on car, paddle shifters/sport wheel, interior trim & badging, special wheels, etc., which was only available if you bought the top trim-level car.

From your description, it seems reasonable this is not a top trim-level car, but merely has an appearance package option. You don't get the uprated 333HP engine unless you are in the Prestige trim level and pay for the full S-line upgrade option, which would come with 20" or optional 21" wheels mounted. Lower trim levels have smaller diameter wheels and different/less fancy wheel designs than the higher trim level cars. Familiarize yourself with the options packages / trim levels and how to identify them in pictures. You can look up the brochures online to see what was offered for a particular year model, etc. That's how I learned.

Pull up Car Gurus and enter exactly what you are looking for in the search parameters; tons of gas engine Q7s out there with options you are looking for.

 

Here is the 2013 brochure, look on page 15.
https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/b...di/2013-q7.pdf
Four zone climate is standard on a Prestige, and optional on a Premium Plus, same with the side sun shades. That car should have it if it really is an S-Line unless someone replaced them... which would be weird.
Unlike other modes, in the 4L Q7 I don't believe there was a way to get the S-Line appearance package and not the upgraded S-Line performance unless you bought a diesel .

Does the car have the S-Line aluminum accents around the shifter, doors and dash?
How many 12v outlets by the shifter, should only be 1?
Does it have the S-Line door sills?
Does it have the 20" or 21" wheels?

If you are interested in this car you can call Audi and ask for a build sheet or copy of the window sticker. You can also usually get one from this site for $8 which will be way faster.
https://monroneylabels.com/

 

The 2013-2015 models are riding on the 4L chassis. These first-gen cars were facelifted in 2010 model year, got the 8spd tranny in 2011, and in 2013 TDIs got reworked engine/turbo revisions, and minor tech upgrades occurred in MMI system throughout the lineup. 2015 was end of production for these 4L chassis cars(2006-2015). Then the 4M chassis began production for model year 2017 and that was a clean-sheet redesign with major changes throughout, and the car dropped a bunch of weight at that point...you can feel the 4M chassis cars getting blown around in a crosswind pretty good. Lotsa problems reported by owners with those newer, 4M chassis cars also and warnings on the '17 and '21 year models related to their problems, so be careful out there.

 

You do want to look for a one-owner car, or maybe a leased + one owner that bought it as a CPO program car, as those are much more likely to be well and consistently maintained (often by Audi) than if it's had multiple owners...always verify the maintenance history via Carfax history or other method, depending on who's selling it. I always asked the dealer to send me the Carfax records (free), as being conditional for me to be interested in buying their car. If they don't wanna share the Carfax data, walk away.

 

Thanks so much for all the feedback, you guys are a wealth of knowledge!

I have owned a number of Audis but I have never had so much trouble trying to figure out the optioning as with this Q7. After doing more research, I’m even more confused than when I started.

The VIN and Carfax are part of the problem. The VIN decoder on the Carfax website says that it’s a Premium however the actual Carfax report lists it a Prestige. The Carfax report only shows 5 service records, which is also very strange. None of the Audi service is showing up on the Carfax. I called around and found which dealer it was from and they were able to look up service history, it was serviced up to about 80k kms at the dealership, then was traded in and sold CPO. After that very spotty records but the current owner does have receipts. (I didn’t know you could request the window sticker, will look into that.)

As for the car, it is full S-Line, has the sline door sills, aluminum interior trim, one 12v outlet by the shifter and OEM 20” wheels.

I have tried a number of VIN decoders and most say Premium but some say unknown.
I’d really like to know if it’s the 333hp version. Will probably go for a tune at some point anyway but good bargaining chip for buying if it’s the lower hp.

The headliner is also black which I haven’t seen in a Q7 before, not sure how I feel about it. Is it common to have a black headliner?

@Pothole5000 Thanks so much for the brochure, that's very helpful (and very cool). Unfortunately the Monroney label says that it can't determine the options and they have to be manually selected. Will call the dealer tomorrow to see if they can send me a copy of the window sticker.
The brochure has maybe cleared tings up a little though. The wheels are definitely the OEM 20" Prestige package wheels, the headliner is black which I guess comes with the S-Line interior package? Also the front seats are the perforated leather which I assume is the ventilation?
Still a mystery why there are no sun shades and rear climate control though.

Anyone know if the sun shades and/or climate control module can be retrofitted?

If I decide to move ahead, will definitely get a PPI.

I guess it's likely the 333hp version, the power was underwhelming to me but maybe my expectations were too high. I currently drive a tuner 2.0T A4 and that thing is a rocket when the turbo kicks in, not nearly the same jam from the Q7 but also a much heavier vehicle so I guess that makes sense. Also, the brakes didn't seem to bite as much as I would have expected, granted it was cold and wet when I test drove the car but the brakes also weren't as powerful as expected. The current owner did have the brakes replaced about a year ago so maybe they went with cheaper pads. (Again coming from a bbk on my A4 so used to really powerful braking but the brakes on the Q7 should be beasts too no?)

 

And another question, some others I have talked to have recommended asking for a compression test/leak down test for the 3.0T. I spoke to both Audi and an indie shop about this and the both said they could do it but they think it's a waste as there would be DTCs stored if there were any compression issues. They also both said that an internal engine issue on a 3.0T is extremely rare especially at the mileage of this vehicle. The Q7 is at about 145k kms/90k miles.

Thoughts?

 

Definitely get a PPI. Brakes are huge Brembo’s on this car and should stop with some authority if the OE setup is used. Take the VIN # to or call Audi dealer to get the cars window sticker; all questions answered by that document, and it’s free.

 

Definitely doing a PPI. I suspect they used economy or long life pads but also could just be that the vehicle had been sitting outside for a week and hadn't been driven.

Made a breakthrough today, I was able to finally get some clarity after talking to a very helpful and knowledgeable sales person at one of the local dealerships.

The biggest confusion stems from the fact that Canada and the US have different trim levels and use some different names as well as the same name for different levels. Confused yet?
I'll have to create a new dedicated thread about this to hopefully help shed light on things for future owners/buyers but for information sake in case someone comes across this thread in the future, here's the deal:

In Canada there were three trim levels like in the US but they were: Quattro (base), Premium (middle) and Sport (top)(Also not to be confused with S-Line Sport Package which is a completely separate thing!).

What makes this super confusing is that when comparing Canadian to US Q7s the names conflict so:
Quattro (Can) = Premium (USA),
Premium (Can) = Premium Plus (USA)
Sport (Can) = Prestige (USA)

The sales person said that despite what you see online, and even from some used car dealerships, there was NO Prestige trim level offered in Canada.
He wasn't 100% sure about the US but he thought the S-Line package was only available with Prestige in the US? He said that in Canada the full S-Line package was available in both the Premium and Sport trim levels. On top of this, in Canada, nearly all options were available on their own or as part of the smaller independent packages (Such as technology package). This means a buyer could option a base model Quattro with ventilated seats, Bang & Olufsen sound, etc. etc Anyone know if this is the case in the US also? Based on what the linked pamphlet above shows, this was maybe not the case.

So, the dealer was unable to retrieve the original window sticker as they say it only stays in their system for 2-5 years now but they were able to look up the original option codes, pricing, etc. (Huge thank you to you guys for mentioning this, I had no idea this was possible)
Turns out the car in question is a Premium trim with the 'S-line Sport Package' added (Not to be confused with the Sport trim level which is different.)

In addition to standard features found on all Q7s, (Front and rear heated seats were apparently standard in 2013 for Canada).
The Canadian Premium package includes as standard:
-19" 5 arm V Spoke Alloy Wheels with all season tires
-HDD Navigation system w/ DVD player
-Adaptive headlight with cornering light
-HomeLink
-Driver information system with colour display
-Advanced Key with start button
-Aluminum door sills
-Walnut Natural wood inlays
-Audi Side Assist

The S-Line Sport Package was then added on top of this:
-20" 5 - spoke alloy wheels with all season tires (Upgrades 19" Premium wheels)
-S-Line exterior and door sills
-Multifunction 3 spoke steering wheel with shift paddles (deletes heated function)
-Matte brushed aluminum inlay
-Black headliner

Finally, the following options were added individually:
-Seat and Sky Package: 3rd Row seating, Panorama Sunroof
-Towing package with 7 pin adapter
-Bose sound system
-Corner view camera
-Ventilated Front seats

The only difference between the above optioned Premium setup and the Sport trim are 21" wheels and the 333hp programming. (Sport trim also allows for the option to add Adaptive Air Suspension which was only available as an option on the Premium TDI, not the Premium 3.0T)

Not having the 333hp tuning partly explains why the Q felt a little flat to me. This is a drawback that I'll have to discuss with the seller as they were selling the car as a Prestige and as such was expecting the higher HP version.

This brings me back to the Carfax which has been absolutely useless for this car. In the seller's defense, they don't really know anything about Audis and the Carfax does say Prestige as the trim level. The dealer was able to shed some light on this as well. The salesperson said that Carfax often references a US database of vehicle option info and if things don't match up it guesses at the trim level based on options. Being as many options match the Prestige level it guessed Prestige as it is obviously not a base level (US) Premium package however Premium Plus would have been the correct classification. He also explained that in some cases (he didn't know why) Carfax sometimes removes all records if a vehicle is sold CPO. As far as Carfax is concerned the vehicle is sometimes treated as 'new' when sold CPO from a dealership, removing all previous dealership records from the report. This is crazy to remove entries from a report, it's a history report, not a current owner report. Luckily the dealership has all service records from new.

Finally understanding things better but what a ridiculous system. Very un-German.

Lots hinges on the PPI, I have already negotiated with the seller who has been accommodating but not having the 333hp option is a big miss. Going to have to break this one to them somehow.

 

Sounds like you are going to be the expert from now on!
The good news if it is only missing the 333hp and has everything else you want there are lots of companies that sell a tune.