Owners have filed 110 complaints on the Audi SQ5, covering 2014–2025. The system named most often is Steering (15 reports). Worst years by volume: 2018, 2019, 2021; cleanest: 2017, 2016, 2024. 4 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 3.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Audi SQ5
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 110 SQ5 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Steering 15 Read
We bought the car today at Audi South Atlanta brand new and were driving back home. The car suddenly showed the engine light, showed drive system malfunction please safely stop, and then the car slowed down and stopped on the highway. The steering stiffened up and almost caused a car crash. It was very dangerous. The…
While driving kid spilled water on rear seat, within 5 min all sensors started beeping, display started turning off and on, steering wheel very hard to maneuver, windows opening and closing spontaneously, car wouldn't go into park mode, engine wouldn't turn off (finally did after pressing and holding ignition multiple…
When using the lane-departure and 'steering correction' system this vehicle will attempt to suddenly, sharply, and dangerously change lanes. This morning (8/26/20), while traveling on a four lane divided highway with cruise control and lane departure active, the vehicle jerked left into a turn-only lane, overriding my…
Electrical System 14 Read
While driving in live traffic, the vehicle suffered a catastrophic and total simultaneous mechanical and electrical system failure. Without warning, the vehicle completely lost engine propulsion, braking assistance, and all dashboard displays. Concurrently, the vehicle suffered a complete blackout of all exterior…
Comfort Module J393 failed that is tied to all electronics warnings in car. Brake warnings, light warning, security warnings, etc. Car was unable to be started as a result. If these electronics failed during driving, its very dangerous and could force crashing of vehicle. According to Dealership, failed module was…
MMI not connecting Control module for emergency call module
Engine 10 Read
The engine water pump on this vehicle is leaking both internally and externally. This vehicle uses the 3.0T (EA839) engine, which uses a vacuum-actuated water pump with a shroud sleeve mechanism. A licensed repair facility diagnosed the failure and estimated repair cost at approximately 5,500. The internal leak path…
2020 Audi SQ5, 3.0T EA839 engine. On 9/22/2026 an independent repair shop inspected the vehicle and found engine coolant pooling in the engine valley beneath the coolant module (integrated water pump / thermostat housing). The leak is internal and was not visible from outside the vehicle: no coolant on the ground and…
The contact owns a 2019 audi sq5. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 20 mph, the vehicle stalled with the sos warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed by audi rocklin located at 4448 granite drive, rocklin, ca 95677, to the dealer. The technician was unable to duplicate the failure or…
Power Train 8 Read
1–2 second delay in throttle response from pedal input, followed by sudden uncommanded surge/jerk forward. Occurs when vehicle is on hold mode in a slope or in plain flat conditions at a light or a stop sign. It happens when the car is cold or warm. I consider the vehicle unsafe to drive. The cruise control also has a…
On at least five occasions since we purchased this vehicle brand new in January 2026, the digital transmission system has failed to switch into park and would not switch into park -- producing an error message. To resolve the issue, it required multiple restarts of the car, and there is no clear step to resolve the…
Component/System: Engine and Cooling — Water Pump / Coolant System Vehicle: 2021 Audi SQ5 Engine Code: CWGD Mileage at Failure: 71,000 Date of Incident: 8/6/2025 Audi Denver I’m reporting a known defect affecting my 2021 Audi SQ5 with engine code CWGD. The engine experienced an internal coolant leak from the water…
Forward Collision Avoidance 8 Read
Ive experienced multiple unexpected braking events while driving on essentially open road using adaptive cruise control. When this first happened it scared me significantly and caused a car behind me to run up on me. Upon further investigation I found that this braking occurs every time I go by these two specific…
My 2025 Audi SQ5 has experienced a serious and recurring electronic safety system malfunction since it was brand new. I purchased the vehicle with fewer than 10 miles on the odometer, and the problem began the very next day. More than 50% of the time when I start the vehicle, numerous warning lights and error messages…
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Audi presense sensor is going off randomly when there is no risk for collision. Brakes abruptly, seatbelt tightens, car turns off in the middle of the road. From lease start week 1to feb 2024 how was your safety or the…
Visibility/wiper 7 Read
Drivers view is largely obstructed (you could lose sight of a crowd of people) by the outside mirrors. This is an obvious danger to all pedesatrians crossing in front of this vehicle that is turning left. And also affects the view on the right side. I unfortunately experienced a low speed crash directly related to…
Rear sunroof exploded. Sounded like a large rock or gunshot and then shattered glass from the rear sunroof. The interior shade caught the glass. Car was immediately dropped off at the Audi dealership in SLC, Ut. Dealership tried to say it was from a rock hitting the car but no one was around me. A simple search on the…
Panoramic roof glass exploded outwards while driving on the highway. No sign of rock damage or debris hitting. The glass is deformed outwards. The glass was sent towards the interior of the car. The sunroof shade was closed and many pieces of glass were caught by this otherwise the driver would have been hit by glass…
Suspension 7 Read
While making a U-turn on a high-speed arterial roadway (Philips Highway) with a child passenger, the vehicle suffered a sudden, complete failure of the driver-side rear CV axle/driveshaft assembly. A loud pop occurred followed immediately by total loss of vehicle propulsion, leaving the vehicle stranded across active…
No warning lights or fault codes. Took it to Audi of Dallas and without a code they said they couldn’t troubleshoot it. The car makes a whining noise only while under acceleration and is prominate between 20-50 mph. Also the fuel gauge (electric) does not show the correct amount of fuel. I have already ran out of fuel…
Rear subframe has extensive and significant rust affecting the structural integrity of the critical component…. Have been advised by a qualified certified mechanic that the vehicle should NOT be driven as doing so could result in catastrophic collapse of the vehicle suspension with potential loss of control of the…
Service Brakes 7 Read
I noticed my car started to lose coolant, I checked my water pump and I saw there was a leak on of the hoses. Once I discovered that I also heard a tapping noise coming from the engine. I took it to my local Audi shop, and they discovered that my pistons were going bad. They told me I qualified for the extended piston…
The contact owns a 2020 Audi SQ5. The contact stated while reversing in her driveway, the automatic braking system activated and the vehicle stopped abruptly. The contact stated that there was a vehicle at a stop sign 500 ft. Away from her vehicle when the failure occurred. The contact shifted the vehicle into park.…
On a suburban street that I regularly drive on with no car nearer than 100 yards in front of me and fortunately no car behind me the audi presense system actuated slamming on the brakes and flashing a red triangle in the driver information screen. If a car had been followed behind me I would've been rear-ended
SQ5 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Electrical System, Exterior Lighting, Fuel/Propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2024 | Forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags, Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 2020 | Back Over Prevention, Forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags, Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2017 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 2016 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2015 | Service Brakes | — | — | |
| 2014 | Electrical System, Engine | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 86 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.7 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 3. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,115,966 of them, covering 2,019 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the SQ5?
By complaint volume, 2018, 2019, 2021 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which SQ5 years are the cleanest?
2017, 2016, 2024 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Audi SQ5 have?
110 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2014–2025. Of those, 4 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.
Mark ForCar as a preferred source and our data shows up first in your Google results. One click, no account.