Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2013 Audi Q5 submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 33 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 33, in the owner's own words
My audi uses 1 quart of oil every 300 miles. The dealership wants to charge to find the problem. Audi should fix the problem at no charge. I bought the vehicle in February 2023. Was told there were no issues with the car.
Car was telling me to add 1 qt of oil about every 1500-2000 miles, even after a recent oil change. So I took it to the place I purchased the car from and they replaced the timing chain gasket thing. About a week later the same issue came back. So I took it to Audi to have the same thing replaced. And about a month later the issue came back. Took it back to Audi and they said now the Engine speed sensor seal is leaking oil. I’ve did some research and I’ve found that there is a manufacturing engine defect that causes this reoccurring issue and most Q5 owners have stopped spending money on repairs and just tops off the oil when asked.
Car started running hot, had mechanic do pressure/ leak test and he couldn’t find a leak. Took it to Audi and they said the coolant pump and thermostat housing were leaking coolant. I’ve researched and it looks like these cars have know coolant pump issues.
The vehicle oil level low light comes on every 600 miles (excessive oil consumption). I purchased the vehicle in July 2021, and in 2 weeks I had an oil-level light. I called Audi regarding the condition, they talked with the dealership regarding the issue and came back in 2 weeks and stated that the recall was up to 2011. I would like Audi to pay to repair my vehicle, because is a known problem which should have been resolved. Oil Change on 1/12/24; had to put oil in on 2/20/24
The contact owns a 2013 Audi Q5. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing an abnormal oil consumption. The low oil pressure warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that she had been adding a quart of oil to the vehicle every 200 miles driven. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 125,000.
The coolant system on this car was repaired by Santa Monica Audi in jan 2020. Less than three years later he the coolant is leaking again with dangerously low level of coolant in the engine. This is a real safety hazard and could lead to a fire or engine overheating This is compounded by Audi Santa Monica charging $310 to simply perform a visual inspection which confirmed the water pump and thermostat needs replacing. Even though it’s related to the earlier coolant pump recall, the burden is on the consumer to pay and the elevated Safety risk remains.
this car should be included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V229000. Having the same issues as owners of other Audi Q5 have reported. while driving the Pull over and Check coolant message appears each time in vehicle. Coolant was leaking. The coolant is leaking onto the ground while refilling the reservoir but not coming from the reservoir.
The recalls were not completed and the dealership is charging for recall work.
COOLANT PUMP BECAME BLOCKED IN MY 3.0 ENGINE VEHICLE, CAUSING IT TO OVERHEAT. THIS MAY BE A SIMILAR PROBLEM TO THE 2.0 VEHICLE, FOR WHICH THERE HAVE ALREADY BEEN 2 RECALLS. MY AIR CONDITIONER STARTED BLOWING FUSES REPEATEDLY (DAILY TO WEEKLY) LAST YEAR AND THE MECHANIC THINKS IT MAY BE A RELATED ISSUE.
The engine pistons are defective and consume an excessive amount of oil. This has been confirmed through the manufacturer's own prescribed testing of the vehicle. As a result, the vehicle is not drivable due to the safety risks include sudden engine breakdown while driving.
My daughter drove her car to Hobby Lobby in Opelika, AL. After being in the store for about 7 minutes they announced over the intercom for the owner of a black audi to come to the front. They told her that her car was on fire. She went outside and black smoke and fire was coming from the hood. A lady had already called 911. While waiting, flames started coming from the bottom of the car. The police arrived and started trying to put the fire out, then firefighters arrived and put the fire out. After the fire was put out, the car kept trying to start itself so they had to locate the battery to disconnect it. Luckily the firefighters were a few stores down and was able to get to it quick. The car is available for inspection and we feel that this is some type of malfunction that we shouldn't be responsible for. A fire is very dangerous and could have hurt or killed my daughter if it had caught fire with her in it and also it catching fire around other cars that put others in danger or if it would have been at night at home under our carport and ended up catching our house on fire! The car has not been inspected by anyone. We didn't have full coverage insurance since I had just changed our policy since where I worked closed down so in the meantime of going from full coverage insurance to liability for a month and a half, this happened. So now we don't really know what to do, as we feel this isn't something we should have to pay for. We feel that Audi should be responsible for this malfunction/defect. No warnings and we have our vehicles maintenanced regularly.
MY CONCERN IS THAT THIS CAR BARELY HAD 115,000 MILES ON IT AND I'M NOW DEALING WITH A MAJOR OIL CONSUMPTION WHERE I"M AT THE DEALERSHIP ALMOST ONCE A MONTH. MY CONCERN, IS THAT I'M ON THE OPEN HIGHWAY AND THE CAR TELLS ME TO IMMEDIATELY PARK THE CAR BECAUSE THE OIL IS TOO LOW, RIGHT AFTER GETTING IT TOPPED OFF WEEKS BEFORE. THIS WAS A HAZARD FOR ME BE ALONE ON THE ROAD. I NOTICE OTHER COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. IS THERE ANYTHING AUDI IS CONSIDERING DOING ABOUT IT? THESE CARS AREN'T CHEAP AND SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE, CAUSING OWNERS TO EITHER PAY $9,000+ OR GET A NEW CAR. EVEN NOW, I'M STILL HAVING TO FREQUENT THE DEALERSHIP FOR TOP OFFS DUE TO THE OIL CONSUMPTION CONCERN.
EXCESSIVE OIL CONSUMPTION. MY ENGINE BURNS EXCESSIVE OIL. I HAVE TO ADD MORE OIL AFTER DRIVING EVERY FEW 100 MILES.
DEFECTIVE TIMING CHAIN AND TENSIONER. DEALER HAS STATED IT IS CRITICAL TO REPLACE THE TIMING CHAIN AND TENSIONER. THE VEHICLE HAS 89900 MILES AND HAS ALL SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE PERFORMED BY THE DEALERSHIP. OTHER YEARS AND MODELS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM HAVE BEEN REPORTED AND ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN AGAINST AUDI. *TR
INCIDENT DATE: 5/9/20 MILEAGE: 70,290 MILES SUMMARY: I REVERSED OUT OF PARKING SPACE, SHIFTED MY CAR INTO DRIVE, AND MY CAR ABRUPTLY HESITATED, DECELERATED, RESISTED, AND JERKED UPON ENGAGING THE GAS PEDAL; A SERIES OF MULTIPLE WARNING/INDICATOR LIGHTS SIMULTANEOUSLY FLASHED ON THE OBD SCREEN WHILE MY CAR WAS IN MOTION. THE CAR CONTINUED TO DECELERATE, JERK & HESITATE.MESSAGES REFERENCED HYBRID, MALFUNCTION, ELECTRONIC, INOPERABLE, LOSS OF ABILITY TO CONTROL STEERING, STEERING POWER, DANGER, HAZARD, ENGINE, STABILIZATION, DRIVING, POWER. I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP SIGN TO CROSS A 4 LANE INTERSECTION OF MOVING TRAFFIC. UPON PRESSING THE GAS PEDAL TO CROSS THE TRAFFIC INTERSECTION, MY CAR WOULD HESITATED TO ACCELERATE, AND MORE ABRUPTLY JERKED AND HESITATED - LIKE I WAS DRIVING A MANUAL TRANSMISSION THAT WAS STALLING OUT/STUCK IN THE WRONG GEAR.THE MORE I TRIED TO ACCELERATE ACROSS THE 4 LANES OF MOVING TRAFFIC, THE MORE SEVERELY THE CAR RESISTED, JERKED, HESITATED, AND FLUCTUATED IN POWER. I COULD'VE BEEN T-BONED BY ANOTHER VEHICLE AND SERIOUSLY INJURED, AS THE SPEED LIMIT ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS TRAFFIC INTERSECTION IS 45MPH. I WAS INFORMED BY THE AUDI DEALERSHIP THAT I NEED A BRAND NEW TRANSMISSION DUE TO 'INTERNAL PARTS FAILURE.' I WAS ALSO INFORMED THE 'CONDITION AND LEVEL OF TRANSMISSION FLUID' REQUIRES AN ENTIRELY NEW TRANSMISSION. THE FOLLOWING DIAGNOSTIC CODES WERE PROVIDED BY THE DEALERSHIP: P0AB900,P060A00,P279700,U040200. ACCORDING TO AUDI, MY CAR NOW NEEDS A WHOLE NEW TRANSMISSION AND HAS 'BURNED' TRANSMISSION FLUID DUE TO AN 'INTERNAL PARTS FAILURE' AT 70,290 MILES.THE TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENT AND LABOR IS APPROX $27K. I RECENTLY LEARNED THE TRANSMISSION MECHATRONICS WAS REPLACED BY ANOTHER AUDI DEALERSHIP IN AUG 16' AND THE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 22KMILES. I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE IN JAN 17', WITH APPROX. 26KMILES. MORE DETAIL IN PDF. *TR
I GOT MY CAR AS USED FROM A DEALER, IT HAD 92,000 MILES ON IT. ONCE I DROVE IT FOR 2 DAYS IT SHOWED THAT I NEED TO ADD A QUART OF OIL ALTHOUGH THE DEALER SAID THEY HAD AN OIL CHANGE. THE CHANGED THE OIL AGAIN AND 200 MILES LATER AGAIN I GOT A MESSAGE TO ADD A QUART OF OIL. AND KEPT ADDING QUARTS EVERY 200 MILES. THE AUDI DEALERSHIP SAID THEY RAN THE DIAGNOSTIC FOR THE PREVIOUS OWNER AND FOUND THAT THE PESTONS AND RINGS NEED TO BE CHANGED WHICH COST $7,000. AND SAID IT'S OK TO DRIVE IT AS LONG AS I KEEP TOPPING OFF THE OIL. FEW WEEKS LATER I'M DRIVING THE CAR ON THE HIGHWAY AND IT STARTS SHAKING AND I CAN FEEL THE ENGINE STRUGGLING AND LOSING ACCELERATION. I TOWED IT TO THE AUDI DEALER AND FEW DAYS LATER THEY SAID THE COMPRESSION TEST FAILED AND THAT THE 2ND CYLINDER HAS LOW PRESSURE, AND THAT I NEED TO REPLACE THE ENGINE FOR ALMOST $14,000. THEY DIDN'T SAY ANY REASON FOR IT, THEY SAID 'WE'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN'. AND WHEN I ASKED THAT A $55K CAR IS EXPECTED TO LAST AT LEAST 200,000 MILES AND MINE IS 105,000 ONLY, THEY SAID 'NOT REALLY'!! SO NOW I HAVE A $55K CAR THAT HAS ONLY 105,000 MILES ON IT AND I NEED TO PAY $14K TO FIX IT! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? THERE HAS TO BE A PROBLEM FROM AUDI SIDE THAT CAUSES THE ENGINES TO FAIL THAT EARLY!!
THE VEHICLE WAS BEING DRIVEN ON A STATE HIGHWAY WHEN IT SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER, JERKED FORWARD, AND THEN THE ENGINE COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. THIS WAS A VERY BUSY HIGHWAY AND I WAS STALLED IN THE CENTER LANE ALMOST BEING STRUCK ON MULTIPLE TIMES BY SEVERAL VEHICLES. IT WAS ABLE TO START AND WAS FORCED TO RUN IN THE HIGHEST POWER DURING THE IDLING TO KEEP FROM STALLING. HOBBLED TO SHEEHAN'S AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE, SOUTH LAWRENCE MA. THEY SERMONED AN ASSESSMENT AND DISCOVERED NO COMPRESSION FROM A FAILED ENGINE. PHOTOS AND PAPERWORK FROM REPAIR SHOP TO FOLLOW
UPON REACHING APPROXIMATELY 75,000 MILES, I BEGAN NOTICING A LOUDER THAN NORMAL NOISE WHEN STARTING THE ENGINE. THE NOISE CONTINUED, AND AROUND 80,000 MILES, I BEGAN RECEIVING A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FOR CAM POSITION LIMIT. I DID A LOT OF RESEARCH AND DIAGNOSTICS TO FIND THAT THE TIMING CHAIN HAD STRETCHED, CAUSING THE NOISE AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHTS. I HAD THE FAULTY TIMING CHAIN REPLACED, LUCKILY BEFORE ANY SEVERE DAMAGE HAD OCCURRED. THE TIMING CHAIN SHOULD NOT NEED REPLACED THAT EARLY IN THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE, BUT THIS PROBLEM HAS PLAGUED THE VW/AUDI 2.0 ENGINE, EVEN AFTER THE TIMING CHAIN TENSIONER UPDATE. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN CATASTROPHIC. MANY OWNERS HAVE NOT BEEN SO LUCKY AND HAVE REQUIRED ENGINE REPLACEMENT DUE TO VALVE DAMAGE FROM TIMING CHAIN STRETCH AT EVEN LOWER MILEAGE.
CAR IS CONSUMING A LOT OF OIL. JUST HAD AN OIL CHANGE 3 WEEKS AGO AND I JUST HAD TO PUT A QUART OF OIL IN MY CAR. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED IN 4 MONTHS
AUDIO Q5 2013 AUDI 2.0 TFSI ENGINE HIGH OIL CONSUMPTION. THERE IS A DESIGN FLAW WITH THE ENGINE THAT CAUSES HIGH OIL CONSUMPTION. AS A RESULT, ENGINE OIL LEAKS INTO THE CYLINDERS WHICH CAUSE THE ENGINE TO STALL, DAMAGE THE ENGINE AND IMPEDE ACCELERATION. I HAVE ADDED OIL ON 3 OCCASIONS THIS YEAR - 2019. THE FIRST INDICATION TO ADD OIL CAME BACK IN 2015 - 2 YEARS AFTER BUYING THE CAR BRAND NEW AND AFTER ABOUT 30000 MILES. THE FIRST BREAKDOWN OCCURRED IN 2017 AFTER I STOPPED AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT THEN ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE UP ON A HILL, I WASN'T TOLD WHAT THE ISSUE WAS, BUT AUDI COVERED THE REPAIR CHARGES SINCE THE CAR HAD ABOUT 35000 MILES ON IT AND THE MANUFACTURE'S WARRANTY WAS RECENTLY EXPIRED. AFTER BREAKING DOWN ON THE HIGHWAY AGAIN 2 YEARS LATER, THE CAR WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER WHICH THEN INFORMED ME THAT A BLOWN CYLINDER WAS THE CAUSE AND IT'S BEST I REPLACE ALL 4 CYLINDERS BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL GOING TO FAIL AT SOMETIME. AFTER THE REPAIRS WERE COMPLETED, I DROVE ABOUT 500 MILES, THEN THE CAR INDICATED TO ADD OIL AGAIN. I ALSO HAPPEN TO NOTICE THAT WHEN THE OIL IS LOW THERE IS HESITATION WHENEVER I START TO ACCELERATE FROM A DEAD STOP OR GOING UP A HILL. I CONTINUE TO ADD OIL WHENEVER THE CAR INDICATES, BUT THE ISSUE GETS WORSE BY THE MILE. REFERENCE: HTTP://CASESTUDIES.ATLANTICMOTORCAR.COM/AUDI-ENGINE-OIL-CONSUMPTION-CORRECTION/
OIL CONSUMPTION- I LITERALLY JUST GOT AN OIL CHANGE LESS THAN 90 DAYS AGO AND I NEED MORE OIL. THIS IS A USED VEHICLE PURCHASE FOR US AND HAS HAPPEN TWICE SINCE WE HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE- LESS THAN A YEAR! EVERY SO MANY MILES I'M ADDING A QUART OF OIL!
THAT AS A CONSUMER PURCHASING A 2013 AUDI Q5 WITH 23,000 MILES SHOULD NOT COME UP WITH A 2,000 SOME DOLLAR REPAIR ON A RECALLED PROBLEM THAT AFFECTS MANY OTHER VEHICLES BUILT BY AUDI. THE TIMING BELT TENSIONERS ARE FAILING. AUDI SHOULD RECALL ALL VEHICLES WITH BAD TENSIONERS. IT CAN LEAD TO CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. AND EVEN DEATH. THERE ARE MULTI COMPLAINTS ONLINE.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 AUDI Q5. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE VIBRATED VIOLENTLY WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AUDI NORWELL (59 POND ST, NORWELL, MA 02061, (781) 261-5000) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT A NEW ENGINE BLOCK WAS NEEDED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 60,100.
41 DAYS AFTER PURCHASING WELL CARED FOR, USED Q5, BEGAN EXPERIENCING ROUGH RIDE OVER HIGHWAY STRETCH, WITH INTERMITTENT EPC LIGHT AND CONSTANT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. ENGINE ALSO REVVED AT STAND STILL AND VIBRATED. UNKNOWING OF CURRENT CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT INVOLVING THE TIMING CHAIN, TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A LOCAL MECHANIC. MECHANIC INDICATED THE TIMING CHAIN HAD BEEN STRETCHED BEYOND SAFE USE AND THE TIMING CHAIN AND TENSION ADJUSTER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED ($2600). FOLLOWING THOSE REPAIRS, I WAS INFORMED THAT DUE TO THE DAMAGED TIMING CHAIN, THE CAM SHAFT WAS ALSO NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY WHICH REQUIRED REPLACEMENT AS WELL AS THE CAMSHAFT POSITIONING SENSOR. (NEW COST - $4900) FOLLOWING THOSE REPAIRS, THE ISSUE STILL REMAINS. MECHANIC BELIEVES THE ISSUE IS NOW OIL PRESSURE LEAVING THE CAM SHAFT DUE TO A LIKELY ISSUE WITH THE NON-RETURN VALVE LEAVING THE CAMSHAFT BRIDGE. THIS PRESSURE PREVENTS PROPER FUNCTION OF THE VARIABLE VALVE TIMING, CAUSING A VIBRATION AND ROUGH RIDE. MECHANIC OFFERED TO REPLACE NON-RETURN VALVE (ADDITIONAL $3000) BUT CAN'T BE CONFIDENT THAT IT WILL ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEM. ADDITIONAL OPTION WAS TO REPLACE ENGINE BEGINNING AT $7000.00. WORKING WITH AUDI SERVICE TO SCHEDULE TIME TO ADDRESS PREVIOUS RECALL ISSUE (COOLANT PUMP) WHEN THEY WILL TAKE A LOOK AT THE ENGINE ISSUE AND EXPLAIN OPTIONS. CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OPT-INS WERE DUE BY 10/13/18, 11 DAYS AFTER I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE, 30 DAYS BEFORE I BEGAN HAVING ISSUES.
RECENTLY BOUGHT MY 2013 AUDI Q5 IN MAY OF 2017 AND SEVEN DAYS AGO I BEGAN TO HAVE AN ISSUE WITH MY VEHICLE ROUGHLY VIBRATING AND EXPERIENCING LOW ACCELERATION. I WAS BLOCKS AWAY FROM MY HOME, BUT HAVING IT BE RUSH HOUR AND DEALING WITH THE CURRENT ISSUES OF MY CAR SUDDENLY LOSING POWER I AM LUCKY TO HAVE MADE IT HOME. SINCE MY CAR WILL NO LONGER START AND NOT HAVING THE FUNDS TO HAVE IT TOWED TO MY NEAREST AUDI DEALER SHIP, I PAID TO HAVE A MECHANIC SERVICE COME AND INSPECT THE VEHICLE. UPON HAVING THE MECHANIC INSPECT MY VEHICLE, I GOT THE UNFORTUNATE NEWS OF WHAT WAS WRONG WITH MY CAR. IT SEEMED TO BE HAVING A KNOWN ISSUE WITH THE VW/ AUDI 2.0 TIMING CHAIN. SO, I WAS LOOKING AT ROUGHLY $2,500 IN REPAIRS ON A TIMING CHAIN REPLACEMENT FOR MY PERFECTLY MAINTAINED AND WELL CARED FOR AUDI. WITH FURTHER INVESTIGATION MY MECHANIC NOTIFIED ME THAT NOT ONLY MY VEHICLE IS SUFFERING FROM THE WELL KNOW TIMING CHAIN ISSUE BUT BECAUSE OF THAT IT ALSO RESULTED IN CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE. I AM NOW LOOKING AT A BILL OF OVER $7,000 FOR A NEW ENGINE ON MY FAIRLY NEW AUDI.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
Data on this page last refreshed .