Owner-reported complaints naming the driver-assistance system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2023 Audi Q5 submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 14 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.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
I was turning left st an intersection. A car just passed and a truck wasn't close coming down the road the collision detection system caused the car to slam to 0. My neck is hurting and my daughter's back is hurting.
CORRECTION to NHTSA COMPLAINT #11745968 The Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) did not disengage when the vehicle was placed in gear from P to R to D while/after parked in an incline postion (see DTCs -Bozeman Audi invoice, 6/23/26). The EPB is designed to disengage automatically. There was a dashboard warning light --RED--symbol--brake failure that flashed when the ignition was started. The occupants drove the vehicle approx 50 ft before the vehicle's Automatic EBS and/or Automatic Parking Braking (Maneuver Assist) shut down the vehicle completely because EPB was still engaged after gear shifts--R and D. |DTC| Diag 01500060-15TU (202729223) Terminal 75X (Relief Relay for X-Contact). [DTC 01500 / 015000] Diagnostic Lookup [Root Causes]: Blown Fuse: A fuse (typically on the main power distribution block) protecting the relief relay circuit has failed. Faulty Relay: The J59 X-Contact Relief Relay has mechanically stuck open or failed internally. Wiring/Ground Fault: Corroded, pinched, or damaged wires along the steering column or under the dashboard. Low Battery Voltage: Insufficient system voltage can trigger relay dropout during vehicle start-up. [Immediate Next Steps] Check Voltage: This was not done at Bozeman Audi dealership [DTC] The Audi repair sequence "27068950" Battery Charging / Testing (Labour Operation Number: 27068950) associated with the 12V/48V electrical system on an Audi. Audi Automatic Braking System—Audi pre sense®—includes Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). Automatic Parking Braking (Park Assist / Maneuver Assist): This operates when parking or reversing. "In the 2023 Audi Q5, the Electronic Parking Brake (EPB)—the physical switch marked with a (P) on your center console—acts as the ultimate mechanical failsafe and anchor. It interacts differently with the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) and Automatic Parking Braking (Maneuver Assist) systems based on speed, safety protocols, and driver behavior." Safety Recall 93AA
Automatic Emergency Braking system engaged when the vehicle was parked on an incline. Unable to release automatic emergency brake when vehicle was started with key. Ignition light warning — RED — symbol — brake failure. Required a tow to Audi dealership. Audi dealership in two states failed to use OMB II reader to scan codes at the time of emergency visit. Vehicle was released to owner without scanning codes at the time of the emergency therefore owner acquired more than 3-4 consecutive drive cycles before scheduled repair appointment 7 days after emergency incident described above because the Audi dealerships in two states (vehicle occupants were traveling long distance) failed to read and store computer codes immediately after emergency incident with the automatic braking system. This incident made the vehicle inoperable and placed the occupants of the vehicle in an unsafe situation. The failure at the Audi dealerships to retrieve codes at the time of the emergency incident prolonged a permanent repair and will make vehicle evaluation/assessment for safety less reliable given that no evaluation or assessment was done at the time of the emergency at the dealerships and before the vehicle codes were automatically cleared after 3-4 consecutive ‘drive cycles.’ Requested an incline field test with vehicle — place the vehicle in similar conditions— incline — and test automatic emergency braking system— during scheduled appointment 7 days after incident.
May 11, 2026 approx 9:35am. I was in a flat parking area at a gas station waiting for a friend. There were 2 other cars parked near me. No one was in them. Neither were moving. I backed out of my space into a large, empty, open area to turn my car around to have a better view. Because the audi pre-sense chronically malfunctions, I always turn it off before I drive. But I left it on this time because I was only driving about 15 feet in a parking area. I backed out, then stepped on the brake to turn the wheel. While I was AT A FULL STOP, the seatbelt motor started up loudly and grabbed my chest with the seatbelt, slamming me back against the seat. No one was there. No cars were moving. I was at a stop. When the seatbelt let me go, I noticed a red lighted image of some sort on the screen. I believe there was a red star-shaped image and some text indicating a collision. Then the image disappeared. I turned off pre-sense and backed into my parking space. It was painful and frightening - especially as I have osteoporosis. This car has previously slammed the brakes on an empty road while I was driving 45-50 mph. Dealer says there are no codes or errors and I need to clean the sensors. I bought it new. Likewise, the rear cross-traffic, pedestrian detection etc. rarely works and sometimes fires for no reason. If the brakes slam when there's a car behind me, I'll be rear-ended. If the seatbelt slams while I'm on the road, I'll certainly swerve from the discomfort and being startled. Very dangerous. NOTE: My previous report seems to be removed from this website. Bad idea.
I owned the car for two weeks when I had my dog in the front and it automatic braked going down the freeway. It threw him into the screen and broke it, luckily he was ok. (He was belted in.) This has happened three more times and been inspected but they are not able to reproduce the problem. This only happens when the dog is in the car with me. This last time, the dog hit the dash and screen again and broke it, and I had to pay to have it replaced again. (Thankfully dog just fine.) They keep saying no fault found because they can’t get it to do it on their test drives. This is a serious safety issue and could cause an accident by someone rear ending me. The roads aren’t wet, and nothing is around when it has happened each time. They turned down the presensor this time, so i am hoping this helps.
The lane keeping system randomly will malfunction and will veer the car either into oncoming traffic or out of the lane i am driving in. The most recent it tried to veer me off the road completely and into a sign off the road. The vehicle will also sometimes trigger the Audi collision avoidance system randomly. It has done it twice while turning left that the car will come to an abrupt halt for no reason. Both of these concerns can create car accidents if someone is either following closely behind or if the car veers into a different lane. I have reported this to the dealer multiple times and have escalated to Audi corporate. They are unable to replicate the issue, because it happens randomly and say the vehicle is operating within the standard. There have been no warnings or lamps that would indicate that the car has an issue.
3 times this vehicle did not try to stop in time to keep from rear ending a vehicle. The imminent crash warning would come on but the vehicle did not try to stop. This model is supposed to apply the brakes on its own to keep from rear ending someone but it did not apply brakes. If I hadn’t taken hard and immediate braking action we would have rear ended vehicles. The vehicle has an $5800.00 option to brake in emergency situations. There have been at least 3 instances where the vehicle will not engage with lane keeping attempts while being on. This vehicle will also not notify the driver that the vehicle is leaving its lane even though it has lane keeping technology options turned on and purchased.
When making a left turn at green light, 4 lane road with oncoming traffic, part way into the turn SUV abruptly slammed on brakes came to immediate dead stop; driver & front seat passenger were restrained by seat belts. Literally SUV was almost rear-ended, plus oncoming traffic "was still oncoming" at 40+ mph and had to steer clear of SUV that came to dead stop partway into intersection. Clearly a defect with the driver assistance automatic breaking system. Easily could have been serious, multi-vehicle, possibly fatal accident.
Happens weekly, the car breaks randomly when making a left turn, but it slams on the breaks to where you feel like you’ve made impact. It does this in the middle of the intersection and we could be hit head on or rear ended. It continues to happen, it has been in for service at least 3 times over the past year and Audi continues to say there isn’t a problem. Yet people are complaining about this all over social media, and Audi does have a fix for this on their other models, just not the Q5 which is what we are leasing. Please help! We are in danger and are nervous every time we drive this car!
Car suddenly applies brakes and sounds alarms when driving out of a sloping driveway or parking lot. It appears that the sensors point at the pavement at the inflection point of the sloped driveway/road and detects that as an obstacle. This happens regularly at certain parking lots - all the blinking and braking make it very difficult to navigate into the traffic lane safely. Audi dealership assures me this is normal. It also suddenly brakes (sometimes) and sounds alarms as I back out of my own gently sloped driveway. I am always paying attention to my surroundings and not operating a phone or doing other activities while I'm driving. There is unquestionably NO hazard or obstacle. The risk for damage to my neck is fairly low at these speeds, but when I'm backing I generally look over my shoulder, and a good jolt (even at low speeds) is pretty unpleasant and could definitely cause injury.
Audi pre-sense slammed on brakes on a dry empty road while I was driving between 45-50mph. Had there been a car behind me, as there usually is in this location, I would certainly have been rear-ended. As it was, my head, neck and back got a heavy jolt, and of course the whole thing distracted me from safely driving the car. I had to pull over to catch my breath (just because it was scary) and figure out how to turn the thing off for the drive home. The dealer checked the computer system and reported that there were no "faults" recorded there. In other words, the system is working "properly". Dealer cannot turn it permanently off because it's a SAFETY feature. The only way to prevent future dangerous deployments is to navigate through 3 layers of touchscreens to turn it off *each time I start the car*, but this has to be done every trip. I have had the brakes erroneously applied several times at lower speeds, one of those times (in the 2018 model) the seatbelt reeled me back into the seat squeezing my chest. Again, no obstacle or hazard of any kind was present, just the hazard of erratic and aggressive car automation.
My wife was pulling into a parking spot when all of a sudden the cars engine accelerated causing the car to jump one curb, hit a step and striking a pole before finally the brakes stopped the car from going through a storefront. None of the safety crash features stopped the vehicle. My wifes foot was on the brake, not the accelerator. Previously we had the vehicle in for service to reset the computer that kept freezing. Unfortunately we did not research Audi in detail before we bought. Since this occurrence, we have seen that some of Audi's models have had a history of "unintended sudden acceleration" and that there was actually a class action lawsuit years ago. After reading about those occurrences, we believe that this is what occurred. Audi corporate sent their engineers to download the computer data. They concluded that there was no computer error and no evidence of impact. Clearly there was impact since the car had to be repaired. I have since driven the exact route into the parking lot to see if possibly my wifes foot could have been on the accelerator. I made a right turn, quick left turn and quick right turn into the parking spot and my foot was on the brake the entire time. All third parties that have looked at the vehicle don't believe that there was a computer acceleration malfunction because the engineers said that they didn't identify a problem. I will never drive an Audi again. After this incident, I have spoken with other Audi owners and there seems to be issues with the german engineered "safety" controls. Apply brakes when not necessary, lane control jerking back into traffic when in an exit only lane. I am thankful that no person was in front of my vehicle when this occurred.
when stopped and proceeding to make a left turn the pre sense system activated the emergency braking almost causing the car behind me to hit me.. There were no vehicles approaching me in front or on the left side.. A car was passing me on the right at a slow speed. This has happened numerous times. It has been into the Audi dealership previously for the same problem. I spoke with Audi USA Today who said there is nothing they can do and that maybe I should shut the pre sense off..A less than brilliant and acceptable solution.
This has happened several times. After waiting for traffic to clear to make a left turn, as I start to accelerate, the Audi Presense triggers (message comes up) and slams on the brakes. There was no traffic that could have caused any hazard. It could have left me stranded in oncoming traffic. There are many other people reporting this same issue on Audi forums.
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
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