NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2026 Audi Q5. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
The vehicle has experienced intermittent failures of multiple advanced driver-assistance systems beginning at approximately 150 miles. Warning messages have included Adaptive Cruise Control Not Available, Distance Warning Not Available, and Pre-Sense Malfunction. These failures disable or make unavailable systems intended to maintain following distance and warn or intervene for potential forward collisions. The warnings have occurred while the vehicle was being driven and create uncertainty about whether the safety systems will function when needed. An authorized Audi dealer first verified driver-assistance concerns during an April-May 2026 repair visit, found multiple stored faults, opened a technical assistance case, and documented active/static faults involving the front driver-assistance camera and related control modules. The problems recurred. On August 10, 2026, at approximately 1,670 miles, the authorized dealer duplicated the Distance Warning illumination and ACC unavailable condition, searched for service bulletins, opened another technical assistance case, performed a capacitor discharge, and ran replacement test plans for the A5 and 0075 control modules. Video of the warnings was provided to the dealer. No crash, fire, or injury has occurred. The vehicle and repair records are available for inspection.
While driving my 2026 Audi Q5, the instrument cluster display went completely black twice while the vehicle was in motion, eliminating my speedometer and all warning indicators. Separately, during another drive, the vehicle displayed "Suspension: malfunction! Safely stop vehicle" on two occasions within minutes of each other, at approximately 15 mph and 17 mph, each accompanied by illuminated ABS and BRAKE warning lights. Immediately after, the odometer failed, displaying dashes instead of mileage, and the display spontaneously switched from miles to kilometers. This was followed by approximately 15 additional system warnings disabling adaptive cruise assist, lane departure warning, exit warning, active front assist/distance warning, parking systems, fatigue warning, traffic sign recognition, distraction warning, rear cross-traffic assist, and emergency assist. The vehicle was taken to an authorized Audi dealer for diagnosis. The technician was unable to duplicate or identify the cause of the failure. I have photographic documentation, with timestamps, of every warning message described above. This appears to be an intermittent failure of a central vehicle module or communication bus affecting braking, stability, and driver-assist systems simultaneously, creating a safety risk while driving.
Vehicle purchased new off the showroom floor with 22 miles, driven locally only and garage kept. At 270 miles, upon starting the vehicle the engine was shaking and idling rough exactly like a misfiring cylinder would. The check engine light immediately turned on and started flashing and the engined bogged down and stopped. The dealership towed it to their shop and witness the rough idle themselves. When diagnosing the fault, it was confirmed 3 cylinders were misfiring due to "catalytic converter sensor" that triggered the engine to misfire for "protection reasons". The dealership checked the distributor and spark plug wires with no issues found, ultimately they reset the code which immediately returned the engine to proper function and idling. They drove it for 60 miles confirming proper function. Their "theory" is possible bad gas could have been put in the engine prior to the dealership buying the vehicle?? We told the dealership that we have not even put gas in the vehicle ourselves yet thus no fault on us for this postulated issue.
Data synced from NHTSA on Sep 8, 2026