2018 Audi Q7 Complaint Log

Audi Q7 sunroof front sunroof glass spontaneously exploded while driving on freeway at 8:30am going 75mph. No extreme temperature swing, no water on glass. Heard loud gunshot sound and looked up to see hole about 5-7" wide in sunroof. Tempered glass pieces falling onto fabric sunscreen.

left and right rear coil spring broken.

Rear passenger side coil spring broke. Vehicle has 85K miles. Happened when traveling on a highway - heard a loud bang. Car still ran however sitting 1' lower on that side. Repair estimate in the $1500 range. Research in online forums shows this is happening to a lot of 2017-18 Q7s. definitely a design/component flaw.

Warning light comes on stating front left side marker light is not working. However, light is on. Warning continues to come and ding non-stop despite the light working correctly. Searching the internet shows that this has happened to thousands of people. Audi is trying to charge over $5K for a known defect. Dangerous to have these lights not connected properly to the car's system.

HVAC flap motors (2 of them) failed for the second time impairing visibility during inclement weather. The first time was under warranty. This second time is costing me $1550 plus tax. When these flap motors fail, they remain closed and do not allow the heating or AC to blow into the vehicle which results in windows fogging up completely. It is impossible to drive without windows open which is not practical in the winter cold rainy season.

67,000 miles and broken rear right coil spring. Very serious issue as it can cause an accident while driving. No warnings or messages. Heard loud pop and rear right was sagging. Many other people with this model Q7 have had the same problem. A part like this should not be failing at 67,000 miles.

There is rapid pecking noise / vibration when traveling during all right directional curves in the road. When I head in to a slight curve where the steering wheel only needs to be moved a few degrees to the right, the noise is such that I can feel it around the firewall and footwell of both driver and passenger side not to mention it is very loud and annoying. I notified Bill Jacobs BMW along with the brakes squealing while backing up) where I bought the vehicle and they said to take it to an Audi dealer. I went to Audi of Lexington KY and they were wanting to charge me over 8K to replace the exhaust. I did have the exhaust replaced and new front brakes completely replaced and the issue for both are still present. Very disappointed since I found TWO TSB's relating to my vehicle after paying so much for the work. There is a TSB for the Exhaust downpipe and mounts as well as a TSB for squealing brakes. Being told, all German cars have squeaky brakes is BS.

Noticed a lower level of coolant (below the MIN mark) at the coolant reservoir - checked with mechanic and was told there is a slow coolant leak at the one of the water pump seals (which has corroded). Need a water pump replacement. Was told it is a very common occurence with these cars - but was surprised to experience this issue on a car with less than 20K miles driven.

The rear passenger side coil spring broke at 43,000 miles—no hard driving or potholes.

The contact owns a 2018 Audi Q7. The contact stated that there was an abnormal fuel odor inside the cabin of the vehicle at start-up, and the MMI System warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the fuel pump was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the MMI System was not fixed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 93,000.

Rear spring failure which has been reported as a common issue based on research.

I have received two "cylinder misfire" notifications. The first occured in December 2023 on a remote stretch of freeway. The second occured in June 2024 on a remote stretch of highway. In both cases, I immediately lost power and put myself and cars around me at risk because I had to pull over onto the side of the road to re-start the car. After the second incident, I now have no confidence in taking my car, only 6 years old and with 74K miles on it, out of the city and into the countryside. The symptoms of this issue include frequent oil burn / oil top-offs. My car requires a quart of oil every 200-300 miles. There are no leaks in my driveway. The leaking all seems to be coming from the cylinders. I am taking my Q7 into a mechanic, again, next week and I am concerns the solution will be "new engine" which costs more than the car is worth.

We have had major problems with our 2018 Audi Q7 that are consistent with allegations made in various lawsuits against Audi and Volkswagen Group of America for alleged defects with Audi piston rings and piston ring assemblies. The defects have purportedly caused excessive oil consumption, engine damage, and engine failure. As noted in one such lawsuit (that apparently settled), the engine failure caused by the defective Audi piston ring and piston assemblies could result in sudden loss of power to the engine. “It goes without saying that a sudden loss of power poses a clear-cut safety risk—it can prevent the driver from accelerating, maintaining speed, and even adequately controlling the steering wheel, engaging the brakes, all of which drastically increase the risk of collisions …” [XXX] v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. {XXX]) The problem with our Audi is consistent with the reports by plaintiffs in these lawsuits, as well as other Audi owners—including Q7s—who have shared their experiences online. Starting at around 60,000 miles, our vehicle increasingly consumed oil until eventually, we needed to add a quart of oil less than every 600 miles. And that’s despite our: 1) having followed all of the required oil change and other related maintenance standards published by Audi; and 2) having replaced the car’s CCV valve and PCV breather, which we were told sometimes corrects the problem. Most recently, in December 2023, I was driving with my children in the vehicle, and the engine started sputtering and laboring. Then the check engine light appeared. I was able to drive the car home but have been advised that, in order to make the car drivable, we’d have to replace the engine. Obviously, even if we have the engine replaced, the rebuilt Audi engine could have the same problems. Given the risk that the affected Audi engines will fail in vehicles traveling at high speeds on U.S. highways, the NHTSA should investigate this matter immediately. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Car is consuming 1 quart of oil every 600 miles.

Brakes were firmly applied to avoid a collision, the 3rd row seatbelt did not engage and the passenger was thrust forward and hit their head on the 2nd row seat. Took the vehicle to Audi for inspection and they found the locking mechanism on the belt was faulty and replaced it.

Rear coil spring broke without any load on the vehicle. This condition causes some of the safety features to not work such as adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking.

Fuel pump failed and is leaking on my 2018 Audi Q7. Audi has confirmed it will need to be replaced at my cost. Audi also confirmed it has an extended warranty to replace the faulty fuel pump on other model years on the same q7 vehicle model, for 150,000 miles. It appears that to rectify the issue, the same part is replaced as on the warranty fix. Why was model year 2018 not included in the warranty if it is the same part?

Just had the vehicle in for the it’s 60k mile service and no issues reported. Today, at 63k miles I had the same dealer look at a headlight malfunction and the service technician reported the rear coil springs are failing and need replaced.

Did not have an issue until I heard an exhaust rattle today. Upon inspection, the exhaust pipe tip on the right side could be physically manipulated upwards and downwards but appeared to be rusty. The exhaust pipe extension (Audi part 4M0253682M) eventually fell off completely within 50 miles of initially noticing and fell onto the roadway, as I was pulling into a parking lot causing a hazard. Upon picking the item up, the clamp and exhaust pipe were rusted through.

The contact owns a 2018 Audi Q7. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the passenger’s side air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local service center who diagnosed that the passenger’s side seat cushion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 65,000.

Audi Quattro (differential) noise is being heard while turning the car. The problem was identified to be due to different speeds between the front and rear differential, the locking effect of the center differential can differ significantly in tight bends. – unless there is a design flaw, there should be no noise coming from the differential . this is totally unheard of from any car I have owned. Problem was reported to Audi dealership and no definite solution was offered other than changing the oil for the center differential oil and checking to see if the problem goes away. if it does not, they would do further investigation. This is an Audi Quattro differential design fault that can be very dangerous if it fails on highways or under adverse weather or at high trafficked areas. I started an incident case (Reference #06217801) with Audi USA and Regional Case Manager (MR) told me that "our responsibility is to service the vehicles within the parameters of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. This covers manufacturer’s shortcomings on parts and labor for 4 years or 50,000 miles (whichever occurs first) from the vehicle’s in-service date. Once these parameters have been exceeded, repairs do become the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle. Any diagnostic cost would be customer pay." This is why Audi has more class action law suits against them than any other auto brand. Keep in mind Audi has had more class action lawsuit (and lost) against them than any other Auto company. I have received 5 notices of Class Action lawsuit that Audi decided to settle in the last 6 years - just on one model. Needless to say, Audi (VW) puts faulty dangerous products on the road, hoping NHTSA has no appetite to go after them.

Both rear springs broke at 70000 miles.

Passenger side rear spring broke near the base on a 2018 Q7 with 66k miles. From looking online, this is a common problem with this model/year. VWofA issued a recall for rear springs for the same year of the VW Atlas, a car that shares the same platform with the Q7, so they know there's a problem. Looking online, many people are having this issue, and it costs, $2400 to replace the springs.

Engine Malfunction Piston Rings Oil Consumption Loud brakes

While driving, car stops and message " Drive System:Malfunction! Please Contact Service" comes on along with check engine light and message indicator.

Right engine mount fluid leaking under factory warranty(diagnosed at 50k service, 44k actual mileage). The leaking is not obvious and cant be identified unless lifting the car up.

Twice now, the front windshield defroster has malfunctioned. First time was late last winter and the car was undriveable due to almost no visibility out of the windshield (and it malfunctioned during my wife's daily commute). We had it repaired under warranty at the time. The same issue occurred again yesterday (2/27/2023) evening while commuting to my son's school. Due to inclement weather, visibility was extremely poor without the defroster and had to drive with the windows partly rolled down. As the vehicle is out of warranty now, the repair costs will be out of pocket. In a span of a year or less, this issue has occurred twice now.

The problem: I was driving and noticed a high remaining fuel range, or a fuel gauge that appears to be stuck at a specific level, I ran out of gas while in motion, and my engine stalled almost causing a crash on the highway. My vehicle was towed to the Kansas City Audi dealer and they have identified the same issue in the recall in the NHTSA campaign number: 22V155. Audi’s own number for this recall is 20DN. The dealer has quoted $5,000 to make the repair (My vehicle is currently at the dealer). My 2018 Q7 has the same engine as the 2018 A7 where there is a recall regarding the same reported issue. "The fuel level sender, which is located inside the vehicle’s gas tank, may get stuck on the gas tank’s ventilation pipe, leading the dashboard display to show an incorrect gas level and remaining range level."

The contact owns a 2018 Audi Q7. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the low oil warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the oil level was topped off every 700 miles. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed piston and excessive oil consumption. The contact was informed that the piston needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

This vehicle was maintained by Audi/VW for 60000 miles under a service contract. While changing my snow tires I noticed the spring was broken. My wife did claim she heard a rattling in the back of the car, this must have been it. I’ve found multiple complaints from different owners on car online forums claiming they found the same spring, the right rear, unexpectedly broken. A suspension failure can have devastating results especially with a 7400 pound towing capacity.

Engine coolant leak reported only at around 30K miles. Leak detected and fixed at owners cost.

Water pump failure. This can lead to catstrophic engine failure if not addressed. Dealer has confirmed the failure. No fault codes appeared in any scans. Only warning signs were rapid coolant loss & the smell of burning coolant.

Front right side marker light defective warning message populates when the vehicle is started, and also when temperatures are low, or conditions are wet. It also causes the ADAS components to be deactivated some of the times it occurs.

The car's parking brake system is not engaging when a door is opened while the car's transmission is in "Drive." Normal operation requires the parking brake to be engaged when the door is opened. Audi is aware of the issue and has issued a software patch to flash the car's firmware. See https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10158462-9999.pdf However, this is only done for cars in warranty. Since this is a safety concern it should be done for all cars as a car can roll when a door is opened and the parking brake is not automatically engaged as originally designed.

The contact owns a 2018 Audi Q7. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the seat belt on the passenger’s side the second row started to make a clicking sound and tightened independently around the contact's son. The contact’s son reported that he felt pressure on his chest and shoulder as the seat belt tightened but was not injured. The contact stated that the seat belt failure had become a constant issue and had stopped using the seat belt. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V606000 (Seat Belts). The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

My Audi with 42k miles ran out of gas on the Interstate Highway without any warning. Failure was a fuel sending unit which provides fuel quantity info and the low fuel light. The erroneous display indicated just less than half tank and the display indicated 185 miles to empty. This failure of the engine to suddenly quit on a busy freeway is potentially catastrophic! At a minimum there should be a safety recall requiring the Audi company to design the low fuel light to be on a separate circuit.

At approx 56,600 miles I received a low engine coolant error on my vehicle. Upon inspection, all engine coolant was gone from the tank. Engine coolant was refilled by me at home. The next day, I received a low oil error on my vehicle. Upon inspection, the oil was below the minimum level. 1 quart of oil was added to my vehicle and we promptly took the vehicle in for inspection as this did not seem like a coincidence. Upon inspection at Motor City Euro Repair, it was noted that the water pump was leaking causing the engine coolant and oil levels to decrease. Water pump replacement required, which should typically not be a required repair until 100,000 miles. Audi is aware of this issue, but no recall has been made. There is also a class action lawsuit for this issue, but the 2018 Q7 Prestige 3.0 is not part of the vehicles in the suit. Total cost of repair was $1,375 as the vehicle is 6,600 miles out of warranty. Again, this is a know Volkswagen/Audi issue and Audi US is not recalling.

1.Interior color light bars: These light bars developed inconsistency. Audi repaired the inconsistency however now the light bars only display pink (not white) during start up. The dealership tried telling me it’s not pink, then claims to be color blind. I have artiest friends who maintain the color is pink. 2.Engine start-stop: Dealership confirms the Q7 will shut down as part of the start-stop feature before the vehicle has stopped. I explained to the dealership that the Q7 speedo claims moving 1 to 2 mph faster than it is moving. Therefore, during slow speed braking, stop sign, the Q7 will shut down before it stops moving. Without the engine on, the Q7 will lurch to a stop or and forcing the transmission to turn. 3. Low oil light comes on between oil changes sometimes.

I purchased car July 2nd 2021 with 74956 miles, I just had it towed to audi do to coolant level light coming on. I purchased extended warranty at time of purchase and though this would be covered but was told warranty only covers water pump not the thermostat. Now they are demanding over 2100 to fix. I have seen several other audi owners that have experienced similar issues and believe this could be a dangerous to the owners especially when going on a long trip which my leave you stranded.

Sunroof exploded. No trauma to the sunroof it just popped and glass shattered going down interstate

285 45 R 20 All of the treads on each tire is delaminating. The tires are not even a year old and have 90% tread heigh left. There are less than 20000 miles put on this vehicle. I went to have my tires rotated and my mechanic pointed out that the tires were dangerous and treads were cracked and delaminating on all 4 tires. you may need to blow up pictures or zoom in to see accurately

After the shutdown of 3G network, my 2018 Audi Q7 Prestige lost some great features. Audi USA sent a recall 91CD which is basically the notice that 3G network will be shutting down from 2/22. This deactivates app based features like lock/unlock, vehicle monitoring, vehicle related data etc. When taken to the dealership "Audi Minneapolis" with letter from Audi USA, dealership just upgraded the software but refused to upgrade the hardware. They asked $400 to upgrade the hardware. This is really inconvenient for the customer and also a safety issue as I am thinking. Please look into this and pressure Audi USA to come up with a resolution. Attached is a chat script with AudiUSA. Basically customer has to live with the issue.

Water pump stopped working properly, creating hazardous situation with my car. Had the car overheated and stopped working while driving, this could have been catastrophic. The only symptom was loss of coolant and resulting warning message from the car. I took it to an independent service center, who diagnosed the problem and replaced at my own expense of $961.07.

I recently purchased a CPO 2018 Audi Q7, and shortly after purchase, I encountered the problem indicated in this TSB about break squeal (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10153128-9999.pdf) I contacted the dealer (Audi North Austin, located at 12971 Pond Springs Road, Austin, TX 78729) to fix this problem, but was refused because my car does not meet the criteria specified in the TSB, namely 24 Months / 24,000 Miles (my car has 27,700 Miles). In doing so, I found another TSB (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2018/MC-10153129-9999.pdf) with the same problem as in my car. And it has different criteria, namely 48 Months/50,000 Mile. In this regard, I would like to ask why there are different criteria for the same problem? Why are 2017 Audi Q7 models has 48 Months/50,000 Miles to fix this problem, but 2018 Audi Q7 only 24 Months/24,000 Miles ?

Icy road, pulling up to stop sign, at 5-8 MPH , had just pulled out of parking space, touched brakes to slow down, brakes locked up, tried to pump to release brakes with no response, car stopped brakes released.

Low coolant, and found coolant leaking from waterpump

When I was driving and trying to make a right turn to merge into the traffic, the transmission suddenly stalled and stuck in neutral, put my car in the right lane with large traffic on the lane and forced other cars to make sudden stop. After restarting the engine multiple times, it was suspected that somehow the transmission is always in neutral while the onboard system showing it is in driving mode. I had to get out of the car to push it to a safe side road. This is all sudden while car engine is running. Initially the onboard dashboard shows Transmission Malfunction, but after restarting even that error message disappeared, while the transmission is still not engaging.

Noticed front Goodyear Eagle Sport 285/45R20 tread are cracking and peeling. This is my second set of at the same OEM tire having the same phenomenon as original tires that came with vehicle when purchase new. Per dealership, this is a known issue with Goodyear tires and was recommended to switch to Pirelli tires. Current tires are still under manufacture warranty but if there is a known issue, why is Goodyear still selling tire? This failure seems to occur after about 15k to 18k miles of usage. Concern tread will tear apart at high speed and could cause an accident on there road.

Dear Leadership @ NHTSA, On July 5th, I reported an incident of Air conditioner not working on my Audi Q7 car with Dealer- Audi Bellevue, located at 1533 120th Ave NE, Bellevue Washington 98005. Findings from the service team was, faulty Control Module and it was replaced. However, this replacement did not fix the problem. Further Investigation led to puncture in the Condenser as the cause. I was told the Condenser had to be replaced. I spoke to my service advisor and Supervisor of the service advisor. My question to them was “How can the condenser get punctured, which is under the hood of the car. My car never met with any accident”? Per Dealer Supervisor, While driving rocks from the road, can make its way through the front grill and make a hole on the Condenser and this is a known issue. My concern is, if this is a known problem, why is Audi still sticking to this Design where it can let rocks pass through the front grill to make a dent on the Condenser. This is causing a huge inconvenience/hardship to customers like me. I had to spend $1,542.62 for the condenser replacement(though I had a Platinum extended warranty) and had to leave my car at the workshop for 11 days. Now that the Condenser is replaced and working fine, the issue does not resolve here, rocks can potentially come through the front grill and can make a dent on the condenser again. This is still an OPEN issue. If that happens again, I will have to go through the same cycle of hardship/hazard/inconvenience. From inspection standpoint, the punctured condenser should be available with my Dealer. I have not made a claim through insurance, so no inspection is made on this condenser. I am not certain when the rocks would have puncture the condenser and there is no indication when the condenser was punctured. Since I noticed my Air conditioner not working on June 27th, I believe this incident of condenser puncture could have happened a week before.

AT TIMES, THE "STOP-START" SYSTEM SEEMS TO FALTER WHEN THE VEHICLE HAS SLOWED TO ALMOST A FULL STOP, BUT NOT QUITE. IF I TRY TO ACCELERATE I GET A FEW SECONDS WHEN NOTHING HAPPENS. I FEEL THAT IT IS EITHER A TRANSMISSION CAUGHT BETWEEN SHIFTS OR AN ENGINE FALTER. I HAVE MENTIONED THIS TO THE DEALER, BUT WAS TOLD THAT "THAT'S HOW IT IS".