Audi Q5: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Audi Q5: 15 model years scored from 976 NHTSA owner complaints and 62 recall campaigns. Worst year 2021, best year 2017.
Audi Q5: which years to avoid
Across 11 scored model years the Audi Q5 ranges from 33/100 in 2021 to 87/100 in 2017 — a 54-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a Q5 at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Electrical System (52 of them).
Avoid: 2018, 2021 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2018 Q5, which has 200 owner complaints and a score of 35, and the 2021 car, with 140 complaints and a score of 33. Buy a 2013 to 2017 car: complaints run 92, 106, 98, 77 and 42, scores 80, 75, 72, 78 and 87. The 2018 car's problem is electrical, with Electrical System at 69 complaints, and it carries 21V947000 for a body control module that liquid can reach from the rear seat or through a body seam, plus two brake campaigns, 18V369000 for caliper pistons and 19V277000 for a master cylinder casting. The 2021 car has Electrical System at 52 and Engine at 34, eight campaigns including 22V753000 for connecting rod bearings that may fail on 2021 to 2023 cars, and 25V080000 for the plug-in hybrid's high-voltage battery. The good years have Engine on top in modest numbers and campaigns worth checking by number: 17V001000 for sunroof drainage on every 2011 to 2017 car, and 17V298000 for a fuel pump flange that may crack.
Read the guide
Used Audi Q5 and Q7: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2017 (score 87). Worst: 2021 (score 33, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,630 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,820 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | DATA PENDING | $4,110 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | DATA PENDING | $4,000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 33 | AVOID | $4,676 | 141 | 8 |
| 2020 | 84 | BUY | $4,106 | 24 | 6 |
| 2019 | 78 | BUY | $4,653 | 49 | 5 |
| 2018 | 35 | AVOID | $5,035 | 200 | 6 |
| 2017 | 87 | BUY | $5,188 | 42 | 5 |
| 2016 | 78 | BUY | $4,986 | 77 | 5 |
| 2015 | 72 | BUY | $5,148 | 98 | 6 |
| 2014 | 75 | BUY | $5,838 | 106 | 5 |
| 2013 | 80 | BUY | $5,644 | 92 | 5 |
| 2012 | 81 | BUY | $6,155 | 4 | 6 |
| 2011 | 69 | CAUTION | $6,470 | 143 | 5 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Q5, through the years →
Q5 sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Q5 on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Audi Q5
Across every Q5 model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Engine272 complaints across all Q5 years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Electrical System182 complaints across all Q5 years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Unknown Or Other115 complaints across all Q5 years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Fuel/Propulsion System72 complaints across all Q5 years · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement$680–$1,620
- Steering71 complaints across all Q5 years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
- Air Bags68 complaints across all Q5 years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Audi Q5 years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2018, 2021 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2021 is the weakest at 33/100, with its complaints concentrated in Electrical System.
What are the best Audi Q5 years to buy?
2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2017 at 87/100, on 42 complaints and 5 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Audi Q5 problem?
272 of the complaints filed against the Q5 across all its model years sit in the Engine group — more than any other component.
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Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04