Audi Q7 vs Lexus RX 350: which is more reliable?
The Lexus RX 350 is clearly ahead of the Audi Q7 on the federal record: 85/100 against 65/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Audi Q7
- 12 model years scored
- 816 owner complaints on record
- about 11 complaints per year on the road
- 48 recall campaigns, 29 safety-critical
- best year 2013 (88/100) · worst 2017 (29/100)
Lexus RX 350
- 6 model years scored
- 298 owner complaints on record
- about 17 complaints per year on the road
- 0 recall campaigns, 0 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (94/100) · worst 2024 (73/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Q7 against RX 350
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Audi Q7
- Engine — 164 complaints
- Exterior Lighting — 156 complaints
- Electrical System — 147 complaints
Lexus RX 350
- Air Bags — 70 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 64 complaints
- Electrical System — 46 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Q7's complaints concentrate in Engine, the RX 350's in Air Bags. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Audi Q7 — avoid: 2017, 2018, 2021.
Lexus RX 350: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Audi Q7 prices at about $55,100 and a Lexus RX 350 at about $55,100 — they price within $1 of each other, which at this level is the same money, and they return 22.0 against 25.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Audi Q7 or the Lexus RX 350 more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Lexus RX 350 scores 85/100 against the Audi Q7's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Lexus RX 350 carries about 17 complaints per year on the road against 11 for the Audi Q7.
Which Audi Q7 and Lexus RX 350 years should I avoid?
Audi Q7: 2017, 2018, 2021. Lexus RX 350: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Audi Q7 and the Lexus RX 350?
The largest complaint group on the Audi Q7 is Engine (164 complaints); on the Lexus RX 350 it is Air Bags (70).
Is the Audi Q7 or the Lexus RX 350 cheaper to own?
A recent used Audi Q7 prices at about $55,100 and a Lexus RX 350 at about $55,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.