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What 195 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Audi Q5

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (195)Crash / fire / injury (10)Electrical system (66)Engine (29)Suspension (24)Body & structure (20)Brakes (20)Driver assistance (18)Airbags (12)Speed control (12)Lights (11)Steering (9)

1 of 195 complaints match · Lights · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Jan 4, 2019LightsBody & structureCrash

AS I WAS PREPARING TO PARK AT MY LOCAL GROCERY STORE IN AN ASSIGNED SPACE I EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. THE FRONT END SLAMMED INTO A CONCRETE RETAINING WALL, CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE TO BOTH MY VEHICLE AND THE RETAINING WALL. THE CAR WAS PRACTICALLY AT A COMPLETE STOP WHEN THIS OCCURRED. ADDITIONALLY WHEN I REVERSED THE CAR IT ACCELERATED BACK AT A RAPID SPEED. IT WAS VERY SCARY AND THANKFULLY NOBODY WAS INJURED OR WORSE. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A SERIOUS OR FATAL SITUATION AND I FEEL THAT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF ELECTRONIC FAILURE. CONSIDERING THE SAFETY RECORD ON THIS CAR I FELT VERY UNSAFE AND NOT IN CONTROL.

NHTSA ODI 11165262

Working with the data? Download all 195 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 10, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2018 Audi Q5 verdict →