What 26 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Audi Q5 E

Vehicle has an issue with the transmission control, it will not reliably shift into the appropriate gears as it gains speed, often slipping & shuddering, sometimes even slamming into a higher gear. A few times it has stayed in first or second gear as I was pulling onto a busy street into oncoming traffic, I was unable to gain speed without taking my foot off the gas entirely and trying again. This creates a very dangerous situation as I was unable to get to speed, cars did have to slow & go around me as I was not able to speed up I did get a warning light a couple of times, dashboard read "Drive system: Malfunction! Please contact Service" Dealership said it gave the code "P288200," and stated that this indicated "Engine disconnect clutch engagement fault." Audi has a TSB for remedy (Audi Technical Service Bulletin 2070965), in which is stated that "There is a software error in the transmission control module." This indicates that this is an ongoing issue with this component. The dealership that I brought it to was able to replicate the problem when test driving the car. quoted a $537 software update to remedy the malfunction.

NHTSA ODI 11738560

While driving one day, several warning messages appeared on the dashboard, but would then disappear. The next day, the car engine would not start and the vehicle dashboard would not turn on. The car was inoperable and had to be towed to a dealer service center. Dealer confirmed that the issue was caused by liquid entering the gateway control module. A safety fix had been applied before during a 90S9 recall in 2022, but it appears that fix is inadequate or defective.

NHTSA ODI 11694136

Six months ago received a warning saying Electrical System Failure: safely stop vehicle. Took it to the dealer. They had the vehicle 30+ days and said they had finally fixed it. Almost immediately began receiving the same error message upon driving vehicle again. Called dealer and asked what to do. They said it must be a sensor problem because they replaced everything. Said it could be ignored. Warning light would come on and then go off periodically but we continued to drive vehicle on dealer's advice. Then, one night, while traveling on a local street, received a warning that there had been a Transmission Failure, and vehicle came to a sudden halt, blocking traffic. Wheels locked, making it extremely hard to get onto a tow truck. Had been driving on the highway shortly before this happened and could have died if the car had suddenly stopped moving at highway speed.

NHTSA ODI 11509542

The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal noise and all the warning lights illuminated. The contact proceeded and drove at 15 MPH, the vehicle started jerking and could not be driven any further. In addition, all the windows were independently opened and closed. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was pending a diagnosis. The vehicle was not repaired. No further information was available. The failure mileage was 10,000.

NHTSA ODI 11452715