max90034

Hi, I am about to buy 2011 Q5 (2.0T). After test driving Audi, Acura RDX and BMW X3, Audi is on the top of my list. This will be my first German car and coming from Japanese cars I am concerned about reliability. I read that last year Q5 had some water pump issues that seem to be fixed in 2011. Are there any other known reliability issues for 2011 Q5?

My other question is about mileage. Most of my driving is highway with no traffic (pretty much cruse control all the way). What kind of mileage can I expect? Thanks!

palumbo3284

My 2011 Q5 was my first entry into the German car manufacturers after years of myself and family being solely Japanese car owners. As many others have mentioned time and time again, I had similar concerns 'at first', but quickly realized I'm not buying the car based on or for reliability. Sure, do the Japanese typically make very realiable cars? Sure...but they are boring as hell to drive, let alone that everyone has one...they are a dime a dozen. Audi's do not have bad reliability at all, and there will always be the folks who have many more problems with theirs then others, but this happens with any manufacturer.

I bought my first Audi for the look, feel, quality, craftsmenship, and attention to detail (minus the sunglass holder ). Its a superb car, and many of the 2009-2010 known problems have been fixed for the 2011s. I think it is still too early in the 2011 MY to determine if there are any different issues, but I have 3K on mine so far, and not a single problem...time will tell, but I'm ok with that.

As far as the mileage, I'll leave that up to someone else on the forum who cares more about it than I do . I never bother to look, calculate it or care. I just love driving the car. You will be a very happy Audi owner.

njbiker

answers to your questions;

my q5 2.0T gets about 28 mpg on the highway and about 21 in the city. i don't have a lead foot.

the water pump issue was/is on the 6 cylinder engine, not the 4. you may need to add a quart of oil between oil changes if you get the 2.0T but i haven't had to.

my 2 cents..

i can completely relate to your concerns. i went from audi in 2002 to lexus in 2007 then back to audi a couple of months ago and i'm very happy that i did but i still own a japanese car..

a lot of people on this forum say that you don't buy an audi for reliability..well i somewhat disagree..to me there has to be a reasonable level of reliability for the driving experience to be complete. I mean, how much fun can it be to drive a car that you're constantly worried about, right? audi is a much different company these days. their processes, QA and engineering have resulted in cars that are not only fun to drive but well built. they had to, everybody has stepped up their game and it's survival of the fittest.

while i don't think that all japanese cars are boring to drive (lexus is, infiniti g and m) the germans do make a strong case for creating cars that just feel right. whatever the recipe is, it works.

my advice to you is buy the car that best fits your lifestyle, budget and own personal criteria. don't worry too much about the reliability of the audi. you're probably going to be pleasantly surprised!

nelson

go packers

flybooey

Mine is the 3.2, 2010
City 18-20
hwy 25-28 easy.
H20 pump failed at 13k
Rear differential ate itself at around 10k i think
Otherwise pretty good thus far.
Still can't figure out why I can't find a lowes or homedepot on the nav unit, wait...yes i do, it's sh!te

max90034

Thanks to everyone. This new car is supposed to replace my commuter - Acura tl. Acura had virtually no problem in 150,000 miles and I could expect the same from RDX but I want some change. Between x3 and Q5 I liked Audi interior more and I was impressed how smooth and quite 2.0t is. Power is a less of concern since I still keep my is-f for weekend fun... Btw, how would you compare Q5 vs new X3 reliability?