Audi Q7 owners rant and rave about their car

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
"A common gripe fingers frequent brake service and very short-lived tires, both of which are attributed to the Audi’s well-disguised corpulence. Set aside $2,000 for new brakes and more for fresh rubber"

That right there is what I tell everyone that asks me about buying a T'reg/Q7/Cayenne. If they are prepared to spend $2k every 20k miles for upkeep. A lot of people think I am joking.

These are probably THE most expensive Stupid Useless Vehicle to own and operate, even more than the BMW X5 or Mercedes M-class. And honestly, not only do they not drive all that great, they are not all that roomy (the previous generation Passat, in wagon trim, had greater interior volume, and was available with 4Mo if you really thought you 'needed' it).

Somehow, though, I still like the T'reg. I'll probably never own one, though. One look at the service bill totals here keeps me from that. :p

Can't wait for a chain job on the V6 TDI, though! Cha-ching!!! :eek:
 

Ronvanb

Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2011
Location
Kentucky
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
We love our Q7. IMO probably one of the best vehicles in the world.
Maintenance costs? We haven't had any yet, but with premium vehicle can expect premium maintenance. Found the tires online for less than $200 each, Pirelli P-Zero, identical as factory tires. Our brakes still look new at 20k miles.
 

Wicked6

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2006
Location
EAST valley Phx.
TDI
2000 Golf GLS TDi
I think driving style has something to do with it as well. My coworker has been through 2 sets of rotors, (warping) and 4 brake changes in her Nissan Murano's 85k miles - and one ride with her at the wheel explained why. Critiquing her driving style & correlating it with her repair bills only made her defensive - blaming California stop n go traffic... (she's lived in Tx and NM the last 3 years.) For comparison, our 4WD Tahoe (not AWD!) has 109k on the odo & is still on it's factory rotors and pads, and gets about 40-50k out of the A/T tires with primarily city driving and occasional tow duty. (6k #'s)

Take a heavy, AWD SUV & pitch it around in city traffic with a lead foot and last minute, "short" stops - it'll wear out the brakes, tires, and give you horrible mileage to boot. No matter who builds it.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
The Murano is notorious for brake rotor warpage. Nissan even has TSBs about it for many models, but the Murano in particular is bad. High output engine, portly weight, giant wheels, AWD, and CVT. The odds are stacked against it anyways, you add in an idiot driver and it only makes it worse.
 

bby356

New member
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Location
smithville, mo
TDI
Touareg, 2012
Tire issues?

I'm a Treg owner and have had several tire problems, mostly tread seperation on the pirellies and currently have another unresolved thumping and vibration issue in the rear. Wheel alignment out again on the right front and they say the engine rack has to be shifted because there isn't any more adjustment on the rod end to bring it in to spec...So whats up with the tires on these cars?
 
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whizznbyu

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Location
Waxhaw, NC
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen 6 speed manual. B5 died at 302k miles.
Have my 2009 at 84K now. Did the first transmission oil change just for good measure. I know oilhammer said that it has an AISIN Transmission, which means it is really robust. But I did it anyway.
Have been doing the oil change every 10K with that ESP from M1. BTW, Mobil 1 makes an ESP type oil that has a 40 W rating.
I recently bought RAVENOL kinda cheap.
Funny thing is, the dealership will sell you the transmission fluid, the gaskets, and the filter, but they will NOT do a transmission fluid change. They said that if they did it, they would not be responsible for any damage to it. Which also means that they want you to not change it, like the VW "lifetime transmission" which is maintenece free. BUT, if you don't change the fluid ever, and it gets fried, you're S.O.O.L.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Does your T'reg's manual say change the ATF? Some of them actually DO call for a fluid change at certain intervals.
 

whizznbyu

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Location
Waxhaw, NC
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen 6 speed manual. B5 died at 302k miles.
Does your T'reg's manual say change the ATF? Some of them actually DO call for a fluid change at certain intervals.

Mine is a 09 Q7. No where does the manual say trany fluid change, and service manager at Audi says "we don't do those, under any circumstances."

Changed out 4 discs and 4 sets of pads for right at 8 bills. Needed special tools. None of this Craftsman stuff will work. All original discs too. No stealership.:)
 

Scott_DeWitt

Vendor
Joined
Apr 7, 2004
Location
Texas USA
TDI
2000 Audi A4 1.9TDI quattro
Which also means that they want you to not change it, like the VW "lifetime transmission" which is maintenece free. BUT, if you don't change the fluid ever, and it gets fried, you're S.O.O.L.
Your pretty much sol if you never change trans fluid, which is GREAT for companies (like me) that rebuild transmissions. Change the fluid/filter at every 50,000 mile interval unless specified for a shorter interval. Remember a car's lifetime to a car manufacturer is considered to mean 7 years or 100,000 miles.

Many shops won't change fluid as fresh trans fluid is highly detergent, which can hasten trans failure brought on by dirty fluid, however if a fluid changes causes issues, then fact is you had problems to begin with and those problems would have happened eventually.
 
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jimmysan

New member
Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Location
NNJ
TDI
2011 Audi Q7 TDI
Noob here. Very happy to have found this site. Lots of very useful information here.

We bought a new 2011 Audi Q7 TDI two years ago. Absolutely love it. The car is pretty heavy but drives and handle very nimble and competently with a V6 3.0L TDI engine. Took the car on a family trip to Orlando from NNJ. I only to re-fill the tank 3 times for the entire trip. The ride is very comfortable for a family of 4 on a long trip.

The quattro works great during heavy snow and pouring rain days. It gives you firm control of the car when other cars were sliding left and right especially on hilly and winding roads. However, the windshield wiper some times had a jerky motion in heavy rains. Unfortunately, it does not happen all the time. It always works at the dealer's shop.

The MMI control takes some time to get use it. It is overly complicated especially for the comfort control. We often hit the cold air instead of bun toaster in the winter and vice versa. With short term memory, we could never figure out the right sequence to control ac for the back seats from the controls at the driver side.

The space of the third row seats is cramp but functional. Both my middle school age children (~ 5' 4") can sit in without problem. It just hard to get in and out of the third row seat. My kids like to climb out from the trunk when they have to sit on the third row seats.

Other than the windshield wiper, we don't have any problem after two years. The only thing I wish it could be built a bit different is the steering wheel. I am used to tight steering feel even when driving on a low speed. The Q7 steering is a bit too loose to my taste. It is fine on the high way speed. I have a tough time to park the car straight when making a left/right turn into the parking space since the car just moves with a slight turn of the wheel (too nimble?).

With such positive experience with Q7 TDI, I am thinking about buying a VW JSW TDI (6MT). Would love to hear owner's experiences on the late models (2009+).

Cheers
 

50pascals

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Location
Rochester, NY
TDI
2014 A6 3.0 TDI Prestige, prior was a 2013 TDI Passat SEL Plus
I suspect that the complaints about high service costs are a result of people taking their cars to the dealer for service.
 
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