2010 Q5 3.2L Prestige

[GNASH B8.5]

Possibly looking at a 2010 Q5 3.2 on Wednesday. The vehicle currently sits at 81,000mi and has all service records including the most recent 75K Audi Interval. Vehicle is offered by my local Audi dealer who just took it in (local trade, dealer has records as well as clean Carfax with records) and is doing a recall and inspection prior to posting. On these cars are there any common problems I should look for? I am more familiar with the 2.0t engines (had a A4 and currently driving a GTI). Any and all suggestions and recommendations are appreciated. Seems like a good deal but ill know more as soon as I can see it and drive it but hoping you all can help as this community was awesome when I had my A4.

Not going too deep but as we all know life changes and Im looking for something larger and a lower payment hence the higher mileage vehicle, but I have heard good things about 3.2L engines that followed maintenance schedules and have always been an Audi guy at heart. Thanks in advance everyone!

[VroomVroom]

Good luck with the inspection. Sounds like your expectations are in-line (i.e. the driving experience will not be similar to your current S4), and I'll be curious to hear your thoughts after checking out the Q5. I can tell you I enjoyed my '12 with the 3.2L, and found it to be reliable and very enjoyable. That said, I often found the 3.2 & six-speed transmission a wee bit overmatched against the mass of the vehicle. Lots of hills where I live, and 1-2 and 2-3 upshifts always seemed to be out of sorts. If you can compare against a model with the 2.0T and eight-speed, I think you'll benefit from having a choice for your driving style.

[sferraro]

Carbon buildup is an issue with the 3.2, but Audi has an extended warranty to cover carbon cleaning when a CEL pops up.

We have a 2012 Q5 3.2 with 67K miles and had Audi do a warranty carbon cleaning a few thousand miles ago.

[GNASH B8.5]

Do you happen to know the terms of the Warranty extension? Thank you both for the information, look forward to hearing more from the community!

[sferraro]

I believe it's 10 years/120,000 miles. But the CEL resulting from carbon buildup has to come on before they will do the work.

[q5 dave]

My suggestion- avoid. Car is almost 10 years old and interior space isn't much more than the GTI.


What about an Atlas or Tiguan? Good value, plenty of space, and America's best b2b warranty. PM me if you're interested in another vw

[VroomVroom]

Well that escalated quickly.

[AudiTuner1187]

I have that exact car. Bought it with 75k. Water pump started leaking at 90k. Now sits at 95k and having some odd transmission behavior. I have a feeling it's torque converter going out :/ I also has to replace rotors, but all in all I'm pretty happy with it as long as this trans issue isn't deep. May just be programming, hopefully.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Audizine mobile app

[GNASH B8.5]

Well I went and drove it, previous owner obviously cared as the vehicle is in amazing shape for its age, given that the majority of people do not care. As Vroom Vroom mentioned the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts seemed as if the vehicle doesn't know if it really wants to shift, beyond that it is smooth, drove well and felt like an Audi. Wasn't blown away by it and probably a better move to keep my GTI and save for a new vehicle down the line. Not a necessity to change now was just enticed by a cool vehicle at a good price. Thanks for your help and if anyone has suggestions of other vehicles or things I should look for please feel free.

[TexasDfwS4]

The 2012 we had was weird when it came to the shifting but when we had a load do groceries 250+ lbs. in the trunk it was a big difference in the way it shifted. It was as smooth as can be.