Used Audi Q8 review

Exterior:

We wonder that when Audi were engineering their sunroofs, did they go to the work experience kid on their first day and say, “Would you mind grabbing a crayon and some paper and sketch us up how you think a sunroof should work?” and what has resulted has been this potential disaster of a thing.

There has been a service bulletin for this and for some regions, there has even been a recall, but not here in Australia unfortunately. The sunroof can rattle and carry on, owners state it sounds like golf clubs rattling around, and can make horrible grinding noises when opening and closing.

There are “fixes” for this that can include removing the sunroof and filling some of the roof structure with foam to make it more rigid but for us that seems like a terrible bandaid solution rather than a “fix”, the issue shouldn’t have occurred in the first place.

Also, there are reports of the wind deflector playing up, the fabric can apparently tear too easily and the mechanism, being lots of plastic, can break. Plus, typical for Audi sunroofs, there can be water leakage issues.

Not just due to the drainage channels becoming blocked, that’s a thing that can happen and it requires fastidious cleaning, but the adhesion on the actual seal can wear prematurely and let water in.

As can the door seals, some owners have had to replace these already which is crazy considering even the first Q8s are hardly old models.

Also, if you don’t have the door or sunroof seals sorted, owners have reported water leaking into the car, sometimes it can drip onto the MMI infotainment system, other times you won’t see it leak and it finds its way in behind the interior trim and eventually to electronics which can cause all sorts of issues.

Actually speaking of electronic issues, this is arguably the Q8’s biggest issue.

The lights have reported issues with the high beam not working or failing to turn off.

Other owners have stated that the brake lights stay on, even when they’re not braking.

The keyless entry and door locks, some owners have been locked out of their car, others have been locked in their car.

Sometimes this can be fixed by resetting the window calibrations, super easy to do, check the owners groups and forums for advice.

But if this still doesn’t work and plan b is getting in and out of the car via the boot, plenty of owners are having issues with the boot.

There are a number of videos online showing that when owners try to open the boot, it makes a sound like a tiny machine gun fires a burst of rounds inside.

This is generally a faulty boot latch motor that needs to be changed, the problem is, especially if the car is out of warranty, apparently much of the rear end of the car has to be disassembled to do the job and all up, with parts and labour, it can be very expensive.

Then there are the 360 cameras — a brilliant feature, when they actually work, which for some owners, they don’t. Sometimes it’s just one camera failing, other times it’s all but one, and often the failures are completely random.

Then for Q8s fitted with the optional Dynamic package, these can suffer with issues surrounding the Active roll stabilisation, sometimes it can be the sensors playing up, other times it’s a control unit fault or it can be low voltage getting into the control unit, and this can be traced back to arguably one of the Q8’s biggest problems, and it can be the core issue for loads of the electronic issues, it’s well documented alternator failures.

This can impact the 48V mild hybrid system too but when the voltage is inconsistent, all kinds of crazy things can happen.

In some regions, Audi have extended the warranty for the alternator to 7 years and unlimited kilometres and they have replaced the alternators and even the 48V batteries under warranty, although sometimes the fix isn’t that simple.

Depending on where you’re reading this from, there can be struggles with parts availability, owners groups and forum members have reported waiting for 2 to 3 months before their Q8 is back on the road.

Now these alternator issues seem to be popping up anywhere between 50,000km to 80,000km, but if the Q8 you’re looking at isn’t covered by a full factory warranty, the repair bill can be confronting.

One owner here in Australia reported that his Q8 was off the road for 4 months getting the alternator and lithium battery replaced, the alternator issue impacted the 48V system and the battery, that won’t always be the case, but the repair bill was in excess of $7000!

But that’s not it for complaints about the exterior. You might also run into annoying aspects like the fact the rear door arches can collect all sorts of road grime because the moulding is mounted to the door and not the body.

If you’re looking at an SQ8 or RS Q8, owners have complained that the brake dust can be ridiculous, within one or two drives after being clean, they’re covered in dust again.

Interior:

We came across multiple owners stating that their Q8 has been both their favourite car they’ve ever owned, and the car they’ve hated the most at the same time, how, why? Well let’s talk the MMI infotainment system.

Good points first, there is so much this thing can do, you’ll lose hours of your life delving through menus and options, and it looks beautiful, until you touch it say 4 times then it’s covered in the filth off your fingers.

And because it’s all touch screen, it’s harder than it needs to be to actually use when you’re driving. Yes, plenty of the controls for the infotainment system section you can select from the buttons on the steering wheel and the haptic feedback where it clicks like a button helps but actual physical buttons are just superior, hence many manufacturers including Audi are going back to buttons and knobs.

What’s worse still for many owners is that, yes all this can do loads of impressive stuff, but this means there’s loads to go wrong.

For example if you’re connecting your phone with purely bluetooth, the connection can be incredibly glitchy and drop out or it takes an eternity to re-connect.

Then if you want to connect Apple CarPlay or Android Auto wirelessly, that uses both bluetooth and wifi but plenty of owners have stated how sketchy the wifi connection can be. This means connections can be very inconsistent wirelessly, it works fine for a couple of days then just drops out, and apparently when it’s plugged in as well.

However, there is advice in the owners groups and forums regarding making sure your phone remembers the cars wifi network, this can solve the issue for some, just not always.

Then there are complaints that the MMI system can overheat on really hot days and stop working altogether or even when it’s working, can forget saved favourites.

However, resolving all of MMI these issues can be made even harder when the screens just refuse to turn on.

This also includes the driver’s digital display, some owners have had the air con and MMI screen stay active but this dies, or just the MMI screen turns off but air con and the drivers display stays on. It can be a bit of a lottery in a way.

Many owners have had luck fixing these issues by just resetting the system, you can do this by holding down the volume knob for about 20 seconds, although a few owners stated this turned off the entire system for good and their dealership had to re-start it.

Also, with the 3- or 4-zone climate control, some early or higher kilometre models seem to be developing an issue where the right side vents only blow cold air even when you’ve selected them to be warm.

Also, around the defroster vents under the windscreen, in hot climates like Australia, a few owners have noticed the leather is starting to delaminate away from the dashboard, that sort of ruins the premium vibe doesn’t it?

Speaking of trim issues, just give everything a bit of a poke and prod, some owners are finding the interior plastics are getting a bit creaky and rattly, like the armrest, seat bases, trim along the centre console, the doors and within the dash.

And like so many cars, all the gloss black plastic that looks good when the cars brand new, but can scratch really easily and looks shit in no time.

Also, plenty of owners have complained that the charging pad in the glove box can overheat your phone to the point that the phone turns itself off to protect itself.

But if you ignore all those interior issues, or you’re one of the lucky ones that have never had any of these issues, you can spend your time playing with all the features because at least these things are packed with stuff.

Mechanically:

It seems like Audi’s design brief was, ‘let’s make everything as complicated as we possibly can and locate everything in the most inaccessible location. Then jam it into a car it barely fits into. Oh, and make the parts eye-wateringly expensive’.

3.0L V6 (and PHEV)
Thanks to a hot V design the long-term effects of heat are going to make all of the electrical, cooling and breather components in that area vulnerable and unreliable in the long term. The cooling system, the water pump, the electronic thermostat on these is a known issue with as little as 60,000km. The oil filter housing is a known source of oil leaks. It’s down there in the valley at the front of the engine, but relatively easy to change.

4.0L Petrol V8 Twin-turbo
Overall, mechanically, they’re not described as unreliable. But they are an extremely complex engine and there’s potentially a lot to go wrong. They’re also hot V which means the exhaust and turbos are on the top side of the engine. In earlier generations of this engine, turbo failure was a common issue. Turbo screen/pre-filter blocks and causes turbo failure (ironically, it’s there to protect the turbos), they’re located underneath the turbos down in the valley. There were recalls for that issue and the later versions are improved, but the long-term reliability is still questionable in our opinion.

Some air oil separator and engine breather complications causing vacuum and boost leaks and lean AFR issues – it’s a complex system and is prone to leaks. Coolant leaks from thermostat and housing can happen, as can water pump leaks, and it’s a 4 or 5 hour job because access is an issue.

There can be oil leaks from the timing cover, oil filter housing and valley cover.

Injector failure is a known issue that causes misfires, although that’s not too common. High pressure fuel pump leaks can happen, but again, not all that common.

The timing chains, if well serviced and low mileage, are not generally a common issue. But when something does go wrong with the timing chains or cam phasers, it can get very ugly and very expensive. There are four separate chains, each with their own guides, tensioners and gears etc. if they’ve been neglected and have high mileage, they can fail. Usually, you’ll hear the thing rattling and giving some warning — best act quickly if you’re hearing that.

The timing chains are at the rear of the engine, which is a common thing for a lot of Euro manufacturers. That means, the whole front sub-frame, engine and transmission out, and it’s eye-wateringly expensive. These V8s are right up there with the most complicated domestic engines you can get. They’re designed well and cram a lot into a relatively small space, which is great for packaging, but very difficult to work on and very expensive.

3.0L TDI V6
Typical list of modern diesel engine issues. Mostly thanks to emission regulations (which we get, and you have to have). There can be EGR complications, valve actuator failures and blockages. DPF complications, though that’s not always the fault of the DPF, it’s often caused by boost leaks or MAP sensor issues. Incorrect engine oil can also cause DPF issues.

The PCV system is all made of plastic and prone to problems. Oil leaks from just about anywhere really and can be made worse by high crankcase pressures from faulty PCV systems. As always, if you’re repairing oil leaks, you must make sure the PCV is working properly. Leaking injector seals are a common issue with older generations of this engine but less likely with these.

4.0L TDI V8
Surprisingly, statistically, pretty reliable so far. It’s completely different to the older 4.2L diesel and way, way more complicated. Also a hot V — so long-term heat-related issues are likely. Very complex breather (air oil separator) system. The coolant module on the front of the engine is responsible for regulating the coolant flow to the oil coolers, the engine, the transmission and the interior heater independently of each other. It’s very complex and mostly made of plastic.

The shaft-driven coolant pump is buried deep in the hot V and for those of you looking for your oil filter, it’s integrated into the sump under a cover. Finally, the active engine mounts are a known issue, and yes, access is impossible.