2021 Audi Q5 owner complaints

Several electrical system malfunction lights came on the dash. Audi says it is the starter generator. Car almost stopped in the road.

The failed component is the gateway module that sits underneath the rear seats below the cup holders. In my case approximately 5 oz of water seeped out of my briefcase via a leaky water bottle and it shut down the gateway module and rendered the car inoperable.. losing all power and engine on the highway at approximately 60 mph. Fortunately I was successful in navigating the car to the side of the road by coasting and other than the fear was not harmed. Car was towes to Audi service where they confirmed that the gateway module failed.. they did not notice any water on the module and replaced it next day ..I was surprised that they had 5 in stock.. just googling Audi Q5 gateway module I noticed many similar incidents like mine I am worried that a family unknowingly with children in the back

Gateway control module shutdown. After a rain storm vehicle had electrical issues such as rear light turning off, and engine start malfunction alarm on dashboard. To vehicle automatically stoping with no vehicle nearby, seat belt tightening and to engine seized while driving to the dealer for the “engine start malfunction alarm”. The Audi dealer is quoting us $17,000 to repair for damages. Multiple people on this post have also had this issue with one going on 4 months waiting for parts to repair this issue.

While driving the vehicle many warning lights suddenly turned on and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop in the middle of an intersection. Then the windows rolled down automatically. Vehicle would not start, posing a serious safety issue as it was in the middle of an intersection. Audi dealer indicated the gateway module malfunctioned. They said it had gotten wet, which I have no idea how it would’ve gotten wet. The gateway module is located under the backseat center console. The dealership indicated they had 5 cars brought in in 2 weeks with same issue. I have since read on Audi forums that this has happened to many others and left some stranded in the center-lane of highways.

The 2021Audi Q5 has a gateway module under the middle back seat. Any fluid that contacts this module will cause it to fail shutting the car down completely. In addition, immediately above the module are 2 drink car holders. It only takes a small amount of spilled drink to cause this to happen. This happened to me on Sept. 7 causing my car to come to a complete stop immediately after passing thru and intersection. Eventually this will get someone killed on seriously injured. Audi has been aware of this issue but they don't inform potential buyers. This has happened numerous times before and I have attached other incidents posted on the internet. Please take action to make Audi take responsibility and corrective action. Electrical System problem #1 On August 19th, we drove our Audi t

While driving my 2021 Audi Q5, the vehicle experienced a sudden transmission disengagement without warning. The vehicle behaved as if it had shifted into neutral while in motion. When this occurred, pressing the accelerator produced no response — the engine would not rev and the vehicle would not accelerate. This created a serious safety risk as it occurred during normal driving conditions and could have resulted in a collision. After stopping the vehicle and shifting into Park and then back into Drive, the transmission temporarily re-engaged. The issue reoccurred multiple times. Prior to one of the failures, the vehicle hesitated and bucked when starting from a stop. A warning message later appeared stating: “Transmission malfunction. You may continue to drive but will be unable to reve

The engine has failed and I am not sure why my Q5 was not included in the recall for coolant issues leading to engine failure. My issue started last winter when the car would suddenly kick in a loud fan. It would flash a warning that the start/stop malfunctioned as it only happened when stopped and/or parked. It was extremely alarming to hear so I would turn the car off and let it sit. When I started it up, there were no warnings and would drive normally. This continued to happen randomly. Then came the coolant low warning, engine temp, along with an RPM warning that kicked on the loud fan. I added coolant as it was the reservoir was low but never empty and temp gauge was in normal range . All messages would go away, car would drive normally. The coolant message happened a couple more time

While driving on the road, multiple warning and error messages suddenly appeared on dashboard. Entire car shut down in very short time left no time for driver to safely pull over. The car cannot move in the middle of the road and put the driver, passengers and surrounding vehicles at risk. The car was towed to a dealer and they confirmed the gate way module under rear seat is wet and shorted.

The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated that while she was driving 65-70 MPH, the warning message "Transmission Engine Failure" appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle inadvertently stalled while attempting to veer to the side of the road. The contact stated she was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts however, the vehicle was towed to her residence. The dealer was notified of the failure and advised the contact to take the vehicle to their location for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the ECM chip had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact also stated while she was reversing, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dea

My car always did a weird shuddering thing when taking turns a certain way. I just thought it was part of how the new vehicle worked. I thought it was strange when I took my car in to repair a front tire, and was told / showed that the back two tire treads were worn down. The new car only had 20,249 miles. But I read somewhere that some new car dealers use lower tread tires to save money, so I did not pursue anything. Then, when someone pointed out that the 'weird shuddering' was not normal, I took it into Audi to have them look at it. Audi did a repair, and said I had to drive it 600 miles to know if it would be resolved. After the 600 miles, the problem continued. I took back, and they said they know what it is but they have to go through certain steps first. They told me this time that

I was driving down a slight hill in 1/2 inch of snow at 5MPH and when I tired to gently brake as I descended the hill, the brake pedal had no resistance and went flat to the floor. I had no brakes. I then tried to steer towards the side of the road and the steering wheel completely locked up and I was not able to steer. I slid 150 feet down the hill and into a ditch. No brakes and no steering. There must have been a failure of some kind. Terrifying.

The Gateway control module failed in September 2025 on my 2021 Audi Q5. Vehicle error messages included the following failures: Cruise control, Parking brake, transmission, brakes, and steering, windows rolled down, seats moved, dash and MMI black followed by a sudden loss of power, narrowly avoiding an accident (kids in car). Would not restart. Diagnosis by Audi dealer was that the Gateway control module got wet and needed to be replaced. This is Recall 90S9 from 2021 that was “repaired” in March 2022 by covering the module with a plastic bag. This proved an insufficient repair backed up by a class action lawsuit filed in January 2022 titled Gioffe, et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., et al. (Case No. 1:22-cv-00193). I reached out to Audi USA to request a Goodwill repair which w

Date of Incident: 11/09/2025 • Location: I-30 near Cumby, TX (towed to Audi Fort Worth). Daughter was stranded on busy highway in middle of nowhere. Texas State Police came to her aid and helped w tow truck which cost 650. Engine catastrophically failed at 50k miles due to metal shavings throughout oil — Audi Fort Worth made the statement and I have picture of metal shavings. Which is the exact defect in **NHTSA Recall 22V753 / Audi TSB 13i5** (connecting rod bearing damage from factory machining debris). **Symptoms match TSB 13i5 Pages 1, 10–11 (“NOT OK” filter examples)**: - March 2025 oil change at 50,032 miles: **no metal** or at August oil change. Neither Audi corporate or Fort Worth care. Claimed we bought used car and didn’t have oil changed at Audi dealer. This statement viol

When driving in extreme cold (ambient temperatures of -35 or colder) and I reach a speed of 50mph or higher, my engine fails. The dealership refuses to resolve this issue although they’ve had my vehicle twice now, both for months at a time- and the dealership is 400 miles away from me. They also refuse to authorize the Audi-certified shop in my hometown to perform any type of diagnostics or maintenance work on this vehicle, which would significantly decrease my stress and the inconvenience of shipping my vehicle back and forth. This first occurred within just a few months of purchase of this vehicle, and I am the first owner. I am listing the first time this happened, although it is an ongoing issue.

While the car is fully stopped at a red light, in Drive, and brakes fully depressed, the Audi Pre Sense falsely triggered. The seat belts were forcefully retracted and the pre sense light came on on the dash. Since the car was stopped, there was no imminent safety issues. However, had the car be moving, this could cause serious injury such as a crash. Also, for someone with health condition, this could trigger a panic attack, heart attack, etc. There has been multiple reports on this on Audi's discussion boards. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/s4-b9-platform-discussion-214/freaked-out-pre-sense-seat-belt-tightening-no-reason-all-3020878/ https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q5-sq5-mkii-discussion-218/pre-sense-seat-belt-jolt-3046494/

when using cruise control, the vehicle suddenly brakes. If set a 70mph it will jam on the brakes and reset to 45 mph. This has caused near rear collisions. This is a recurring problem,.Audi service tried 3 times to identify the problem. Google has other owners with the same problem.

The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle, she noticed that after driving several miles, the fuel gauge displayed that the vehicle was full. The contact then stated that the fuel gauge remained on full although her fuel tank was close to empty. No warning light was illuminated. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there was a pending recall and to contact the NHTSA Hotline. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure; however, the contact stated that there was a four-hour hold. The failure mileage was approximately 5,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Audi Q5. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH and exiting off a ramp, the sunroof exploded without impact causing the shattered glass to enter the vehicle and fall on the driver. The contact stated that no object had struck the vehicle to cause the failure. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and inspected the vehicle before driving to the residence. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic who inspected the vehicle but could not diagnose the cause of the failure. The local dealer was contacted regarding replacing the sunroof. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 4,000.

My 2021 Audi Q5 has a manufacturing recall (Safety Recall 42L1 - Rear Axle Trailing Arm Lock Nut) on it and my dealer cancelled my appointment and informed me that they will not perform the recall repair unless I schedule (something that I have to pay for) at the same time - they will not perform the recall repair otherwise. This was the Audi Minneapolis dealership located at 9393 Wayzata Blvd, Golden Valley, MN 55426. I was told that this needed to be reported to you guys.

On September 18, 2025, while driving at ~65–70 mph on the Saw Mill Parkway in Mount Kisco, NY, a Michelin Latitude Tour HP tire (235/55R19) suffered a sudden circumferential tread/belt separation. The tread detached completely from the casing while the sidewall remained intact. A small screw was present in the center tread, but there was no TPMS warning or gradual pressure loss prior to the failure. This behavior is inconsistent with ordinary puncture damage and indicates a potential workmanship/materials defect. The separated tread, tire carcass, and wheel are preserved and available for inspection. The tires were installed by the dealer (Audi New Rochelle) on June 12, 2024, as part of Certified Pre-Owned reconditioning before sale. This catastrophic failure posed an immediate risk of