2019 Audi Q7: What to check before buying

Power steering cuts out without warning, often with a steering malfunction message telling the driver to stop the vehicle, leaving the wheel locked or nearly impossible to turn. Reports cover city streets, a snowy mountain pass, and speeds up to 50 mph, and 3 complaints involve crashes, including impacts with guard rails. Other drivers describe steering that randomly turns heavy, about 5 seconds of no assist after the auto start/stop system restarts the engine, and lane keeping that pulls the car the wrong way. Several problems start within the first 4,700 miles, and one car got a new steering rack.

Rear coil springs snap, usually with a loud bang while driving or backing up. Sometimes the only clue is a broken piece of spring lying on the garage floor. Most failures fall between 55,000 and 76,000 miles, though one came at 28,000. Often both rear springs break, and one report covers front springs. Dealers call it a safety problem, with risk of a punctured tire. Repairs run over $2,000 to over $3,000, plus alignment and calibration. Some owners also report corroded rear spring mounts and leaking hydraulic motor mounts.

Engines shut off while driving after a "Drive system malfunction" warning, and the car won't restart. Dealers trace this to the fuel pump, with one repair quoted at $3000+. Fuel leaks also come up: a fuel rail leak flagged as a fire risk, and fuel lines that pop off in hot weather. A separate group of complaints covers fuel gauges that read wrong, such as a low-fuel warning with a full tank or half a tank after filling. A faulty fuel level sender is the cause, which raises the risk of running out of gas.

A string of warning messages floods the dash, and then the engine stalls at speed. Some drivers also lose power steering and power brakes, at speeds ranging from 55 to 90 mph. In some cases the car restarts and runs normally until it happens again. Other reports describe a failed starter that leaves the car unable to start, and an infotainment screen that freezes and reboots while driving, hiding navigation and warnings. A false right parking lamp fault also appears, with a dealer quoting a full headlight replacement at over $2500. One complaint is crash-related.

Throttle response lags 3 to 4 seconds after the gas pedal is pressed, and one lag ran about 6 seconds. Then the car lunges forward. It happens most at low speeds, when merging, and when turning left across traffic, and it has led to near collisions. Dealers report no fault and can't reproduce it. Separately, one car would not shift into Park and then locked its doors with a child inside at 5,765 miles. Another needed a new transmission control unit at 45K miles and had leaking engine mounts by 48K.

Front tires wear out early and badly. Tread peels, chops, or tears off across the whole tire while the rears still look new. Damage appears as early as 11,900 and 19,600 miles, and at 49,520 one dealer found chopped inner edges. Complaints center on the factory Goodyear Eagle Sport run-flat tires in size 285/45-20. One dealer pointed to a service bulletin on front tire wear but billed the owner for tires and an alignment. Owners note that tire rotations are not part of the scheduled maintenance.

Automatic emergency braking slams on the brakes when nothing is ahead, sometimes bringing the car to a full stop on the highway. One case happened at about 70 mph with an open road ahead. Left turns are another trigger. The forward collision warning flashes, the brakes grab hard, and the engine stalls, stranding the car in the oncoming lane until it is restarted. One driver reports this at least 5 times. The risks described are rear-end crashes and head-on hits.

The coolant pump leaks or fails between 49,520 and 60,000 miles, and one report blames a bad bearing with too much play. A low coolant warning at startup is the first sign, even when earlier coolant checks looked normal. One failure was fixed under warranty, and the owner says the repair would have cost $1500 otherwise. The reports describe no overheating or engine damage.