Fault File
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Audi Q3

All generations and engines together · 132,029 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 59k

Reliability verdict
BBy age
ABy miles

Graded against its peers

Better than most small SUVs for its age, and one of the best per mile driven. Watch suspension and emissions/leaks. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.

First-time failure at age 7
15.6%
Across 14,959 tests. The average for small SUVs is 20.5%.
First-time failure at 50-60k miles
15.0%
Across 16,063 tests. The average for small SUVs is 21.1%.
Rank in its class
16 of 52
1 = lowest failure rate among the 52 small SUVs we can rank.
Typical mileage at age 7
59k miles
How far the average car has gone by seven years old. Low-mileage models can look better by age than they are.

Generation

Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.

What owners report

Reported

Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.

S tronic (DSG) hesitation and judder

Emerging

Owners of both generations report the dual-clutch S tronic box hunting for gears, hesitating from a standstill, or juddering under light throttle, sometimes described by dealers as normal 'roughness' rather than a fault. On the earlier car it shows up as an outright judder needing clutch pack replacement; on the newer 35 TSI cars it has shown as intermittent power loss when pulling away. No Audi TSB has been confirmed publicly, and some dealers have swapped units under goodwill rather than admit a pattern.

Reported from new to 40k miles · sources: Honest John carbycar (2011-2018 and 2018-2025 pages)

Clutch and manual gearbox failures at low mileage

Emerging

A run of owner reports on the first-generation Q3 describe manual clutches and gearboxes failing well before you'd expect wear to be a factor, including a clutch slave cylinder going at 20,000 miles and a clutch disintegrating at 49,000 miles badly enough to damage the transmission casing. One new 2.0 TFSI manual was also reported with swarf found inside the gearbox from the factory. Repair bills range from a few hundred pounds for a slave cylinder to well over £1,500 if the casing is damaged.

Reported 20-49k miles · sources: Honest John carbycar (2011-2018)

Front suspension bush and knock wear

Partly in the MOT data

Owners on the first-generation car report front suspension bushes wearing and needing replacement unusually early, from around 18,000 miles, alongside surface rust forming on suspension components. The measured MOT data for this segment also flags suspension as the standout fault, so the folklore and the numbers point the same way here: this is a genuine weak point on the Q3, not just small-SUV wear and tear. Expect a bush or link replacement in the £150-400 range depending on which part has gone.

Reported from 18k miles · sources: Honest John carbycar (2011-2018)

MMI, satnav and infotainment failures

Emerging

Both generations have owner reports of the infotainment unit playing up, from satnav modules failing outright and needing an expensive media unit swap on early cars, to sunroof drainage and roof leaks that soaked the centre console on later ones and needed repeated dealer visits to properly fix. These aren't universal complaints but they recur enough on forums and in Honest John's reader mailbag to be worth budgeting for out of warranty.

Reported at various ages · sources: Honest John carbycar (2011-2018 and 2018-2025)

DQ500 wet-clutch auto on quattro/diesel cars

EmergingAutomatics only (quattro/diesel)

Higher-torque quattro and diesel Q3s use the heavier-duty DQ500 wet-clutch S tronic rather than the dry-clutch DQ200 fitted to lower-powered front-drive cars. It's a more robust design in principle, but it still relies on correct fluid and filter changes on the DSG service schedule; skipped services are a common cause of expensive failures on this transmission across the VW Group range. Front-wheel-drive petrol manuals and lower-powered automatics aren't affected by this specific box.

Applies to quattro/higher-torque automatics · sources: Honest John carbycar and glossary entry

Cold-running hesitation on 1.5 TSI (evo) petrol

Confirmed pattern

Second-generation Q3s fitted with the 1.5 TSI engine have shown a hesitation or flat spot when pulling away cold, reported by owners as a software calibration issue rather than a mechanical fault. This mirrors the well-documented 'kangarooing' problem on other VW Group cars with the same EA211 evo engine family, where VW Group has previously acknowledged the fault and issued a software update; Q3 owners have reported the same fix resolving it after a dealer visit, though it can take more than one attempt.

Reported from new, mostly cold starts · sources: Honest John carbycar (2018-2025), wider VW Group evo engine TSB pattern

What to check on this car

Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.

Saveable checklist

From this model’s MOT record

The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.

Bushes and ball jointsRuns high on this model Drive slowly over broken tarmac with the windows down and listen for clonks from either end. Back at the car, have someone rock the steering wheel while you rest a hand on each front wheel; play you can feel through the tyre is a worn joint.Recorded on 14.5% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 5.9%
Underneath, with a torchRuns high on this model Get down and look at the sills, the subframes and the rear suspension mounting points. Flaking scale and bubbling matter; light surface rust does not. On older cars this is the one check that finds the fault that scraps them.Recorded on 6.4% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.7%
DampersRuns high on this model Look for oil misting on the damper body behind each wheel, then push down hard on each corner of the car. It should settle in one bounce. A floaty or crashy ride on the test drive is the same fault felt from the driver's seat.Recorded on 5.8% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 2.3%
Coil springsRuns high on this model Look through the wheel spokes at the bottom coil of each spring; when springs snap it is usually there, and the break is visible. Step back and check the car sits level too. A dropped corner is often a broken spring.Recorded on 5.3% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 1.4%
Rubber boots and gaiters On full steering lock, look in behind each front wheel at the concertina rubber boots on the driveshafts and steering rack. Splits, or grease flung around the arch, mean dirt is getting into a joint that costs far more than the boot protecting it.Recorded on 0.9% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 0.6%

Worth doing on any used car

These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.

Tyres, all four Check the tread across the full width of each tyre, inner edge included, and look for cracking and mismatched brands. A set of decent tyres is £500 or more on most cars, which makes this the easiest money to take off a price. If the pressure warning light is on, budget for sensors too.Recorded on 24.2% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 20.1%
Pads and discsRuns high on this model Look through the wheel spokes at the brake disc. A pronounced lip on its outer edge, or a rusty and scored face, means discs and pads are due all round, a few hundred pounds on most cars. A haggling point rather than a reason to walk away.Recorded on 18.1% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 10.1%
Windscreen and wipers Scan the glass in daylight for chips, especially in the driver's line of sight where even a small one can fail the MOT. Run the washers and check the wipers clear without smearing.Recorded on 2.2% of tests at age 6-9 · class average 2.0%

Because of what owners report

Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.

Drive it from a cold start and pull away gently in the first minute. Hesitation, a flat spot or a jerky 'kangaroo' step is the 1.5 TSI cold-running fault.
At low speed, ease off and back on the throttle repeatedly in traffic. A shunt or judder through the driveline points to S tronic clutch pack wear.
On a manual car, check the clutch bite point and listen for grinding on a full-depth press. A high or spongy bite point can mean an early slave cylinder problem.
Check the MOT history for repeated suspension advisories, and look/listen for clonks over rough surfaces. Recurring suspension items or front-end knock back up the bush-wear pattern owners report.
Check under the parcel shelf and headlining, especially around the sunroof, for damp or staining. Water marks mean a roof or sunroof drain that hasn't been properly fixed.
Test every function of the MMI screen, satnav and reversing camera. Freezes, blank screens or failed satnav point to a unit that may need an expensive replacement.
Ask for the full service history and check DSG fluid/filter changes specifically on automatic cars. No DSG service on a wet-clutch S tronic is a red flag for a heavy bill later.

Open the saveable checklist, tick it off at the car

The MOT data

Measured

Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.

How this model wears

Audi Q3Class average, all tracked models

What testers flag

Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.

Faults with the car itself

The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 57,462 tests in this band.

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
Advisory
15.2%class 6.6%
A suspension component excessively damaged or corroded
Advisory
6.4%class 0.7%
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
Advisory
5.8%class 2.3%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Fail
5.3%class 1.4%
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
Fail
2.6%class 0.9%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Advisory
2.0%class 1.3%
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated
Minor
0.9%class 0.6%

Wear, upkeep and luck

Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Advisory
27.3%class 22.9%
Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured
Advisory
18.1%class 10.1%
A tyre seriously damaged
Advisory
16.7%class 13.4%
A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
Advisory
10.6%class 8.7%
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt
Advisory
4.4%class 2.2%
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn
Advisory
3.9%class 3.4%
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Fail
3.1%class 2.3%
Nail in tyre
Advisory
3.0%class 1.6%

Others in its class

Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.

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