All generations and engines together · 42,008 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 76k
Middling among SUVs, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and emissions/leaks. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
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.
Cars on the optional or standard adjustable air suspension can throw a suspension warning light from a slow air leak, a tiring compressor, or a dodgy height sensor, and the ride starts sagging on one corner overnight. Owners have also reported straightforward mechanical spring failure, including a rear coil spring snapping on a 2015 car at 47,000 miles, plus persistent software glitches in the ride-height system that repeated repairs didn't fully cure. The measured MOT data backs up suspension as this model's weak point generally, though it doesn't distinguish air-sprung cars from steel-sprung ones. A full compressor or valve block replacement runs from a few hundred pounds for a repair kit to over £1,500 at a dealer for a full assembly.
A cold-start rattle from the front of the 3.0 TDI V6, fitted across both generations, gets discussed constantly on owner forums. Most cases are chain slap that quietens once oil pressure builds and the tensioner takes up slack, and plenty of cars pass 150,000-190,000 miles without ever needing a chain. But a minority go on to need a full chain and tensioner replacement, a big job on this engine because the chain sits at the back, meaning the gearbox has to come out, pushing the bill well into four figures. Sticking to shorter oil change intervals than the official schedule is the common owner workaround, not an official fix.
Owners of early cars have reported MMI control buttons wearing out or sticking, dash display panels needing replacement after a burning smell, and on one four-year-old car all four door lock servos failing at once, quoted around £1,000 to put right. None of this is universal, but it crops up often enough on forums and in Honest John's reader reports to be worth budgeting for on a car that's out of warranty.
Early second-generation Q7s (built from 2015) have a known weak spot with the front-facing camera and radar sensor used for adaptive cruise and lane assist, throwing fault codes and disabling the driver aids. One owner's dealer told them outright it was a known issue on early cars of this model, but Audi offered no goodwill contribution: the replacement bill was around £1,600 including VAT. Later production cars seem less affected.
Around 127,000 UK Audi and VW Group vehicles with V6 TDI engines, including the Q7, were recalled in 2018 over software alleged to cheat EU6 emissions tests, part of the wider dieselgate fallout. If you're buying a V6 diesel Q7 from that era, check the V5 and service history for confirmation the recall software update was carried out; it's a free dealer fix, not a cost, but an unfixed car is worth flagging.
On first-generation diesel Q7s, owners have reported injector retaining bolts snapping off inside the cylinder head, a repair that can run over £1,000 and has recurred more than once on the same car in some cases. Separately, glow plug and engine management faults have caused orange warning lights and limp-home mode under acceleration, sometimes needing several dealer visits and a DPF sensor replacement to fully clear. Neither is officially acknowledged by Audi as a pattern fault.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
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.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 18,459 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Family & large SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.