8.7

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
3,087 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2020 Audi Q3 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2020 Audi Q3 Owner Comments

problem #6

Apr 182022

Q3

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Had service at 34999 - reported hard shifting between 1st/2nd then revved abnormally high at 32k. Dealer was unable to reproduce during service - appointments are a month out. Car has had propulsion/fuel system not responding at random at various severities and rough idle like the engine was struggling to get fuel. Also reported during last service. On one occasion vehicle shutoff at lower speed at approx 20k.

- Denver, CO, USA

problem #5

Mar 122021

Q3

  • 10,000 miles
On four occasions, the engine stopped working and the steering wheel was not able to be turned. This prevented the driver from moving the vehicle forward and steering off to the side of the road. This is an extremely dangerous situation. If the car is turned off and restarted, the problem resolves with this reset. The intervals between these episodes have been several months. There are no specifically common variables, other than a lower speed - start/stop as in waiting to cross a line of traffic or proceeding through a stop sign. I have taken the Q3 to the dealer 3 times now and have been told that a software update is the fix. Recently the car has been making a vibrating noise when coasting, and it lost power in an intersection on the way to the dealer for service. The car completely shut down and even activated the parking brake. We always disable the car's auto start-stop feature, as we suspected that to be involved, but that is not the issue. We feel this car is unsafe and the Audi dealer seems unable to diagnose and resolve the problem. Our first Audi purchase, we had one of the first 2020 Q3 to arrive in the us and four shut-off incidents since we purchased the car in Oct 2019. The car was driven less than anticipated due to covid, remote school/work and no travel. Perhaps more frequent driving would have accelerated the claim process for us. Ironically, we chose the car for its safety features primarily for our teen/young adult drivers. The car has shut down for three drivers, twice for our teen and once for each of the parents, so we are confident that the problem exists as described and persists despite attempts to fix it. Each time we felt it was resolved due to a long interval between incidents, but today was more frightening than others due to the intersection where it occurred. This could cause a critical accident.

- Southport, CT, USA

problem #4

Dec 052020

Q3

  • 2,000 miles
Drive system malfunction- 05dec2020 as I was driving on the city street (35mph) the speed stalled(decelerated) at 12mph, I pressed on the accelerator pedal all the way down in order to increase the speed but will not increase. I pulled to the side and stopped and then turned off the vehicle. I waited for about 5mins then restarted the vehicle. Drive system malfunction alarm cleared afterwards; I was able to accelerate to the speed of 35mph. The vehicle returned to normal operation state.

- Harleysville, PA, USA

problem #3

Jun 102020

Q3 4-cyl

  • 4,300 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My life was almost taken away by my cars engine failing in the middle of making a left turn on a 4-lane road where traffic is going 50 mph. When it stalled, the engine just quit leaving only electrical (lights & media) working. I felt I was trapped as a car was headed right for me and I could not even increase speed because the whole car just seem to not move forward. I eventually pulled into a median, but nonetheless I am scared to drive this car. Much like the person who also reported this issue.

- Greenville, SC, USA

problem #2

May 312020

Q3 4-cyl

  • 1,700 miles
I leased my Audi Q3 2020 on 04/30/2020. The main issue happened recently where I was driving on a busy boulevard doing about 50mph and the engine stalled leaving only the electrical components working. I managed to pull the car to the side with my hazard lights on but had oncoming traffic doing at least 60-70mph. I felt in danger and that this could have been a grave accident. I brought the car to Audi who says it's in need of a software update, they do now know when it will be available but would be in the 3rd quarter of 2020. They will call me to being my car back in for the update when available. They deemed it safe to drive, did not offer a courtesy vehicle or rental. I explained I do not feel safe and even made a report to Audi of America without any help. I have a 1 month old car that I feel is going to put my life and the lives of people around me in danger if this should happen again. They did not leave me with any choice other than to take the car back because I need to get to and from work. I explained that should the car be damaged, I be injured or worse that they are liable given that I brought the car in and the issue was not resolved. I see this report has been made multiple times and I can say this is a very scary situation to happen at full speed with many cars around you. I have also had multiple alerts saying driver assistance malfunction. I also notice that when stopped and the auto stop engages the steering wheel locks making it difficult to turn a corner from a red light. Additionally, while driving the car identifies tar on the road as lanes and jerks the car away and it is very difficult to pull the steering back.

- Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

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problem #1

Dec 202019

Q3

  • 523 miles
Auto stop/start system lags, causing steering wheel to lock up, preventing a turn through an intersection, or into a shopping area! this occurred as I was attempting a turn, from a complete stop, into a strip shopping center, in the baltimore area.

- Saint Michaels, MD, USA

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