Audi Q3 SUV - Reliability & safety

The Audi brand enjoys an enviable image, bolstered by the high-quality finish of its cars and their aspirational, desirable aura. However, material quality clearly isn't everything – not every Audi owner has been entirely delighted by their experience.

Audi Q3 reliability

The Audi Q3 came 64th out of the top 75 cars in our 2020 Driver Power survey, but it's score for reliability and build quality was below average. It's encouraging, though, that only 6.3% of owners reported a fault within the first year.

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Audi finished in 21st position out of 30 manufacturers covered in our brand survey, which is a fairly lacklustre result, but still a stronger showing than 27th-place BMW or 28th-place Mercedes. Audi drivers are very happy with the engines, acceleration, sat nav, child friendly features and interior build quality. Few owners praised their Audi's running costs, however, with dealer servicing reported to be too expensive. Exterior build quality was rated average and exterior styling below average. Reliability is also a bugbear – 20% of Audi owners reported at least one fault with their car during the first year of ownership.

Safety

The Audi Q3 breezed through the Euro NCAP safety testing and was awarded a five star rating as a result. The Q3 comes with the brand's pre-sense safety systems. Among the features fitted are autonomous emergency braking, lane-departure warning and assistance, light-sensing headlamps and rain-sensing wipers. A semi-autonomous 'adaptive cruise assist' system can be added to cars with the S tronic automatic gearbox – it can look after the accelerator, brake and steering to follow the car in front, with the aim of reducing driver workload on long journeys.