Total Complaints
3 filings
AUDI SQ5 · model year
3 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2023AUDISQ5 carries 3 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 2 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2023 SQ5 is forward collision avoidance: automatic emergency braking with 1 filings, followed by electrical system (1) and structure:body (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 9 investigation files overlapping the 2023 SQ5. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
3 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
| STRUCTURE:BODY | 1 |
My 2023 Audi SQ5 Sportback's key fob stopped working, and when I took it into the Audi dealership they said that it is a known issue that if you don't unclog the drain (not sure where that is - was never told I needed to do so) then there can be leaks that affect the wiring and the Comfort Control Module, rendering the vehicle unusable. They are now trying to charge me approximately $16,000 to fix the vehicle when it is obvious that this is a manufacturing defect not present on other vehicles. I know there has been a recall for other Audi Q5 models, and it seems that the new generation of Audi Q5 has the same issue. I have also seen online that this occurs quite often to other Audi SQ5 and Q5 owners.
My 2023 Audi SQ5 Sportback's key fob stopped working, and when I took it into the Audi dealership they said that it is a known issue that if you don't unclog the drain (not sure where that is - was never told I needed to do so) then there can be leaks that affect the wiring and the Comfort Control Module, rendering the vehicle unusable. They are now trying to charge me approximately $16,000 to fix the vehicle when it is obvious that this is a manufacturing defect not present on other vehicles. I know there has been a recall for other Audi Q5 models, and it seems that the new generation of Audi Q5 has the same issue. I have also seen online that this occurs quite often to other Audi SQ5 and Q5 owners.
Purchased car 3/18/23. Not even two months after purchasing - on 5/11/23, I was in far left lane going to make a left turn - stopped and had blinker on. No cars, pedestrians or any items were in front or behind me. Out of nowhere the car slams on breaks and the red presense light comes up on dashboard. Vehicle may have even turned off. Both myself and passenger thought we had been hit from behind due to the amount of force and both had neck pain afterwards. Only 3 days later, nearly the exact same thing occurred. I was in far left turn lane but this time a car was behind me also wanting to turn. When proceeding to turn, the brakes were slammed on. I don't recall seeing the presense light this time. My dog flew out of backseat and the car behind me honked and driver was screaming out his window at me. I was lucky I was not rear ended. I called the dealership who explained this happens with the presense and they could change settings but it is a known complaint. Said it can
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.