The verdict
A mixed-report compact luxury suv, strong on driving and held back by ownership.
The 2024 Audi Q5 is the last of a generation that had been on sale since 2017, and it shows both the polish and the age. You get standard quattro all-wheel drive on every trim, a genuinely quiet and beautifully built cabin, a five-star NHTSA rating, and — new for 2024 — adaptive cruise, lane-departure steering assist and a heated steering wheel standard on the $46,495 base Premium. What you don't get is space or cheap ownership: 25.8 cu ft of cargo is small even for a compact SUV, the 2.0T needs premium fuel for 24 MPG combined and $3,150 a year, the warranty stops at 4 years/50,000 miles with no separate powertrain term, and IIHS rates it Marginal in the updated moderate overlap and pedestrian AEB tests. Buy it for the way it drives and feels, and only after you've priced a Genesis GV70.
Jump to scoresStrengths
- Five-star crash rating and real driver aids on the cheapest trim
- Quattro on every trim, and four powertrains to pick from
- A wide trim ladder and money on the hood in its run-out year
What holds it back
- The cargo hold is the smallest thing about it
- Depreciation and dealer service make it expensive to keep
- Warranty coverage ends early and nothing is included
Top alternatives
Cars shoppers cross-shop with the Audi Q5
2.79B-
BMW X3Compact Luxury SUVBetter at: Driving dynamicsThe most direct rival — same price, same class, sharper to drive and currently carrying incentives the redesigned Q5 does not.
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2.69C+
Genesis GV70Compact Luxury SUVBetter at: Value and warrantyDelivers comparable luxury and more standard equipment for thousands less, with a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty against Audi's 4-year/50,000.
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2.63C+
Lexus NXCompact Luxury SUVBetter at: Running costsHybrid economy near 39 MPG on regular fuel plus top-of-class reliability and resale, if the Q5's ~$2,413 annual fuel bill is the sticking point.
CompareHow it's evolved
10 scored model years · 2017–2026
Subject scores by year
Hover or tap a score to see what moved it versus the year before. A corner mark flags a big swing.
| Year | Performance | Efficiency | Safety | Space | Cost | Reliability | Tech | Use-case | Driving | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 58 | 45 | 84 | 46 | 42 | 72 | 85 | 72 | 72 | 77 |
| 2025 | 55 | 45 | 82 | 46 | 33 | 54 | 83 | 64 | 68 | 72 |
| 2024 | 56 | 42 | 69 | 47 | 35 | 59 | 67 | 59 | 70 | 68 |
| 2023 | 55 | 49 | 76 | 47 | 41 | 55 | 69 | 59 | 66 | 71 |
| 2022 | 54 | 49 | 78 | 48 | 43 | 49 | 67 | 60 | 67 | 67 |
| 2021 | 54 | 49 | 75 | 47 | 43 | 48 | 66 | 59 | 62 | 74 |
| 2020 | 53 | 44 | 63 | 50 | 41 | 56 | 60 | 57 | 66 | 72 |
| 2019 | 51 | 44 | 61 | 50 | 42 | 50 | 61 | 57 | 67 | 73 |
| 2018 | 50 | 47 | 70 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 57 | 57 | 67 | 73 |
| 2017 | 49 | 36 | 47 | 46 | 46 | 50 | 34 | 55 | 69 | 63 |
Compare two years
Best fit & conditions
Higher scores mean a better fit for that use case. Learn more about use-case fit →
Subject profile
Detailed scoring by subject
1Performance & PowertrainMid-pack among this car's ten categories.1.75C-
2024 is a carry-over year in the second-generation (Typ FY) Q5, and the 45 TFSI 2.0T — standard on the S line trims and the best-selling drivetrain in the range — makes 261 hp; the entry 40 TFSI version of the same 2.0T makes 201 hp.
The 45 TFSI 2.0T delivers 273 lb-ft (370 Nm) on a broad plateau; adequate for the compact luxury class but short of the six-cylinder rivals.
Audi's manufacturer figure for the 45 TFSI quattro is 5.7 seconds to 60 mph, with instrumented tests landing near 6.0 s; the 201-hp 40 TFSI needs roughly 6.8 s.
The 45 TFSI's 12-volt mild-hybrid 2.0T is quiet and pulls smoothly to redline once boost arrives, but reviewers consistently describe its reflexes as unsharp — there is a beat of lag off the line before the turbo and dual-clutch catch up.
The seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch shifts crisply at speed but is the recurring complaint in reviews of this generation: slow to engage from rest and indecisive in low-speed maneuvering, the familiar DCT creep behavior.
Audi rates the gas Q5 at 4,400 lbs with the factory tow package — mid-pack for a compact luxury SUV, and unchanged from the surrounding model years.
Every 2024 US Q5 is a quattro — there is no front-drive variant at any price — and the system includes ultra-technology clutch decoupling plus drive-select modes; it stops short of a low range or locking differentials.
A road-biased luxury crossover: roughly 8.2 in of ground clearance, no low range, no lockers, no skid plating and no off-road trim; the drive-select settings handle gravel and snow and nothing beyond that.
Unusually broad for 2024: two states of tune of the 2.0T (201 hp 40 TFSI, 261 hp 45 TFSI), the 362-hp 55 TFSI e plug-in hybrid with a 17.9-kWh battery, and the SQ5's 349-hp 3.0T V6 — four distinct choices including an electrified one.
2Efficiency & RangeOne of the Q5's weakest categories.0.79F
EPA rates the volume 45 TFSI S line quattro at 24 MPG combined; the lower-output 40 TFSI version of the same 2.0T rates 26 MPG. Both trail the hybridized compact luxury rivals that clear 30 MPG.
22 MPG city from the 45 TFSI's turbo four with standard quattro — the 12-volt mild-hybrid system trims idle consumption but cannot do the work of a full hybrid in stop-and-go.
28 MPG highway is respectable for a permanently all-wheel-drive premium SUV, and is where the Q5's tall gearing recovers most of what it loses in town.
An 18.5-gallon tank at the EPA's 24 MPG combined gives roughly 444 miles between fills — comfortably mid-pack for the segment, and one of the areas where the gas Q5 still beats its electrified rivals on convenience.
EPA's estimate for the 45 TFSI is $3,150 a year at 15,000 miles — near the top of the compact SUV cost band, driven as much by the premium-fuel requirement as by the 24 MPG rating.
The 2.0T TFSI takes 91-octane premium unleaded to make its rated output and hit its EPA numbers, and EPA classifies the fuel type as premium; there is no flex-fuel or regular-gas fallback in the gas lineup.
3SafetyOne of the Q5's strongest categories.2.64C+
NHTSA tested the 2024 Q5 SUV AWD and awarded the maximum five stars overall, with five stars in every frontal and side measure; only the rollover result falls short at four stars (16.4% calculated rollover risk, no tip in the dynamic test).
The 2024 Q5 carries no IIHS award — it is absent from the 2024 Top Safety Pick list (the 2023 Q5 earned the lower-tier TSP) — because it rates only Marginal in the updated moderate overlap front test, which evaluates rear-passenger protection, and Acceptable rather than Good in the updated side test. Its legacy results are strong (Good in both small overlap tests and the original moderate overlap test), but a Marginal in a current key crashworthiness test caps this item.
For 2024 Audi made adaptive cruise control and lane departure steering assist standard across the entire Q5 range, joining Audi pre sense front AEB with pedestrian detection, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic warning, lane departure warning and front and rear parking sensors — the full AEB/ACC/LKA/BSM/RCTA set on the base Premium. Points come off only because the surround-view camera and the more advanced assists still sit on Premium Plus and above.
IIHS rates the Q5's pedestrian front crash prevention only Marginal, and it earns no credit in the nighttime pedestrian evaluation; the system has not been run through the institute's updated vehicle-to-vehicle protocol. The hardware is present and standard, but the measured performance is at the bottom of the current luxury-SUV field.
Audi side assist blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic warning are standard on every 2024 Q5 including the base Premium, and are paired with standard front and rear parking sensors — but they are alert-only, with no autonomous braking intervention on the cross-traffic system, which is what separates this from the top band.
Lane departure warning with active lane assist is standard for 2024, and sustained lane centering is available through traffic jam assist — but that centering only engages in slow traffic below roughly 40 mph, so at highway speed the Q5 nudges rather than centers. Competent and unobtrusive, not a system reviewers lean on.
Adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist became standard on all 2024 Q5 trims and operates through the full speed range, bringing the car to a complete stop in traffic and resuming automatically. Audi's calibration is smooth and well regarded; the ceiling here is that traffic jam assist is a low-speed aid rather than a full highway-assist package.
Audi offered no hands-free highway driving system on any 2024 Q5 trim or option package — nothing comparable to Ford BlueCruise, GM Super Cruise or BMW Highway Assistant. The driver must keep hands on the wheel at all times, including in traffic jam assist.
IIHS rates two headlight variants: the Prestige's LED projector low and high beams with high-beam assist earn Good, while the volume Premium and Premium Plus trims — LED projector low beams with LED reflector high beams — rate only Acceptable. Good lighting is real but sits behind the price of the top trim.
The Q5's upright greenhouse, relatively slim pillars and high seating position give genuinely good natural sightlines in all directions — an advantage over its own Sportback sibling — backed by standard front and rear parking sensors and a rearview camera. The 360-degree camera that would compensate for what remains is a Premium Plus item, not standard.
IIHS rates the Q5's LATCH hardware Good for ease of use, and reviewers single out the well-positioned anchor and tether points, wide well-shaped rear door openings and a rear bench that slides and reclines to make room — one of this SUV's better family credentials. Only the front-seat compromise required by a rear-facing seat keeps it out of the top few points.
4Space & ComfortOne of the Q5's weakest categories.1.11D
Every 2024 Q5 is a two-row five-seater — the second-generation (Typ FY) Q5 has never offered a third row in the US, and 2024 is a carry-over year within that generation.
39.6 inches of front headroom is comfortably above the compact-luxury norm and the Q5's upright roofline preserves it far better than the Sportback body does.
40.9 inches is at the low end of the SUV band — adequate for tall drivers thanks to a long seat track, but the Q5's 111.0-inch wheelbase simply does not deliver the front stretch-out of larger crossovers.
37.7 inches is the figure published for the volume configuration and is mid-pack for a compact SUV; six-footers clear the headliner but the panoramic roof fitted from Premium Plus up is what sets the ceiling.
38.0 inches is genuinely good for the class, and the standard sliding rear bench lets a family shift the balance between rear knee room and cargo depth rather than living with one fixed compromise.
The 2024 Q5 has no third row at all and Audi offers none as an option — buyers needing seven seats are pushed up to the Q7. Scored in the low band per the framework rule rather than omitted.
25.8 cubic feet behind the second row sits at the very bottom of the SUV normalization band — a squared-off, usable hold, but small in absolute terms next to mainstream compact SUVs that clear 35 cu ft.
54 cubic feet seats-folded is below the bottom of the SUV band; the load floor is flat and the 40/20/40 split is unusually flexible, but the total volume is a compact-luxury figure, not a utility one.
Competent rather than clever: a covered center console bin, useful door pockets, an underfloor cargo well and the genuinely useful 40/20/40 sliding/reclining rear bench, but no signature storage innovation and no onboard household power. The wireless phone tray (Audi phone box) is a Premium Plus item, not standard on the volume trim.
Front and rear seats are repeatedly described as comfortable and supportive over long stints, with standard heated power front seats and a rear bench that both slides and reclines; ventilated fronts require the Warm Weather package on upper trims, which keeps this out of the top few points.
Firm, planted and well controlled with real compliance underneath, but reviewers consistently flag that it errs toward too firm — and the volume 45 TFSI S line's 19-inch wheels sharpen that. Passive dampers are standard; adaptive damping is an extra-cost option.
A quiet cabin is one of this Q5's most consistently praised traits — the mild-hybrid 2.0T settles into near-silence at cruise and wind and road noise are well suppressed for the class, without the acoustic double glazing and active cancellation that the segment's very best carry.
Rich for 2024: three-zone automatic climate control, heated power front seats and — new for this model year — a heated steering wheel with hands-on detection, all standard on the base Premium, plus remote engine start through the myAudi app on every gas Q5. Ventilated front seats stay optional on upper trims, and there are no heated rear seats on the volume trim.
5Cost of OwnershipThe Q5's lowest-graded category.0.32F
2024 is a late carry-over year in the second-generation (Typ FY) Q5, and the 201-hp 40 TFSI quattro Premium opens the nine-trim US ladder at $45,300 before Audi's $1,195 destination charge.
The 261-hp 45 TFSI S line is the volume drivetrain and the S line Premium is its entry point at $48,200 + $1,195 destination; a typical build adds the Convenience package (keyless entry, wireless charging) and premium paint, and CarEdge's transaction data puts a representative new Q5 near $54,000.
German luxury dealer service at 10,000-mile intervals puts the Q5 in the expensive end of the SUV band, and no scheduled service is included on a 2024 car — Audi Care is a separately purchased prepaid plan, so every visit inside the first five years is owner-paid.
The Q5 depreciates faster than its own class average — heavy lease-return supply and a warranty that lapses at four years both push used prices down, and the arrival of the all-new 2025 generation puts extra pressure on second-generation residuals.
The Audi New Vehicle Limited Warranty matches BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the compact luxury class but trails Genesis, which covers the directly comparable GV70 for 5 yr / 60,000 mi.
Audi offers no standalone extended powertrain term, so the 2.0T, seven-speed S tronic and quattro driveline are covered only for the same 4 yr / 50,000 mi as the rest of the car — a fraction of the 10 yr / 100,000 mi a Genesis GV70 buyer gets in the same price bracket.
No complimentary scheduled maintenance ships with a 2024 Q5 — Audi Care is a prepaid plan bought on top of the car, covering services from 10,000 to 40,000 miles — so what is actually included is 4 years of Audi 24-Hour Roadside Assistance, the 12-year corrosion warranty and an Audi Connect trial. Audi Signature Care, which bundles 3 yr / 30,000 mi of scheduled service, arrived only with model year 2026.
$52,000 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (46% retained, or about $23,920) leaves about $28,080 in depreciation. Add the projected $8,200 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $36,280 in total.
6Reliability & QualityMid-pack among this car's ten categories.1.99C-
Every model-level source lands on "average, with a known electronics weak spot" rather than good: Consumer Reports calls the 2024 Q5 about average and names in-car electronics as the trouble area, J.D. Power scores it 74/100 for Quality & Reliability in its Average band, and RepairPal ranks the Q5 11th of 14 luxury midsize SUVs at 3.0/5 with double the segment's unscheduled shop visits. Held to the middle rather than lower because none of that is a catastrophic-failure signal, and pushed below the Q3's 72 in this same catalog because the Q5 has a real NHTSA complaint cluster (20 filings, 11 of them driver-assistance) where the Q3 had none.
Audi's J.D. Power standing is bottom-third across both studies and across multiple years, including the study that measures this exact 2024 cohort: 242 PP100 in the 2024 IQS against a 194 industry average, tied with Volvo and ahead of only Dodge, then last of all brands in the 2025 IQS, with the dependability studies telling the same story. Kept out of the failing band only because Consumer Reports reads the brand far more kindly — mid-pack rather than bottom — so the major sources genuinely disagree rather than converging on bad.
Four recalls is ordinary volume for the segment, but one of them is an engine campaign on this exact gas quattro powertrain — cylinder head cover screws left improperly tightened, allowing an oil leak with a fire risk — and that is an assembly defect on the scored configuration rather than a supplier or paperwork fix. The bigger mark is the TSB and complaint pattern behind the recall list: Audi issued a service bulletin covering pre sense warnings, warning jolts and unintended brake engagement across 2018–2024 Q5s, and the 2024 car's complaint log is dominated by exactly that failure. Two of the four recalls (charging cable, high-voltage battery) reach only the 55 TFSI e PHEV and not the gas trim being scored, which is what keeps this at mid-band rather than lower.
The engine family is the proven one — the 2.0L EA888 turbo four has been in continuous VW Group production since 2008 and the later revisions resolved the oil-consumption and timing-chain failures of the early units — but two things pull this out of the top band. The transmission is the DL382 seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch, not a torque-converter automatic: it is a wet-clutch design and far more robust than the dry DQ200, yet mechatronic valve-body failure is a documented pattern and Audi treats the fluid as a lifetime fill while independent specialists insist on periodic changes. And the 2024 engine's own recall for improperly tightened cylinder head cover screws is a durability-adjacent build defect on this exact unit rather than a hypothetical.
This is the Q5's strongest reliability-and-quality dimension and the one place it clearly outranks the cheaper Q3 in this catalog: reviewers consistently describe real metal, leather and wood, soft-touch upper dash and door tops, and mechanical knobs where rivals have gone all-touch. Kept out of the top band because the criticism is specific and repeated — door trim that is not as padded as the price implies, plenty of black plastic and piano-black on the console, and a design that by 2024 is six years old against a freshly redesigned Genesis GV70 or Volvo XC60, with reviewers noting it does not scream luxury the way some competitors do.
The assembly itself is good — panel fit draws praise, not complaints — but this item is explicitly scored on initial-quality reports, and the study measuring this exact cohort is unkind: Audi posted 242 PP100 in the 2024 IQS, second-worst brand of all, well behind both the industry and the premium average, and the Q5 won no segment quality award the way the Q3 did in its year. Consumer Reports' owner reports back that up with squeak-and-rattle and door-closure items rather than pure software gripes. Scored mid-band because the defects are overwhelmingly electronic and trim-level annoyances rather than structural misassembly.
Roughly 310 US Audi dealers across 49 states is adequate national coverage but visibly thinner than BMW's or Mercedes-Benz's, leaving real gaps outside metro areas — and this car's characteristic faults (MMI blackouts, pre sense false activation) are dealer-diagnosis jobs where network density actually costs the owner time. Service satisfaction is mid-pack rather than a selling point: J.D. Power rates the 2024 Q5's dealership experience 78/100, its Average band.
Running costs are above the segment even before the German-dealer labor premium: RepairPal puts the Q5 at $928 a year against an $807 luxury midsize SUV average and — the harder number — 1.2 unscheduled shop visits per year against 0.6 for the segment, so the car is in the bay twice as often as its rivals. Parts availability itself is fine, because the MLB Evo platform and EA888 engine are shared across the A4, A5, Q5 and SQ5 and the European aftermarket (FCP Euro, ECS Tuning) supports them well. Held above the failing band by CarEdge's ten-year projection, which actually beats the luxury-SUV average, and pulled down by a four-year/50,000-mile warranty with no separate powertrain term and no complimentary scheduled maintenance, which expires well before the mechatronic and carbon-buildup service window opens.
7Technology & InfotainmentMid-pack among this car's ten categories.2.55C+
The 10.1-inch MMI touch response display is standard across the 2024 Q5 range and is also the largest available — Audi offered no upgrade screen, so the volume trim gets the same panel as the Prestige. That is generous packaging but a modest diagonal by 2024 standards.
MMI touch response is fast, crisply rendered and logically laid out, and Audi kept real hardware — a physical volume control and separate climate panel — rather than burying everything in the screen. It loses ground only on menu depth and the haptic-click interface some reviewers find fussy.
Wireless Apple CarPlay is standard on every 2024 Q5 including the base Premium, but Android Auto is wired-only — a real asymmetry that keeps this out of the top band even though phone projection itself costs nothing extra.
Audi's natural-language voice assistant with cloud-assisted processing works well when fitted, but MMI navigation plus is not standard on the volume Premium — it arrives with the Navigation package on Premium Plus and standard only on Prestige, so most Q5 buyers navigate through their phone.
The 10-speaker base system with HD Radio is solid, and the optional Bang & Olufsen 3D surround system with 19 speakers is one of the better premium setups in the compact luxury class — standard from Premium Plus rather than reserved for the top trim.
A full-digital configurable gauge display is standard on every 2024 Q5 including the base Premium, with the larger 12.3-inch Audi virtual cockpit plus — still one of the best digital clusters made, with full-screen map mode — standard from Premium Plus. Analog gauges are not offered at any price.
Audi connect delivers over-the-air map and infotainment updates and the new-for-2024 Audi app store adds third-party apps to MMI, but the 2024 Q5 does not receive whole-vehicle OTA software updates that add hardware functions the way Audi's e-tron models and the EV-native rivals do — squarely the infotainment/maps-only band.
myAudi gained remote engine start for 2024 on every gas Q5, joining remote lock/unlock, vehicle status and locate, and Audi bundles it under a complimentary 10-year Audi connect CARE plan rather than a subscription. It stops short of the top band: no phone-as-key digital key on the Q5, and remote start is limited to two 10-minute runs.
USB-C data/charge ports front and rear plus 12-volt outlets cover the basics well, but wireless charging (the Audi phone box) only arrives with Premium Plus and there is no household AC outlet anywhere in the range.
Proximity key entry, push-button start and a power liftgate are all standard on the base Premium, and app-based remote start is new for 2024 — but the hands-free (kick-sensor) liftgate is a Convenience-package item and Audi offered no phone-as-key on the 2024 Q5.
A rearview camera with front and rear parking sensors is standard on every trim, and the 360-degree surround-view system is standard from Premium Plus rather than confined to the top trim — but automated park assist is a Prestige-level feature and the camera resolution trails the class leaders.
A head-up display is offered on the 2024 Q5 but only as Prestige standard equipment — it cannot be added to the volume 45 TFSI S line Premium at any price, which is the definition of the middle band.
8Use-Case FitMid-pack among this car's ten categories.1.97C-
IIHS rates the Q5's LATCH hardware Good, the rear doors open wide onto an upright cabin, and the 40/20/40 bench slides and reclines so a rear-facing seat can be accommodated without evicting the front passenger entirely. The limit is the 25.8 cu ft hold — a full-size stroller plus a week's shopping is a genuine squeeze.
The credentials are split: NHTSA gives the 2024 Q5 five stars overall and Audi made adaptive cruise, lane departure steering assist, AEB, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic warning standard on the base trim families actually buy — but IIHS rates it Marginal in the updated moderate overlap front test (the rear-passenger test), Marginal on pedestrian AEB with no nighttime credit, and it earns no 2024 Top Safety Pick at all.
Three-zone climate control with rear vents, comfortable supportive seats front and rear, a quiet cabin, rear USB-C and a sliding/reclining bench make the Q5 a pleasant four-up tourer. What holds it to the middle band is luggage: with the bench slid back for adult rear legroom the cargo hold is small for a family of four on a week away, and there are no rear screens or heated rear seats on the volume trim.
A relaxing commuter in most respects — quiet, comfortable, commanding sightlines, standard adaptive cruise with traffic jam assist for 2024 — but the seven-speed dual-clutch is the recurring complaint of this generation: slow to engage from rest and indecisive at parking speeds, which is exactly where a commuter lives.
Expensive per mile: 24 MPG combined from the volume 45 TFSI, and the 2.0T requires 91-octane premium, which puts EPA's annual fuel bill at $3,150 — well above what a commuter in a hybridized rival like the Lexus NX 350h pays. The 12-volt mild-hybrid trims idle draw but does nothing meaningful in stop-and-go.
A compact 184.3-inch footprint, a 38.7-foot turning circle and genuinely good natural sightlines from the upright greenhouse make the Q5 easy to place in town, backed by standard front and rear parking sensors. It falls short of the top band only because the surround-view camera that makes tight garages trivial is a Premium Plus item.
A 4,400-lb tow rating with the factory hitch is respectable for a compact luxury crossover and the 45 TFSI's 273 lb-ft pulls a small trailer without drama, but this is a unibody five-seater with 54 cu ft of maximum cargo, no bed, no meaningful payload headroom and no work-oriented configuration.
The EA888 2.0T and quattro hardware are high-volume, well-proven components across the VW Group, but the Q5 has no fleet or trade presence, its interior is leather and soft-touch rather than wear-friendly, and premium-brand parts and labor make hard-use ownership costly. Luxury-oriented by design in a work context.
Cargo tie-down points, a 12-volt outlet, an underfloor bin, standard roof rails and a factory tow hitch cover the basics, but there is no onboard AC power, no washable surfaces and no upfit ecosystem — Audi's accessory catalogue runs to bike and ski carriers, not ladder racks or shelving.
Genuinely good mile-eater: a quiet cabin, seats reviewers call comfortable and supportive over distance, roughly 444 miles from the 18.5-gallon tank, and adaptive cruise with traffic jam assist standard for 2024. It is kept out of the top band by a ride reviewers call too firm on long stretches and by lane centering that only works below about 40 mph.
Standard quattro all-wheel drive on every trim, roof rails, a 4,400-lb tow rating and drive-select modes make gravel roads, bike racks and a small trailer entirely routine. It is pavement-plus rather than adventure-grade: ~8.2 in of ground clearance, no low range, no locking differentials, no skid plating and no off-road trim.
The mechanics are excellent for the class — 40/20/40 rear seatbacks that slide, recline and fold to a flat floor, a squared-off hold, underfloor storage, standard roof rails and an available factory hitch — but the absolute volume is the constraint: 25.8 cu ft behind the seats and 54 cu ft folded means bulky gear goes on the roof.
9Driving ExperienceThe Q5's best-graded category.2.71B-
Taut and agile for a compact luxury crossover: standard quattro plus a well-tied-down chassis give real grip and poise when pushed on a back road, with little of the roll or float that afflicts the class. It stops short of the top band because the setup prioritizes stability over adjustability — the SQ5 is where Audi put the sharper edge.
Accurate and consistently weighted — you always put the nose where you intend — but reviewers converge on the same criticism: it is lifeless, transmitting almost nothing about what the front tires are doing. Precise but numb is the middle band by definition.
A firm, immediately responsive pedal with plenty of force on tap and no mushiness — one of the Q5's stronger dynamic traits, and free of the regen-blending awkwardness the PHEV version has to manage. Held below the top band only by the absence of published instrumented stopping distances for this model year.
Once rolling, the 261-hp mild-hybrid 2.0T pulls smoothly and cleanly to redline, but the calibration is the weak link: a beat of turbo lag off the line and a seven-speed dual-clutch that is slow to engage from rest and hesitant in low-speed maneuvering. Fine on the highway, occasionally clumsy in a parking garage.
The 2.0T is well isolated and near-silent at cruise inside a cabin Consumer Reports calls quiet, with no coarseness through the controls. It is inoffensive rather than pleasant — the four-cylinder has no character under load, which is the trade against the six-cylinder rivals in this class.
38.7 feet is mid-pack for a compact SUV — usable in town given the Q5's short 184.3-inch length, but no better than average for the segment band.
One of the Q5's standout traits: a commanding, highly adjustable seating position with excellent all-round sightlines from the upright greenhouse, an uncluttered center stack, and — unusually for 2024 — retained physical volume and climate controls rather than everything migrating into the touchscreen.
Competent and quietly satisfying rather than involving — the grip and body control are there, but numb steering, an unremarkable four-cylinder soundtrack and a hesitant dual-clutch mean nobody takes the long way home in a 45 TFSI. Enthusiasts in this showroom are pointed at the SQ5.
10Value & Market PositionOne of the Q5's strongest categories.2.59C+
The $46,495 Premium covers the basics well — quattro all-wheel drive standard on every trim, leather upholstery, heated power front seats, heated leather steering wheel, a 10.1-inch MMI touchscreen with navigation and wireless Apple CarPlay, power liftgate, dual-zone climate and 18-inch alloys — but Audi still charges a la carte for things rivals include: the panoramic sunroof waits for Premium Plus, the 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit Plus waits for Premium Plus, and keyless entry sits in the Convenience package.
Fair rather than sharp: $49,395 buys 261 hp, standard quattro and a genuinely well-finished cabin, but the Genesis GV70 undercuts it with more standard content and a far longer warranty, and reviewers land on the Q5 as competent without a standout case for the money in its final generation year.
One of the widest ladders in the segment: nine SUV trims spanning three powertrains — 40 TFSI (201 hp), 45 TFSI S line (261 hp) and 55 TFSI e plug-in hybrid (362 hp) — each in Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige, plus the 349-hp SQ5 above them and a Sportback body alongside, from $46,495 to the mid-$60,000s.
The Q5 stayed Audi's US best-seller in 2024 at 56,799 deliveries — top-tier volume for the compact luxury class — but the trajectory was poor: down 23% year over year (17,346 fewer units) in a run-out year, against a brand that fell 14% overall while the Q3 beside it rose 45%.
The four rings carry real premium cachet and a design-and-interior reputation that supports satisfaction and residuals, but Audi's US momentum in 2024 lagged BMW and Mercedes-Benz, both of which outsell it, and the brand's below-average reliability reputation is a drag on the halo.
A run-out year with real money on the hood and no sign of desperation pricing: a $2,500 customer bonus on 2024 Q5 and Q5 Sportback purchases or leases, 3.99% APR for 60 months through Audi Financial Services, a $2,000 Costco member incentive during promotional windows, and advertised leases capitalized around 16% off MSRP.
2024 is the last model year of the second-generation Typ FY Q5, on sale in the US since model year 2017–18 and last meaningfully refreshed for 2021 — reviewers were already calling out its age, and the all-new third-generation Q5 on the PPC platform landed for 2025, so a 2024 buyer took delivery of a car being replaced within the year.
Consistently well-reviewed but never the pick of a deep class: KBB rated it 4.5/5 and ranked it #5 Best Luxury Compact SUV of 2024, safety credentials are strong with an IIHS Top Safety Pick (not the Plus) and a five-star NHTSA overall, and CarBuzz scored it 8.1/10 — yet the recurring verdict is a competent car with no standout trait, and it collected no 10Best, Top Pick or NACTOY recognition.
