2023 Audi Q7

2023 is a change year for the base engine: the Q7 45 TFSI adopts a revised turbo 2.0L four making 261 hp, up 13 hp from the 248 hp 2022 unit. The 55 TFSI 3.0T V6 carries over at 335 hp; the 500-hp SQ7 is a separate model.

Peak torque of the volume 45 TFSI 2.0T; the optional 48-volt mild-hybrid 3.0T V6 delivers 369 lb-ft from 1,370 rpm.

Published 0–60 for the 261-hp 45 TFSI quattro; mid-pack for a mid-size luxury SUV, with the V6 a full second quicker.

The EA888 2.0T is quiet and smooth in normal driving with only mild off-idle turbo lag, and the optional V6 adds a 48-volt mild-hybrid system that makes stop/start and coasting transitions nearly imperceptible. The four works audibly harder than the V6 under full throttle in a ~4,900-lb SUV, which keeps it out of the top band.

Every 2023 Q7 uses the ZF 8HP eight-speed Tiptronic automatic — a widely praised unit that shifts smoothly, holds sensible gears and rarely hunts, with competent paddle-shift manual control.

Maximum properly-equipped rating in any configuration, per this item's definition — the 3.0T V6 with the factory towing package. The volume 45 TFSI is rated at 4,400 lbs.

quattro permanent all-wheel drive is standard on every 2023 Q7 trim, using a self-locking center differential with a 40:60 default front/rear split that can send up to 70% forward or 85% rearward, plus optional torque-vectoring sport differential. No low-range transfer case, which caps it below the top band.

A road-biased luxury crossover: roughly 8 in of ground clearance on steel springs, no low range, no lockers or skid plates, and no off-road trim. The optional adaptive air suspension adds an offroad/allroad lift mode and an offroad drive-select setting, which is the extent of its provision.

Three distinct gas powertrains span the US nameplate for 2023 — 2.0T I4, 48V mild-hybrid 3.0T V6, and the SQ7's 4.0T V8 — but nothing electrified: the Q7 TFSI e plug-in hybrid is a European offering and is not sold in the US, and there is no hybrid or EV variant.

EPA combined figure for the volume 45 TFSI 2.0T quattro; the 3.0T V6 rates 20 combined. Both are AWD-only, and neither is helped by a full hybrid system.

EPA city rating for the volume 45 TFSI quattro — weak for a mid-size SUV in a class where hybrid rivals post 30-plus in town.

EPA highway rating for the volume 45 TFSI quattro; the eight-speed's tall top gears help, but full-time quattro and roughly 4,900 lbs cap it well short of class leaders.

A large 22.5-gallon tank offsets mediocre economy: 21 combined MPG yields roughly 472 miles for the volume trim, which is respectable rather than exceptional for the segment.

EPA's annual cost at 15,000 mi/yr — the combination of 21 MPG and a premium-fuel recommendation puts the volume trim at the top of the SUV cost band, so it scores at the floor.

Premium gasoline is recommended rather than required on both the 45 and 55 TFSI — the engines will run on regular with reduced output, but Audi's recommendation means most owners pay the premium spread on every fill of a 22.5-gallon tank. No plug-in or flex-fuel option exists in the US for 2023.

NHTSA tested the 2023 Q7 directly (not a carry-forward rating) and awarded 5 stars overall: 4-star frontal (4 driver / 5 passenger), 5-star side across barrier and pole, and 4-star rollover with a 15.5% rollover risk and no tip in the dynamic test.

Clean sweep of Good crashworthiness results — driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints — and a 2023 Top Safety Pick+ award. It falls short of the top of the band only because the award is build-date-conditional (vehicles built after January 2023) and the results come from the older side/moderate-overlap test protocols rather than IIHS's updated tests.

Every 2023 Q7 including the volume 45 TFSI Premium gets Audi pre sense basic/front (AEB with pedestrian detection), lane departure warning, Audi side assist blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear automatic braking, front and rear parking sensors and automatic high beams. Adaptive cruise assist with lane guidance — the ACC and lane-centering half of the suite — is not standard on Premium or Premium Plus; it is bundled into the Convenience package, which keeps this out of the top band.

Top marks in IIHS front crash prevention: Superior vehicle-to-vehicle and Superior daytime pedestrian, with Advanced — one notch below Superior — in the harder nighttime pedestrian test. That combination sits at the top of the segment.

Audi side assist with pre sense rear is standard on every trim rather than a package item, and coverage extends past alert-only: rear cross-traffic alert escalates from MMI arrows to a warning tone and a brake jolt in critical situations, and rear automatic braking is standard. Held below the top band by the absence of trailer-aware coverage on a 7,700-lb-rated SUV.

Lane departure warning is standard but active lane keeping is not — IIHS lists lane departure prevention as optional, and true lane centering arrives only with adaptive cruise assist in the Convenience package. When fitted, Audi's adaptive cruise assist holds the lane smoothly and is well regarded; the deduction is for availability, not behavior.

Adaptive cruise assist is a full-speed-range stop-and-go system that combines distance control with lane guidance into a single well-integrated highway assist, and reviewers find it smooth and confident. It is optional rather than standard on the volume trims, which is what keeps it just under the top band.

Audi offered no hands-free highway driving system in the US in 2023. Adaptive cruise assist is explicitly a hands-on system requiring continuous steering-wheel torque, with no equivalent to BlueCruise or Super Cruise anywhere in the Q7 order guide.

The single weakest part of the Q7's safety case, and it splits the model year in half: 2023 Q7s built before February 2023 earned Poor on every available headlight variation because of excessive glare. Audi re-aimed the lamps for later builds, after which the volume trims' lamps rate Acceptable and only the 55 TFSI Prestige's HD Matrix-Design LED with Laser Light rates Good — so a volume-trim buyer gets Acceptable at best, and an early-build car gets Poor.

Better than the three-row luxury norm: a tall upright glasshouse, a small forward quarter window that opens up the A-pillar area, and reviewers reporting minimal blind zones. Thick D-pillars and a high beltline still hamper the over-the-shoulder view, and camera compensation is uneven — a rear camera and parking sensors are standard but the surround-view system is package or upper-trim content.

IIHS rates the Q7's LATCH ease of use Good and credits it with extra anchor positions — all five rear seating positions across the second and third rows carry complete child-seat attachment hardware, which is unusual and makes multi-seat installs easy. The third row's 29.2 in of legroom is tight enough to complicate a rear-facing seat back there, so it is not a perfect score.

Unlike most mid-size luxury SUVs, the Q7 ships with a third row on every 2023 trim — seven seats are standard, not an option, and no six-seat captain's-chair configuration is offered in the US.

Generous front headroom for the class, measured with the panoramic sunroof that is standard equipment on every 2023 Q7 trim.

Adequate rather than expansive front legroom — the Q7's 117.9 in wheelbase is spent on making three rows work rather than on stretching the front footwell.

Second-row headroom is strong for a mid-size luxury SUV thanks to the Q7's upright roofline, and it beats the 2023 X5's 38.7 in despite carrying a third row underneath the same roof.

The second row is genuinely adult-sized at 38.8 in and slides fore/aft to trade legroom with the third row — a meaningful advantage over two-row rivals in the same footprint.

A real third row that a two-row X5 or GLE simply does not have, with power fold/raise and complete LATCH hardware back there — but 29.2 in of legroom and 35.9 in of headroom make it a children-and-teens space, with adults tolerable only for short hops.

With the third row folded the Q7 offers 35.7 cu ft — respectable against the 2023 X5's 33.9 cu ft, but modest against three-row mainstream SUVs, and only 14.2 cu ft survives with all seven seats in use.

69.6 cu ft maximum is below the three-row SUV norm and trails the two-row X5's 72.3 cu ft — the Q7 spends its interior volume on a third row rather than on a long load bay.

Competent, conventional storage: a deep covered console bin, usable door pockets, an underfloor cargo well and a genuinely flat load floor when both rear rows drop. Nothing innovative — no household outlet, no configurable console, and the second-row bench does not fold in a 40/20/40 split the way several rivals' do.

Heated eight-way power front seats with memory are standard and reviewers consistently praise their long-haul support; Premium Plus and Prestige add massaging/ventilated front chairs. The second row is comfortable and slides, but flat third-row cushions keep it out of the top band.

The standard steel-spring setup absorbs broken pavement well and stays flat through corners, but reviewers repeatedly note it is firm at low speed on the larger wheel packages; the optional adaptive air suspension is what lifts it to genuinely plush.

Isolation is one of the Q7's signature strengths — reviewers describe the cabin as impressively quiet at highway speed, with acoustic glass and thorough sealing keeping wind and road noise well suppressed. The 2.0T does make itself heard under hard acceleration, which is the only real intrusion.

Tri-zone automatic climate control, heated power front seats, leather, ambient lighting and a panoramic sunroof are all standard on the volume Premium trim, with four-zone climate, heated rear and ventilated/massaging front seats available higher up. Held out of the top band because ventilated seats and the heated steering wheel are Prestige/package content rather than standard.

Audi raised Q7 pricing during the model year, so 2023 has two widely published entry figures: an early $57,500 base ($58,695 delivered) and a later $59,200 base ($60,395 delivered). The later figure is used here because it is what KBB records as the original MSRP and what most of the model year transacted at.

Premium Plus is the volume Audi trim and the 261-hp 45 TFSI is the volume Q7 engine — the same configuration the rest of this scorecard describes — and it is where the top-view camera, heated steering wheel and premium audio become standard. Real 2023 Premium Plus cars were commonly optioned to the high $60Ks.

Nothing is included on a 2023 Q7 — the first service is owner-paid — and years 4–5 fall outside the 4-year/50,000-mile warranty on a 5,000-lb SUV with 48-volt hardware, adaptive air suspension and 20-inch-plus tires, so the back half of the period carries real repair exposure. Published sources spread very widely, so this is a mid-range figure rather than a single citation.

The Q7 sheds value faster than its luxury mid-size SUV class average, and the observed three-year trajectory on real 2023 cars is tracking to a mid-40s five-year figure — normal for a big German luxury SUV and in line with the X5 and GLE.

Audi's 4-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper term matches BMW and Mercedes-Benz for 2023 and beats the 3-year/36,000-mile mainstream norm, but trails Genesis's 5-year/60,000-mile coverage — squarely mid-band.

Audi publishes no standalone extended powertrain warranty, so engine and drivetrain coverage on a 2023 Q7 simply expires with the bumper-to-bumper term at four years — well below the 5–10 year range this item is graded against and far behind the 10-year powertrain coverage several mainstream and Korean rivals offer.

No complimentary scheduled maintenance of any kind came with a 2023 Q7 — Audi's included first service ended after MY2019 and Audi Care is a prepaid plan bought on top of the car — so the owner pays from the very first 10,000-mile service. What is included is real but ordinary: 4-year/50,000-mile roadside assistance running with the warranty, the 12-year corrosion warranty, and an Audi connect trial. That places it in the "no complimentary coverage" band, well behind Genesis (scheduled maintenance plus valet service) and behind the 2023 BMW X5, whose Ultimate Care covered scheduled service for 3 years/36,000 miles.

$67,000 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (44% retained, or about $29,480) leaves about $37,520 in depreciation. Add the projected $7,300 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $44,820 in total.

The two model-specific sources land on "average," not "bad": Consumer Reports says the 2023 Q7 has about average reliability compared with other cars from the same model year, and is confident enough in that data to project the 2025 car as more reliable than the average new vehicle partly on the strength of the 2023 survey returns. J.D. Power scores this exact model year 78/100 for quality and reliability. What keeps it out of the upper band is that the brand-level read on precisely this cohort is poor — the 2026 VDS surveys 2023 model-year owners after three years and puts Audi at 244 PP100 against a 204 industry average — and RepairPal rates the nameplate only 2.5/5.0. Mixed signals between sources is what the middle band describes; scored above its Q5 sibling because CR reads that car as outright below average while this one is not.

This is a brand property rather than a model one, and Audi's multi-year standing is bottom-third with no recovery yet visible: 24th and among the five worst brands in the 2026 VDS at 244 PP100 against a 204 average, 273 PP100 in the 2025 VDS, and dead last of all brands in the 2025 Initial Quality Study at 269 PP100 versus a 192 industry average. Held above the failing band because Consumer Reports reads Audi far more kindly than J.D. Power does — 16th overall and 8th among luxury brands in the 2026 table, i.e. mid-pack rather than bottom — so the two major sources disagree rather than agreeing on "bad," and because CR attributes much of Audi's recent slide to the Q4 e-tron and the hybrids rather than to conventional gas models like this one.

Three NHTSA campaigns against the 2023 Q7, and none is a powertrain, fire or stop-drive event — two are airbag issues with straightforward inspect-or-replace remedies and the third is a rearview-camera software update swept up in a campaign covering Audi's 2019–2026 range generally rather than anything specific to this car. Backing that up is an unusually quiet service record: the NHTSA complaints database holds zero owner complaints against the 2023 Q7 as of September 2026, where the same query returns 32 for the 2023 Q5 and 61 and 71 for the 2019 and 2021 Q7. Kept out of the top band because two of the three campaigns concern restraint systems, where the consequence of the defect is injury in a crash, not because the volume or pattern is troubling.

The volume 45 TFSI pairs the 2.0L EA888 turbo four — in continuous VW Group production since 2008, with the early oil-consumption and timing-chain failures long since designed out — with a ZF 8HP eight-speed Tiptronic, a torque-converter automatic with one of the best high-mileage records of any modern gearbox. That combination is the clearest reliability advantage the Q7 holds over its Q5 sibling, which drives a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch and inherits its mechatronic and clutch-pack failure modes. Held to the upper-middle band rather than the top for three reasons: the EA888 carries the usual direct-injection intake-valve carbon buildup and water-pump/thermostat attention, it is a four-cylinder hauling a three-row SUV of roughly 4,850 lb and is working near the top of its map to do it, and the 55 TFSI V6 that a large share of US buyers actually take has a documented weakness of its own.

Materials are the Q7's strongest suit in this category and the reviews are near-unanimous — Edmunds calls the design and materials top-notch in true Audi fashion, and Kelley Blue Book describes the cabin as full of first-rate materials and one of the most refined in the class. The 2023 model year specifically added synthetic leather trim across the dash and door panels, so the touch surfaces improved rather than stood still. Kept just below the very top of the band because by 2023 this is a facelifted version of a 2015-generation cabin whose dual touchscreen MMI has been overtaken by newer rivals, and because the criticism the car does attract — MMI usability and glossy surfaces that mark — is aimed at the interface rather than the substance of the materials.

Static assembly is a genuine strength — Bratislava-built Audis are a benchmark for panel fit, and no reviewer of this car complains about alignment or structural rattling. But this item also asks about initial-quality reports and in-service squeaks, and there the picture is only middling: Audi finished last of all brands in the 2025 IQS and posted 244 PP100 in the VDS covering exactly this model year, and the owner complaints that do exist are assembly-and-wiring faults rather than design ones — a front door that rattles whenever the car is moving with dealers unable to resolve it, the lower MMI climate screen going blank, lane assist re-enabling itself, the electric parking brake engaging at startup about half the time. Scored above the Q5's equivalent because the 2023 Q7 has drawn no NHTSA complaints at all and CR reads it as average rather than below, and well clear of the low band because none of this is misalignment or gross assembly failure.

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 the faults this car actually generates (MMI blackouts, a door rattle, driver-assist behaving unpredictably) are dealer-diagnosis jobs that owners report taking repeat visits to resolve, or not resolving at all. Service satisfaction is mid-pack for a premium brand rather than a reason to buy, with J.D. Power's Customer Service Index consistently placing Audi behind Lexus and Porsche. Scored identically to the Q3 and Q5 items because the network is a brand property, not a model one.

Supply is the good half: the Q7 sits on the MLB Evo platform shared with the Q8, Porsche Cayenne and Bentayga and uses the EA888 and EA839 engines found across the whole VW Group, so mechanical parts are abundant and the European specialist aftermarket covers the car thoroughly. Cost is the bad half, though it is closer to segment-normal than the Q5's is: RepairPal puts Q7 upkeep at $1,185 a year against a $1,127 luxury fullsize SUV average — near parity with its class but nearly double the $652 all-vehicle figure — with 0.9 unscheduled shop visits a year against 0.7 for the segment. Kept below the mainstream band because European dealer labour rates apply, the electronic modules generating most of this car's faults are effectively dealer-only, and the adaptive air suspension standard on the 55 TFSI is a large-ticket item once out of warranty, with the 4-year/50,000-mile coverage carrying no separate powertrain term. Not lower because the severity odds and CarEdge's ten-year projection both come in better than the luxury-SUV average.

Every 2023 Q7 uses Audi's MIB3 dual-screen stack — a 10.1 in upper display for infotainment and an 8.6 in lower display for climate. No larger screen is available on any trim, so 10.1 in is both the volume-trim and the maximum figure, modest by 2023 standards.

MMI touch response is quick, sharply rendered and logically organized, with haptic click feedback that makes blind inputs possible. It loses ground for moving climate control onto the lower screen — a glossy panel that collects fingerprints and demands a downward glance where a knob would not.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto are both standard on every 2023 Q7 trim via the MIB3 system — no wired-only base trim and no package to buy. Just short of the top band because wireless Android Auto requires an initial wired pairing and a 5 GHz-capable handset.

MMI navigation plus is standard with cloud-connected Audi connect traffic, Google Earth satellite imagery and points-of-interest search, and the natural-language voice assistant understands conversational destination and climate commands rather than fixed phrases. It stops short of the best in class on off-topic queries and on the depth of the assistant's vehicle-function control.

A strong audio ladder: a 10-speaker system standard, a Bang & Olufsen 3D Premium system on Premium Plus, and a 23-speaker B&O 3D Advanced setup on Prestige that is among the better factory systems in any luxury SUV.

The 12.3-inch Audi Virtual Cockpit full-digital cluster is standard on every 2023 Q7 trim — crisp, highly configurable, and able to display full-width navigation. Virtual Cockpit plus with additional layouts arrives higher in the range.

Audi connect delivers over-the-air navigation map and infotainment content updates on the MIB3 Q7, but there is no whole-vehicle OTA channel — control-unit and feature software still require a dealer visit, and Audi shipped no feature-adding OTA campaigns for the 2023 Q7.

The myAudi app covers the core set — remote lock/unlock, vehicle status, car finder, send-destination-to-nav — but it is gated behind an Audi connect PRIME subscription after the trial, offers no phone-as-key on the Q7, and owners commonly report sluggish refresh and login friction.

Four USB ports spread across the front console and second row plus a 12V outlet cover the basics, and wireless phone charging is standard from Premium Plus up (Convenience package on Premium). No household AC outlet and no third-row power keep it mid-band.

Keyless entry with push-button start is standard on every trim and a power liftgate is standard, with the hands-free gesture-open liftgate and Audi advanced key arriving via package or upper trims. No phone-as-key and no factory remote engine start in the US, which caps it below the top band.

A rear camera plus front and rear parking sensors are standard on the volume Premium trim, and the 360-degree top-view camera system with a high-resolution multi-angle display is standard from Premium Plus up, alongside available park assist that steers into a space. Useful coverage for a 199-inch SUV; not quite top band because the surround view costs a trim step.

A color head-up display is offered but is exclusive to the top Prestige trim — a volume 45 TFSI Premium or Premium Plus buyer cannot get one at any price, which is exactly the mid-band case of a good HUD locked to the top of the range.

Unusually good child-seat logistics: IIHS rates LATCH ease of use Good and credits the Q7 with extra anchor positions — all five rear seats across both rows carry complete hardware, so three-across and multi-row installs work. Wide rear doors and a sliding second row help; the 29.2-inch third row complicates rear-facing seats back there and only 14.2 cu ft remains for a stroller with all seven seats up.

Strong crash credentials — NHTSA 5-star overall and a 2023 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ — with pre sense AEB, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and rear automatic braking standard on the volume Premium trim. Two real caveats for families buying the affordable end of the range: adaptive cruise with lane centering is a Convenience-package extra, and the TSP+ award plus the fixed headlight aim apply only to cars built after January 2023.

Three rows, a quiet cabin, tri-zone climate standard (four-zone available), second-row sunshades and USB power make multi-hour trips easy for five, and ~472 miles of range means fewer stops. It falls short of the top band because the third row is a kids-only space and luggage capacity collapses to 14.2 cu ft once it is in use.

Effortless in traffic: the 261-hp 2.0T and ZF eight-speed pull smoothly from low revs, the steering is light at parking speeds, visibility is better than the three-row luxury norm and the cabin insulates well from commuting noise. Minor annoyances are touch-only climate controls and a firm low-speed ride on the larger wheels.

An expensive commute: 21 MPG combined from the volume 45 TFSI, and it requires premium fuel, working out to roughly $3,600 a year at 15,000 miles. Luxury-brand consumables and a 4-year/50,000-mile warranty with no separate powertrain term add to the per-mile bill.

A big vehicle in a city: 199.3 inches long, 77.6 inches wide and a 41-foot turning circle — the BBC once singled the Q7 out as too large for a standard parking bay. Standard front and rear sensors, an available 360-degree camera and available park assist make it manageable rather than easy.

Genuine towing for a luxury crossover — 7,700 lbs with the 3.0T V6 and the factory towing package — but the volume 45 TFSI is rated at only 4,400 lbs, there is no bed, and a 69.6 cu ft maximum cargo hold with a car-like load floor limits it to light hauling.

A luxury-oriented vehicle with no fleet or work reputation: leather and wood interior surfaces, air suspension complexity on optioned cars, premium fuel, and post-warranty repair costs high enough that owners are advised against hard duty cycles. The ZF 8HP and EA888 hardware are proven, which keeps it off the floor.

Almost nothing work-oriented: cargo tie-downs, a cargo net and standard roof rails plus an optional hitch are the full extent. No onboard AC power, no washable surfaces, no bed access features, and no meaningful upfit ecosystem behind it.

This is the Q7's strongest mission: a quiet, well-isolated cabin, supportive heated power front seats, a composed highway ride and roughly 472 miles between fill-ups. Adaptive cruise assist with lane guidance reduces fatigue well when fitted — but it is a package option on the volume trim rather than standard.

Standard quattro all-wheel drive, standard roof rails, up to 7,700 lbs of tow rating for a boat or trailer, and an optional air suspension with an offroad lift setting make gravel roads, ski trips and bike racks easy. It stops there — roughly 8 inches of clearance, no low range, no lockers or skid plates, and no off-road trim.

Flexible if not cavernous: a power-folding 60/40 third row, a sliding and reclining second row, a flat 69.6 cu ft load bay, underfloor storage, standard roof rails for a box or bikes and an available hitch. The ceiling is the volume itself — 35.7 cu ft behind row two is mid-pack, and 14.2 cu ft with seven aboard is restrictive.

More agile than a 4,817-lb three-row SUV has any right to be — body lean is well restrained and quattro gives it confident mid-corner grip, helped by the available all-wheel steering that shrinks its effective footprint. Reviewers note it stops being impressive near the limit, so it sits below the sharpest of its rivals.

Well-weighted and accurate off-center, so the Q7 tracks straight and places precisely, but the rack is slower than the segment's best and the electric assist filters out most surface feedback — precise rather than communicative.

Firm, progressive pedal with strong initial bite and no regen-blending oddities to manage on the non-electrified 45 TFSI; stopping distances are competitive for a near-4,900-lb SUV. No instrumented 2023 test of the 45 TFSI was located, so it is not scored higher.

The revised 261-hp EA888 2.0T and the ZF 8HP eight-speed are a well-matched pair — clean tip-in, unobtrusive shifts, sensible gear selection and no hunting. Only mild off-idle turbo lag and a slightly noticeable stop/start restart on the four-cylinder (the V6 gets a 48V mild hybrid that smooths this away) keep it out of the top band.

Near-inaudible when cruising, with good isolation through the wheel and pedals. The deduction is character: the 2.0T sounds strained and thrummy when worked hard in a vehicle this heavy, where the optional V6 stays smooth and pleasant.

A 41-foot circle is poor for the SUV band and a direct consequence of the 117.9-inch wheelbase — the Q7 needs real room for a U-turn unless the optional all-wheel steering is fitted.

A commanding, highly adjustable seating position — eight-way power front seats with memory, a wide-range tilt/telescope wheel, an upright glasshouse with a small forward quarter window that opens up the A-pillar, and a clean control layout anchored by the Virtual Cockpit. The touch-only climate panel on the lower screen is the one real ergonomic step backwards.

Competent and satisfying rather than entertaining — the Q7 rewards with polish, quiet and effortless pace, not with character. The 45 TFSI's 6.7-second 0–60 and muted four-cylinder soundtrack give enthusiasts little to seek out; that itch is answered by the 55 TFSI or the SQ7, not the volume trim.

The Q7's base Premium is well stocked for the segment: three-row seating, quattro AWD, panoramic moonroof, leather with heated power front seats, navigation, the dual-touchscreen MMI plus a 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit, and wireless CarPlay/Android Auto are all standard — where the BMW X5 and Mercedes GLE are five-seaters that charge for a third row and, on some configurations, for AWD. The gap is driver assistance: adaptive cruise with lane guidance sits in the Convenience Package and the matrix LED headlights are optional below Prestige, which is stingy at a $60K sticker next to Volvo and Genesis.

Judged as a three-row luxury SUV the Q7 is fair-to-good value — a $60,395 entry price buys seven seats and standard AWD that a comparably configured X5 or GLE cannot match without options, and the cabin materials read above the price. Working against it: the volume 45 TFSI's 261 hp is modest for the money in a near-5,000-lb SUV, the third row is genuinely small for the class, and the platform's age means buyers pay current-year prices for a 2017-vintage architecture. Net: fair value, not a bargain.

Five configurations for 2023 — 45 TFSI and 55 TFSI in Premium and Premium Plus, plus a V6-only Prestige — with the 500-hp SQ7 sitting above as a separate model. That is reasonable choice with clear gaps: quattro is the only drivetrain, there is no FWD or long/short body option, no US plug-in hybrid, and content moves in packages rather than à la carte, so a buyer wanting adaptive cruise on a base car must buy up.

2023 was the Q7's best year of the generation's back half — 26,470 US units, up 48% as semiconductor supply recovered, making it one of Audi of America's two top-selling models in a record 228,550-unit year. It remains well behind the segment's volume leaders (the X5 and GLE each roughly double it), so this is a strong-trajectory mid-pack seller rather than a class leader, and the 21% pullback in 2024 shows the 2023 spike was partly restocking.

Audi is a genuinely aspirational German premium badge with a strong design and interior-quality reputation, and the four rings carry real showroom pull. It sits a step below BMW and Mercedes-Benz in US luxury mindshare and, more concretely for an owner, a step below them in resale strength — the Q7 depreciates faster than its class average — which keeps this short of the top band.

Scored for buyer benefit, 2023 was a mediocre year to negotiate a Q7. Luxury SUV inventory was still recovering for much of the model year and Audi's lease and finance support on the Q7 has historically been unfavorable relative to rivals, so cars generally moved at or near sticker with only modest APR programs; discounting returned late in the year as supply normalized. Real signed deals existed but required work rather than being posted on the hood.

2023 is the seventh model year of the second-generation (Typ 4M) Q7 and the fourth since the 2020 facelift — a late-mid-cycle car. The 2023 changes were incremental: a new 261-hp mild-hybrid four replacing the 248-hp unit, two wheel designs and some package reshuffling. Redesign risk was real and materialized: Audi announced a second facelift in January 2024 for the 2025 model year, so a 2023 buyer was two years from a visibly newer car. The dual-touchscreen MMI and 48-volt hardware were still current, which keeps this out of the bottom band.

The 2023 Q7 was the critics' pick of a very strong class: U.S. News ranked it #1 among 2023 Luxury Midsize SUVs, Consumer Reports called it among the best they had ever tested, and Edmunds placed it above the MDX, X5, GV80 and GLE. It also took the IIHS's top 2023 Top Safety Pick+ award once revised headlight aim cleared the glare problem. Short of a perfect score only because it did not sweep head-to-head comparison tests or take a NACTOY/10Best-tier award, and reviewers consistently flag the cramped third row.