New Q5 Owner

[interestedparty]

Hello,

I have just purchased a new Q5, I have been converted from always having Ford's as I wanted a new car which is not electric or have a petrol engine.

The Q5 S Line Diesel 40 was the one I chose.

Anyway. A couple of things I would like assistance with if possible please.

a) It seems to have black plastic backs on the front seats, can these be removed and reveal a normal visually fine seat ?

b) I noticed on a test drive the response time from when I hit the accelerator to when the response came was substantial.  Can this be improved in any way, I.e tuning etc ?.

Thank you for any guidance anyone can give on these matters.

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch. 

Think you'll find the plastic backing is the back. Behind that there'll be foam, fabric and the frame 

[interestedparty]

Why do Audi put horrible blastic bits on the back of seats ?.  If they cannot be removed and show a normal upholstered seat ?, I am assuming that theirs a market for sticking some kind of upholstery on that plastic and someone is selling such already ?.  I am just thinking that plastic is going to get scratched by young children etc and that's a real shame.

Edited April 12, 2023 by interestedparty

[Magnet]

Hello Adrian,

I think you will find that VAG - like many other marques -  have been fitting plastic clad seat backs for ages. Our 17 year old A3 has them. Removing the plastic is not an option, unless you prefer to see the un-upholstered seat frame. ‘Sticking something over the plastic’? I certainly don’t know of anything, but others may -? 
Slow response time:- I’m I right in recalling this has been a ‘known fault’ with this engine, and has been subject to discussions before on this forum? I’m sure others who are more familiar with this will be able to point you towards the background. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[interestedparty]

Thanks Gareth,

I am due to pick up the brand new car Friday, if theirs known issues with the engine or other things I should note before signing on the dotted line.  Can someone enlighten me.    

Moved from an smax so the plastic on the rear of the front seats was a bit of a shock but not a deal breaker.

Edited April 12, 2023 by interestedparty

[Magnet]

Thanks Adrian, 

This delay in acceleration maybe an issue with whatever model this engine was fitted to - rather than just the Q5. 
I’ve had a quick search on here, and similar issues have been reported over the last couple of years. Possibility of some vehicles being rejected due to no-fix, or unacceptable delay in rectifying. As with all forums, final outcomes are not always (usually not ) reported. 
Let’s hope that other forum members will respond with their experiences and greater knowledge. 
Meanwhile, all I can suggest is to keep searching and reading. 
I hope I’m not barking up wrong trees and causing you undue concern. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[interestedparty]

Hi Gareth,

Thank you very much for your feed back, I would much rather be aware of something now than after it's all to late.  New cars lose so much money in the first few years anyway and with sky high Audi finance rates of 10.5% at the moment, it's been a tough call.  I will keep searching, thank you

[Magnet]

Hello Adrian,

As I understand it, if you did buy it, and they can’t correct the ‘fault’, then you could reject the vehicle. However, it might well be brought to your attention that you were aware of this issue with the car during a test drive, yet when ahead and ordered one (when incidentally?) in knowledge of this ‘characteristic’. Rejecting a vehicle once bought is hassle, but doable. 
 

You did mention ‘tuning’ in your opening post, but beware that any degree of tuning is likely to adversely affect your warranty, so if it were mine, I wouldn’t be considering going down that road. 
Final point - Your actual ordered car may or may not perform the same as the demonstrator, but will the dealer be prepared to allow you to test it before signing?? 
Sorry to put all the negatives your way, but I would have thought they would now be/have already? registered this vehicle to your ownership, so I would have thought that if you are having any reservations, then you have a very short window to do something about alerting them to that fact. 
Good luck with whatever you decide Adrian. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 
p.s. I again stress that I may be wrong about this ‘characteristic’ with your particular engine/ model. 

[interestedparty]

Hi Gareth,

I have been googling and from what I see the slow response time can be overcome by putting the vehicle in sports mode.  Having never owned an automatic and having zero experience with this vehicle before,  I don't know if that's true or if it will decrease fuel aconomy etc.

I did initially think this may have been caused by the automatic gear box and probably their's a way of putting that into manual mode and using the paddle shifts.

But again zero experience of such.

I await a friendly Q5 owner with a car after 2021 to advise lol, as i think i read they made some changes in 2021 to up the bhp etc ?.  I know I bought one after 2021 for the matrix headlights, sad but true :).

[Magnet]

Thanks Adrian,

Putting it into Sports mode holds it in a lower gear for longer before changing up. 
Effect of Sports mode from standstill?? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[interestedparty]

Thanks Gareth.

I guess I will find out Friday when I pick it up.  I am planning on getting a tracker fitted also as nothing around my area with an Audi badge and being a SUV seems to stay where it is supposed to.  Probably going to go for the metatrak s5 deadlock.  

I have had it ceramic coated as I am am a really fussy person with scratches etc and that is with any car at any age.  The dealer who bought my smax from me via motorway said he had never seen anything like it, not one scratch, ding etc anywhere.  He thought I must bubble wrap it when I drive it or something lol :). 

[Magnet]

Sounds good Adrian.

I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Perhaps you could keep us posted with your overall views. 

Kind regards, 

Gareth.

[interestedparty]

1 hour ago, Magnet said:

Sounds good Adrian.

I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Perhaps you could keep us posted with your overall views. 

Kind regards, 

Gareth.

Will do and thank you

[interestedparty]

Hello,

I have now picked up my car, been a long day as the car was not presented in a way i have come to expect of other manufacturers.  Basically it had water marks all over it, micro scratches everywhere and not even properly clean.  The dealer basically said my standard would be what is known as detailing standard and new cars are only valeting standard.

However, my initial concern of delays in response to accelerating seem to be unfounded as in comfort mode, it's not to bad and in sports, even better.  Steering response is a bit wishy washy but I can only compare it to my Mondeo. Smax and Focus I have had.

Love the adaptive cruise control that works right up to bringing the car to a halt and starting off again.

Best Wishes

 

Adrian