SpongySpyman

Happy to provide whatever info I can. After giving Audi multiple attempts to fix the issue (they’re only legally entitled to one attempt) I informed the dealer in writing that the car was not of acceptable quality and I was rejecting it. The Head of Business at the dealer contacted me and explained that he believed the hesitation was a “characteristic” of the Q7 and that they were unlikely to accept the rejection. He offered to come to my house and drive the car himself, as he has a Q7 and wanted to compare. After driving just a couple of miles he agreed that the hesitation was a lot worse than he was expecting and that the car was not of acceptable quality. Other people trying a rejection may not be so lucky and may have to get an independent inspection of their car. The dealer has now submitted the rejection details to the manufacturer, who also have to agree to the rejection. He had already spoken with the relevant department before driving the car and they had agreed that they would support his decision. He is therefore confident that Audi will accept the rejection. Again, others may be given more hoops to jump through at this stage. The next step is for the dealer to buy the car back at the purchase price, less “reasonable” usage. The car is still in perfect condition, so this will be based purely on the mileage I’ve driven. I’m currently waiting for their offer, so I don’t know yet what their idea of a “reasonable” pence per mile figure is. I’m expecting to have to dispute it. Once a buy back price is agreed Audi will collect the car and refund me. The whole process from start to finish should take no more than 28 days. I think I’ve been very lucky to have had an honest, understanding, well connected with the Audi group, Head of Business to deal with. I’m sure very few rejections are accepted this easily. I should note that my car was paid for outright, so I don’t know how the process works if you’re on a PCP or other finance. I suspect you would have to first contact the finance company rather than the dealer, as the finance company own the car.

I’ve had the latest software updates applied to my Q7, but they’ve not fixed the hesitation. The Head of Business of my Audi dealer came out to test drive the car last week and agreed that it was more severe than the usual hesitation that is a “characteristic” of the vehicle. All credit to him, he has accepted my rejection of the car. It’s a huge shame, because I find almost every other aspect of the car is fantastic, but I can’t keep a car that leaves me stranded in the middle of roundabouts and junctions...

I've had my car back for about a week following a software update, which Audi admitted up front may help with the juddering, but won't fully fix the hesitation when pulling away. They told me the July software update, that others have mentioned here, should fix all of the problems... I have to say, the juddering is slightly less severe, but now seems to happen more often. The hesitation is still there. There are also some new issues that have been introduced. Since the update the car now sounds like it idles at a much higher speed, although the rev counter doesn't show this. It also feels like it has lost some power (when the power is finally delivered). Additionally, when the engine auto-stop kicks in the whole car now shakes, whereas before you couldn't even tell the engine had cut out. Audi say they can take another look, but they don't think they can do anything and, because there is a fix/software update planned, they say any additional investigation/work may not be covered by the warranty. In a nutshell - we know your car isn't working as it should, we know we have just made it worse with a software update, but we can't do anything about it and you're stuck with it until we try another software update in at least 4 months time. I'm starting to regret my switch to Audi now...I think a quick chat with Citizens' Advice may be in order just in case this mythical July update doesn't work.

Hi all, I’m new to Audi and new to this forum. I picked up a Dec 2018 Q7 3.0TDi 50 about a month ago and am having exactly the same intermittent issues - juddering at low speeds and lack of power when pulling away. My car is currently at my local Audi dealer for diagnosis. Based on the experience of others in this thread I am not hopeful that they will find and/or admit to anything, but it will be interesting to see what they have to say...