Audi Q5 Mk3 (GU)

Auto Express reports the Q5's steering wheel 'has fiddly touch-sensitive ones... we inadvertently skipped tracks as our hands rested on the keys', alongside a cabin that 'relies too much on touchscreens'; Parkers' long-term verdict names 'fiddly controls throughout cabin' and 'software niggles that could tinge ownership' in the cons of the same car. Audi itself concedes the direction: the physical-controller wheel and revised assistance software arrive only on 2026MY cars, and cannot be retrofitted - a concrete value argument when shopping the 2024/25 stock.

The new Q5's adaptive air suspension - the same hardware that costs extra and is meant to be the comfort option - was independently criticised in two 2025-26 tests: Auto Express found it 'unsettled at lower speeds', clunking into potholes and drain covers 'more clumsily than a car riding on coil springs', while RAC says the car is 'upset by low speed bumps a bit more than we'd like for a premium SUV'. For a used buyer it is both a spec-choosing tip (the steel-sprung car was actually praised as the better balance) and a check: air bags, sensors and compressors that get bashed on kerbed UK roads become genuine MOT advisories.

The entry-level 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder petrol engine (EA888 evo4) in the Mk3 Q5 produces 204hp, but struggles to deliver effortless refinement. Auto Express concluded that the diesel is preferable to the noisy and lacklustre petrol engine that chips away at the Q5 otherwise impressive levels of refinement, noting coarse engine buzz under acceleration. Real-world fuel economy is also disappointing: Carbuyer recorded an average of just 32.1mpg during road testing, falling well short of official claims. Pushed to haul the Q5 1.9-tonne kerb weight, the 2.0 TFSI revs noisily and drinks petrol rapidly in urban and stop-start British traffic.