2020 Audi Q3 Steering
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
THERE IS A 3-4 SECOND DELAY IN THE STEERING ASSIST AFTER ENGINE RESTARTS FROM A START/STOP EVENT. (AUTO START/STOP FEATURE) I ALMOST GOT INTO AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE I EXPECTED THE POWER STEERING TO BE ACTIVE WHILE THE CAR IS ON. I ATTEMPTED TO MAKE A RIGHT HAND TURN ON A TRAFFIC LIGHT, WHEN I LET GO OF THE BRAKE, THE ENGINE STARTED AND CAR STARTED MOVING FORWARD. I WAS UNABLE TO TURN MY STEERING WHEEL SO THE CAR WENT FORWARD AND I ALMOST HIT THE CAR IN THE NEXT LANE OVER. AFTER TAKING IT TO THE DEALERSHIP, THEY SAID THAT AUDI KNEW ABOUT THIS AND STATED THAT THIS IS WITHIN SPECIFICATION. (ATTACHED THEIR INTERNAL TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE) MEANWHILE MY CAR WAS IN THE SHOP FOR A WEEK, I HAD A LOANER AUDI SQ5 THAT DID NOT HAVE THIS PROBLEM. NOR ANY OF THE CARS I'VE EVER DRIVEN BEFORE. I EVEN SHOWED THIS ISSUE TO A FEW OF MY FRIENDS AND EVEN THEY AGREED THAT THIS WAS NOT SAFE. WHAT'S EVEN MORE UPSETTING IS THAT AUDI'S RESPONSE WAS "AUDI TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RECOMMENDS TURNING OFF START/STOP SYSTEM TO AVOID STEERING CONCERN" SO WHY WOULD I PAY FOR A FEATURE THAT I AM NOT ABLE TO USE AND IF I DO USE THE FEATURE, I'M ENDANGERING MYSELF AS WELL AS OTHERS ON THE ROAD? (THIS IS ALSO INCLUDED IN MY ATTACHMENTS.) I DO HOME SOMEONE CAN HELP ME BECAUSE AUDI WILL NOT.
HAVE HAD SEVERAL INSTANCES WHERE LANE ASSIST HAS SUDDENLY TURNED THE CAR INTO ANOTHER LANE, OFTEN FOLLOWING A CRACK IN THE ROAD. HAVE NEARLY HAD ACCIDENT RELATED TO THIS SUDDEN LOSS OF CONTROL. DEALERSHIP NOT HELPFUL, DECLARING THAT EVERYTHING IS WORKING FINE. PURCHASED THIS CAR FOR MY 16 YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER...BECAUSE OF THE EXTRA SAFETY FEATURES. VERY WORRIED ABOUT THIS MALFUNCTION. *TR
I BOUGHT MY AUDI Q3 ON DECEMBER 21 AND ON DECEMBER 22 I STARTED NOTICING ISSUES WITH THE STEERING, SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE AUTO STOP/START FUNCTION. NOW, AS DETAILED BELOW, I DID NOT HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE WITH MY PURCHASE OF THE VEHICLE, SO WHEN I STARTED TO NOTICE THE SLOW BELABORED TURNING, I THOUGHT THAT I WAS MAKING MORE OUT OF IT BECAUSE I HAD SUCH A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE AT THE DEALERSHIP. AND, I WISH THAT'S WHAT IT WAS. AS I CONTINUED TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE MORE, THE PROBLEM WITH THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKING UP NOT ONLY BECAME MORE FREQUENT, BUT ALSO MORE AGGRESSIVE, WHERE IT WENT FROM A SHORT SPLIT-SECOND DELAY TO A DELAYS THAT LASTED MANY SECONDS. THIS IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND TERRIFYING. THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION WHERE I WAS TRYING TO TURN LEFT, AND THE VEHICLE WAS MOVING FORWARD BUT THE STEERING WHEEL WASN'T ENGAGING - THIS OCCURRED AS TRAFFIC WAS COMING TOWARDS ME, ONE OF WHICH HAD TO SWERVE TO MISS SLAMMING INTO ME IN THE INTERSECTION. OBVIOUSLY, MY NEXT STEP WAS TO BRING THE CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP TO FIX THE CLEAR DEFECT. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE MY SURPRISE, HORROR, AND DISMAY, WHEN DAYS LATER I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TELLING ME THAT NOT ONLY DID AUDI KNOW ABOUT THE DEFECT, BUT THAT TO THEM IT WASN'T A DEFECT AT ALL BUT AN ADEQUATELY PERFORMING 'SLIGHT DELAY.' OF ALL THE RESPONSES THAT I COULD HAVE IMAGINED, THAT WAS THE ONE THAT NEVER CROSSED MY MIND BECAUSE THAT WOULD ME THAT AUDI WAS WILLFULLY IGNORING THE SAFETY OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. THE SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE DID HIS BEST TO SHOW ME WORK AROUNDS FOR THE PROBLEM, BUT AS I SAID TO HIM, STEERING YOUR CAR WHILE DRIVING IS NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE TO BE 'WORKED AROUND.' THERE SHOULDN'T NEED TO BE A WORK AROUND WHERE SAFETY IS CONCERNED. THE UNSAFE DELAY HAS CONTINUED TO OCCUR.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2020 Audi Q3 has 3 Steering complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.