Audi · NHTSA safety record

2022 Audi Q5 Sportback

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Complaints

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Owners of the 2022 Audi Q5 Sportback have filed 23 safety complaints with NHTSA between November 2021 and March 2023. The most complained-about system is the engine, named in 7 of them (30%). The typical failure was reported at 5,000 miles, the median across the 1 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 5 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (5)

ENGINE

25V294000 · May 7, 2025

The defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2022-2024 Q5 Quattro and Q5 Sportback Quattro vehicles. The cylinder head cover screws may have been improperly tightened.
The risk: The screws can loosen, allowing oil to leak and increasing the risk of a fire.
The remedy: Dealers will inspect and replace the screws as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 5, 2025. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 15ZK.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 89,417 vehicles across all model years covered

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:HARD PARTS INTERNAL/MECHANICAL

22V753000 · October 7, 2022

The defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Audi Q5 Sportback, Q5, 2022-2023 Volkswagen Atlas FL, and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The engine connecting rod bearings may become damaged, which can result in engine failure.
The risk: A damaged engine can result in engine failure and a stall, increasing the risk of a crash. If the engine failure causes an oil leak, it can increase the risk of a fire.
The remedy: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace an affected engine, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed December 6, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298 and Audi's customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 13i4 (VW) and 13i5 (Audi).

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 76,515 vehicles across all model years covered

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:ENGINE CONTROL MODULE (ECU/ECM)

22V368000 · May 23, 2022

The defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2022 Audi A6 Sedan, A4 Sedan, Q5, and Q5 Sportback vehicles. The semiconductor inside the engine control unit may short-circuit and cause an engine stall.
The risk: An engine stall can increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy: Dealers will replace the engine control unit, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 18, 2022. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 24iH.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 72 vehicles across all model years covered

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:BODY CONTROL MODULE/BCM

21V947000 · December 8, 2021

The defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Q5 Sportback, SQ5 Sportback, 2018-2022 Q5, and SQ5 vehicles. A liquid spill in the rear seat, or water ingress from an insufficient body seam underneath the vehicle may allow liquid to penetrate the gateway control module, causing it to shutdown.
The risk: A gateway control module shutdown will suddenly reduce engine power, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy: Dealers will install a protective cover on the gateway control module and seal an underbody seam as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 21, 2022. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 90S9.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 288,991 vehicles across all model years covered

BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

21V825000 · October 20, 2021

The defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2021 Audi A8 and S8, 2022 Audi A5 Sportback, A4 Sedan, E-Tron GT, Q3, Q5, RS6 Avant, A3 Sedan, S5 Sportback, Q5 Sportback, Q7, Q8, RSQ8, SQ7, SQ8, and S3 Sedan vehicles. A software error may prevent the rear-view image from initially displaying when the vehicle begins to reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
The risk: A rear-view camera that does not display an image reduces the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy: Dealers will update the infotainment unit parameters, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 9, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 91CR.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 2,857 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 23.

ENGINE 7 30%

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 6 26%

SERVICE BRAKES 5 22%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER 5 22%

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4 17%

LANE DEPARTURE 4 17%

POWER TRAIN 3 13%

BACK OVER PREVENTION 2 9%

AIR BAGS 1 4%

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 4%

TRAILER HITCHES 1 4%

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 4%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2022 at 15.

2021 to 2023

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

ENGINE Filed February 5, 2023

2 injured · fire

The vehicle’s engine failed and ignited a fire. There is an active safety recall for the engine connecting rod of this vehicle. NHTSA recall number, 22V753. My husband was assigned a loaner vehicle owned by Audi Ontario with an active manufacture safety recall. The dealership was aware of the recall. The recall was not disclosed and the defective vehicle had not been inspected or repaired by Audio Ontario. My husband and my 3 year son were in the defective vehicle on the freeway when it malfunctioned. The engine burst into flames and began to lose function while driving in the carpool lane. The engine ultimately exploded on the side of the freeway with my husband and child nearly escaping

NHTSA complaint 11505694, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS Filed January 5, 2023

2 injured · crash

Accident occurred in the parking lot as I was trying to park, sudden unintended acceleration occurred that caused the car to hit the building. Neither front nor back airbags deployed, as well as the automatic emergency break of the collision safety system did not work or activated to stop the car. Both my wife and I were hospitalized. The Auto emergency system of the Audi Q5 is not reliable, and the need for recall.

NHTSA complaint 11500373. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SERVICE BRAKES Filed March 3, 2023

5,000 miles

The contact owns a 2022 Audi Q5. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the brake failure warning light illuminated. Additionally, the doors locked independently, and the windows independently rolled down. The contact attempted to depress the brake pedal; however, the brake pedal was extremely firm. The contact was able to stop the vehicle on the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The contact waited for the vehicle to cool down before restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed; however, the dealer found no failure with the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was

NHTSA complaint 11510008, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL Filed February 20, 2023

SEE ATTACHED..................... The attached tell the whole story. When I looked at this car last June, it was the color we wasted. We have looked at so many Audi's, at other dealers, before this, and because of the pandemic they were very short on stock.. My last three SUV's always had all the safety equipment. The issue here is they didn't tell show us the window sticker and it was not a round.us about the missing safety equipment, We have had this vehicle about 6 months and it is VERY UNSAFE to drive. we have had several close calls, due to the missing safety equipment. I tried to get to get Audi America and the dealer to add the missing safety equipment. Including . It is standard on

NHTSA complaint 11508204, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING Filed February 13, 2023

The Audi Lane assist persistently malfunctions and and cause the vehicle to pull towards the lane lines - and even outside of the lane lines - rather than keeping the vehicle within the lane lines as the system is intended to do. The Lane Assist malfunctions could cause an unintended collision with other vehicles, pedestrians, or other objects. On a winding mountain road, the Lane Assist malfunctions could pull the vehicle over the edge of a steep cliff, which could have catastrophic consequences. It has been at the dealership multiple times, yet the dealer has been unable to repair the defect. The dealer acknowledges that the Lane Assist system does not function properly in at least one

NHTSA complaint 11506966, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING Filed February 12, 2023

The Audi Lane Assist system persistently malfunctions and has done so since March 2022. The malfunctions cause the vehicle to pull towards the lane lines - and even outside of the lane lines - rather than keeping the vehicle within the lane lines as the system is intended to do. These Lane Assist malfunctions have occurred on busy highways, winding and narrow mountain roads, and wide lanes - all of which scenarios could cause serious accidents resulting in serious bodily injury or death. The vehicle has been at the dealership multiple times - and for over 36 days - without the defect being repaired. The dealer acknowledges that the Lane Assist system does not function properly in our

NHTSA complaint 11506857, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other 2022 Audi models

Q3 32 E-Tron 29 Q5 21 Q7 18 E-Tron Sportback 14 A3 9

Every Audi on this site — 147 vehicles, 216 recall campaigns and 0 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

Complaints: NHTSA's ODI complaint file , published August 20, 2026. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
Recalls: NHTSA's recall campaign API , most recent campaign filed August 12, 2026.
Investigations: NHTSA's ODI investigation file , published 2026-08-19.

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst