Audi A7's are unreliable. (Maybe?)

"LJ909" (lj909)
08/10/2018 at 13:59 • Filed to: None

2017 A7

Depends on who you talk to and where you look. Sort of. I thought it was just here and there. Until I looked more into it at work. In the past 2 months we have had close to 200 different A7 owners call in for being stranded. And mostly all of them ended up being towed for engine trouble.

One member personally told me she bought a 2017 A7 early last year. It ended up spending 7 months of 2017 at the dealer for engine replacement. A week after it came from the dealer the engine ended up not starting and failed on her again. And she was calling in for a tow. The A7 is a $70,000 car. This is unacceptable.

I looked further into this online through forums and Truedelta owner information and apparently A7’s have always had problems. According to their data, out of all the problems on the A7, 32% of the time its engine problems, with ac and electrical problems (of course) coming in a close second at 31%. I dug through Audizine as well and it kind of looks a little better there, with people saying routine maintenance should get them by, but them that could be biased because of brand fanboys lurking in the forums. Do you guys know anyone who have had any issues or have experienced A7 issues yourself?

DISCUSSION (20)

Ash78, voting early and often > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:25

My experience is that Audis were fine when they were mostly owned by enthusiasts who paid more attention. But once Audi went mainstream in the US about 8-10 years ago, I think it’s been a bit downhill for them — even if the cars are more reliable now, if the customer base is different, then it dilutes things a lot.

/anecdotal, but goes for any product of this type

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:28

Which engine does it have? Is it the 3.0T ? The same one in the A6, new S5 etc.? or is it the 4.0 V8?

Keylube > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:36

I’m pretty familiar with the C7 architect. My father had an A7 for 20k miles and now has an RS7 with 20k miles. We’ve never had any issues. I don’t believe the A7 3.0 V6 has any problems, I would of seen something on the forums by now. The engine is also widely used on a lot of Audi’s. I do k now there is a recall for Airbag sensors which has a stop sell on these cars. They do get the typical electrical issues, but they don’t cripple the car.

Arrivederci > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:39

I’d still drive the hell out of an RS7.

StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8 > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:47

Whats that joke about German cars and reliability?

LJ909 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
08/10/2018 at 14:48

I seen the 3.0T with problems. But it was almost even. The member I mentioned had the V6 as well.

bob and john > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:54

A few of my dads co workers have had them. they havent had issues, other then the one guy whose wife though the oil changes were optional .

guess how THAT went

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > LJ909
08/10/2018 at 14:55

Interesting, I was researching about the S4/S5 and newer 3.0Turbo vs the older 3.0 Supercharged V6 and many folks on the forums said both have been solid, engine wise. Of course the Turbo V6 in the S4 application is new, so...

LJ909 > bob and john
08/10/2018 at 15:14

You’d be disturbed to find the number of people on a daily basis that tell me all they know about cars is how to drive them and put gas in them. Everything else isnt an issue or doesnt matter. Until it does.

LJ909 > Arrivederci
08/10/2018 at 15:15

Hell yea.

LJ909 > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
08/10/2018 at 15:18

Its one of those weird instances where an engine works in one model and not in another. Like the 2.0T failures and problems the ATS had, but the same engine was flawless in the CTS.