There are 3 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2020 Audi Q3in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
ON JANUARY 16, 2020, I WAS DRIVING ON A LOCAL STREET AND STARTED SLOWING DOWN FOR A STOP SIGN. I HAD FORGOTTEN TO TURN OFF THE AUTO START/STOP SWITCH AS IS MY USUAL PRACTICE, SO I DEACTIVATED IT BEFORE STOPPING. WHEN I HIT THE SWITCH, I GOT AN ERROR MESSAGE TELLING ME THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS NO LONGER AVAILABLE, THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT CAME ON, AND THE MOTOR STARTED SHUDDERING. AS I TRIED TO PULL AWAY FROM THE STOP SIGN, THE CAR WOULDN'T ACCELERATE MORE THAN 7 MPH. TOWED TO DEALER. THEY ARE TRYING TO TRACK THE FAULT. I HAVE ALSO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE LANE KEEPING DETECTION SYSTEM SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR IN AUGUST, 2020. THE SYSTEM IS SUPPOSED TO COME ON AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE VEHICLE IS STARTED. HALF THE TIME IT DOESN'T COME ON WHEN STARTED; OTHER TIMES, WHEN MAKING MULTIPLE STOPS DURING A DAY'S DRIVING, IT COMES ON AT RANDOM TIMES. SOME DAYS IT NEVER COMES ON. OTHER DAYS IT COMES ON EACH TIME. DEALER CAN'T FIND FAULT. TURNING IT ON MANUALLY DOESN'T GUARANTEE THAT IT'LL TURN ON THE NEXT TIME YOU START THE VEHICLE.
THE FIRST PROBLEM WAS ON JANUARY OF 2020 MY AUDI Q3 JUST STOPPED RUNNING ON A VERY BUSY ROAD WHEN I WAS IN MOTION. I CALLED THE AUDI ASSIST NUMBER AND A TOW TRUCK WAS DISPATCHED TO MY LOCATION. I HAD ONLY HAD THE Q3 FOR 2 MONTHS AND IT ONLY HAD 2000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. IT WAS TOWED TO AUDI OF WARWICK AND THE NEXT DAY THE DEALER GAVE ME A LOANER VEHICLE ANOTHER 2020 Q3 AS THEY SERVICED MINE. THE LOANER AUDI Q3 DID THE SAME THING AND WENT INTO 'LIMP MODE' ON A BUSY ROUTE. THIS TIME AUDI OF WARWICK GAVE ME A Q5 MODEL TO DRIVE WHILE THEY COMPLETED THE SERVICE ON MY Q3. WHEN I PICKED MY Q3 UP I WAS TOLD THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED WITH A SOFTWARE UPDATE. FAST-FORWARD TO NOVEMBER 5, 2020 MY AUDI Q3 HAS ABOUT 10,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND WHILE DRIVING HOME FROM WORK AGAIN WENT INTO 'LIMP MODE' WHEN I WAS IN MOTION CROSSING A BUSY 6 LANE 4 WAY INTERSECTION. VERY UNSAFE AS THE CAR WOULD BARELY MOVE FORWARD SO I COULD PULL OVER TO THE CURB. ONCE AGAIN I CALLED THE AUDI ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE NUMBER MULTIPLE TIMES OVER AN HOUR FOR A TOW AND NO ONE ANSWERED. I HAD CALLED MY HUSBAND AND WHEN HE ARRIVED HE CALLED TRIPLE AAA ROADSIDE SERVICE AND THEY DISPATCHED A TOW TRUCK. ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6 MY HUSBAND DROVE TO AUDI OF WARWICK TO SPEAK WITH THE SERVICE MANAGER ABOUT MY CAR CAUSING A SAFETY ISSUE, ETC. THE DEALER FOR THE SECOND TIME DID A SOFTWARE UPDATE AND RETURNED THE Q3 TO MY HOME. AUDI OF WARWICK SAID THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED WHICH WAS WHAT I WAS TOLD ALMOST A YEAR PRIOR WHEN I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM OCCUR TWICE IN TWO SEPARATE Q3'S (DESCRIBED ABOVE). I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE SAFETY AND UNRELIABILITY OF THE 2020 AUDI Q3 AND THIS SOFTWARE PROBLEM. I TRIED CONTACTING AUDI CUSTOMER SUPPORT DURING THEIR BUSINESS HOURS YESTERDAY DECEMBER 30, VIA AUDI CHAT AND WAS UNABLE TO SPEAK WITH A REPRESENTATIVE AS THERE WAS NO ANSWER.
I PURCHASED MY 2020 Q3 ON DEC 31 2019. WITHIN 2 WEEKS MY CAR STOPPED AT THE SIGNAL LIGHT WITH A MALFUNCTION OF AUTO STOP/START ISSUE AND WOULD NOT MOVE FORWARD. I HAD TAKEN TO THE DEALER AND THEY MENTIONED THAT THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH 2020 Q3 AND THE SOFTWARE TO FIX THE AUTO STOP/START FUNCTION WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE UNTILL END OF 1ST QUARTER. NOW I AM SEEING THE GAS CONSUMPTION HIGH AND THE VEHICLE DOES NOT DRIVE AS BEFORE.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026