2020 Audi Sq5 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Vehicle Speed Control (2) · Service Brakes (1) · Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings (1)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Audi Sq5 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (4)
Tires 2022-01-26 · campaign 22V034000 · 31,058 vehicles
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Audi A5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe, RS5 Sportback, S5 Sportback, 2020-2021 A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A6 Allroad, A6 Sedan, A7, A8, Q5, S4 Sedan, S5 Coupe, S5 Cabriolet, S6 Sedan, S7, S8, SQ5, 2021 Q5 Sportback, Q7, Q8, RS6 Avant, RS7, RSQ8, SQ5 Sportback, SQ7, and SQ8 vehicles. The rear axle alignment may not have been inspected after the repairs for Recall 21V-295 (42L1) were performed.
Risk: Rear axle misalignment may cause premature or uneven tire wear, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the rear axle, adjust the alignment as necessary, and replace any prematurely or unevenly worn tires, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 3, 2022. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 42L5.
Structure:body 2021-12-08 · campaign 21V947000 · 288,991 vehicles
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.
Risk: A gateway control module shutdown will suddenly reduce engine power, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: 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.
Suspension:rear:axle:non-Powered Axle Assembly 2021-04-26 · campaign 21V295000 · 40,993 vehicles
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2021 Q7, Q8, Q5 Sportback, SQ5 Sportback, RS6 Avant, RS7, RS Q8, 2020-2021 Audi S6 sedan, Q5, A8, S8, A7, A6 Allroad, A5 Cabriolet, A4 sedan, A4 Allroad, SQ5, S7, A6 sedan, S5 coupe, S4 sedan, S5 Cabriolet, A5 coupe, 2019-2021 RS5 coupe, A5 Sportback, S5 Sportback, RS5 Sportback vehicles. The lock nut on the trailing arm of the rear axle may break due to stress corrosion.
Risk: A broken lock nut may misalign the rear axle, causing a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the lock nuts and, if necessary, the associated bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 4, 2021. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 42L1.
Seats 2020-08-26 · campaign 20V505000 · 5,376 vehicles
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen ) is recalling certain 2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, Jetta, Jetta GLI and Tiguan and Audi Q5 and SQ5 and 2021 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles. Parts of the front seat frame and backrest adjuster may not have been welded properly.
Risk: In the event of a rear-end crash, the backrest adjustment could break, possibly reducing the amount of occupant restraint, thus increasing risk of injury.
Fix: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the front seats, and, as necessary, replace the seatback frames, free of charge. The recall began September 11, 2020. Volkswagen owners may contact their customer service at 1-888-241-2289. Audi owners may contact their customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 72L1, 72K8, and 72K9.
Service bulletins (876)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-25 · TSB_2083409_1 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin states that technicians are required to report to the manufacturer when a vehicle has flooded, and specify the height to which the vehicle has been flooded.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-25 · TSB_2052680_2 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information for reporting safety related information to the manufacturer.
Steering 2026-09-22 · TSB_2074846_5 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information about vibrations and rotational steering vibrations.
Steering 2026-09-22 · TSB_2065871_4 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides informaiton when dtc b200ff0 is stored.
Visibility/Wiper 2026-09-22 · TSB_2020552_15 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides service information regarding exterior glass cleaning.
Structure:body 2026-09-18 · TSB_2078648_4 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin provides information about billing for a broken sunroof glass panel.
Showing the 6 most recent of 876 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-09-22 · Engine“2020 audi sq5, 3.0t ea839 engine. on 9/22/2026 an independent repair shop inspected the vehicle and found engine coolant pooling in the engine valley beneath the coolant module (integrated water pump / thermostat housing). the leak is internal and was not visible from outside the vehicle: no coolant on the ground and no warning light before the sho…”
2026-04-18 · Vehicle Speed Control“my 2020 audi sq5 (3.0l turbo v6, ea839 engine) experienced premature water pump failure at 64,361 miles. coolant leaked into the vacuum system, damaging the vacuum unit and related components. failed parts are available for inspection. safety risk: loss of coolant circulation causes rapid overheating and risk of sudden engine failure at highway spe…”
2025-01-08 · Unknown Or Other“my sunroof spontaneously imploded while driving my vehicle on the highway. i was going to speed limit in the middle lane, very little traffic, no semi-trucks near and did not drive under an overpass. …”
2023-08-21 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking“i recently purchased this vehicle 8/5/23 and since then the pre sense function has activated it’s jarring emergency breaking three times. once it happened to me backing out of my driveway without any obstruction, another with my husband backing out of a parking spot, and then most recently today with me as a driver going about 35 mph where it “sens…”
2023-03-28 · Unknown Or Other“the sos emergency system continues to fail. it alarms that it failed. warning light on the dashboard continues to be on. the car was brought to the dealer. emergency calling unavailable while driving. …”
2022-12-19 · Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings“i have had multiple instances of the emergency breaking applying improperly. on at least two occasions the rear backup/parking sensors detected some sort of object when one didn’t exist and abruptly engaged the breaks despite there being no object behind me. on one occasion i had a passenger who witnessed the behavior. on another instance, and the…”
2022-04-15 · Service Brakes · 150 mi“the contact owns a 2020 audi sq5. the contact stated while reversing in her driveway, the automatic braking system activated and the vehicle stopped abruptly. the contact stated that there was a vehicle at a stop sign 500 ft. away from her vehicle when the failure occurred. the contact shifted the vehicle into park. there was no warning light illum…”
2020-08-26 · Vehicle Speed Control · 12,000 mi“when using the lane-departure and 'steering correction' system this vehicle will attempt to suddenly, sharply, and dangerously change lanes. this morning (8/26/20), while traveling on a four lane divided highway with cruise control and lane departure active, the vehicle jerked left into a turn-only lane, overriding my manual steering of the car in…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.