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BrakesPart report

2016 Audi Q5 Brakes Problems

Complaints
4about this part
Share
5%of 78 total for the year
Median mileage
20,200miles
Trend
Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.

NHTSA recorded 4 complaints about the brakes of the 2016 Audi Q5, 5% of the 78 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 20,200 miles. 1 of these say a crash was involved, according to the filers.

Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“Vehicle brake pads and rotors completely worn out after driving the car for less than 20k miles. When questioned the dealer, the simple reason they gave us rust. When asked, where the rust is coming from - there was no answer. This is the first time in my life, where I have to replaces rotors and break pads, for vehicle which has less than 20k miles. The vehicle was regularly commuted 15 miles every day.”

NHTSA complaint #11193011, filed 2019-04, 19,400 miles

“I have a 2016 Audi Q5 and recently was involved in a serious single-car accident. I was parking my car and moved my foot to brake when the car surged forward over a couple of boulders through the trees flipping once and rolling down an embankment. I, miraculously, came out of the incident unscathed. Three weeks earlier my brother-in-law borrowed my car and said I should have the car checked because it surged forward on him on three different occasions when he went to brake. I dismissed his comments, thinking he was not used to my car. …”

NHTSA complaint #10926196, filed 2016-11, 21,000 miles

“I was pulling into a parking space at approximately 5 mph and the car unintentionally accelerated causing me to jump the curb, go over a grass median and land perpendicularly onto a one-way active road. There were trees and other items on the median I could've hit had I'd been pulling into a different parking space. I also could've hit cars on the road. I quickly got off the road and parked the car.”

NHTSA complaint #11552472, filed 2023-10

“In short my front right brake caliper failed. To be clear, brake fluid seeped out of the main 2 halves of the caliper. After some investigation there appears to be a recall on this issue on 2017 models and newer but not on my 2016. Per my mechanic this failure is rare and unusual and could have been catastrophic. The brake light warning did come on, but the amount of fluid that seeped was significant in that even 1 day after my light came on and driving a short distance to the shop, almost all of my brake fluid had seeped out.”

NHTSA complaint #11506989, filed 2023-02

Related service bulletins

Brakes: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
20251124%
2024525%
202349%
202145%
202028%
2019815%
20182211%
2017410%
201645%
201533%
201444%
201367%
201232%
201132%
201011%
200913%

Other parts of the 2016 Audi Q5

Engine
26 complaints
Other or unknown
11 complaints
Electrical system
10 complaints
Steering
10 complaints
Fuel system
9 complaints
Engine cooling
8 complaints
Air bags
6 complaints
Vehicle speed control
4 complaints
Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
4 complaints
Lane departure
3 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
3 complaints
Body and structure
2 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2016 Audi Q5

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 30, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology