Exact make, model and year evidence from official US sources. Recall campaigns, ODI investigations, complaint allegations and EPA estimates remain separate.
A campaign may cover only certain production dates, plants or equipment. A zero result here is not safety clearance. Use NHTSA’s official VIN tool for the individual vehicle.
Exact model-level NHTSA results for 2018 AUDI SQ5. Campaign records are official safety actions; applicability to a particular car still requires its VIN.
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.
Consequence
A gateway control module shutdown will suddenly reduce engine power, increasing the risk of a crash.
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.
02
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2018-06-01
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER
Urgent NHTSA flag: do not drive. Confirm current instructions using the official campaign and VIN lookup.
Summary
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, Passat, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Golf SportWagen and GTI and Audi Q5 and SQ5 vehicles. The brake caliper pistons on these vehicles may have insufficient coating, potentially reducing the brake performance.
Consequence
A reduction of braking performance can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Volkswagen and Audi will notify their owners. Audi dealers will bleed the rear brakes. Volkswagen dealers will bleed the front and rear brake calipers. Note: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the brake system has been checked. The recall began June 29, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298 and Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 47N8, 47N9, and 47N6.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Audi Q5 and SQ5 vehicles. The wheel arch cover trim may loosen and detach.
Consequence
The detached trim may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of crash.
Remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will secure the wheel arch trim with an additional screw and nut, free of charge. The recall began July 26, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 66K6.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Audi SQ5 and 2018-2020 Audi Q5 vehicles. The rear wheel arch cover trim may loosen and detach from the vehicle.
Consequence
The detached trim may become a road hazard, increasing the risk of crash.
Remedy
Audi will notify owners, and dealers will replace the four clips securing the forward part of the rear wheel arch trim, free of charge. The recall began November 1, 2019. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 66K8.
05
NHTSA Recalls · US · received 2019-04-08
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:MASTER CYLINDER
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Audi) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Audi Q5 and SQ5 vehicles. The brake master cylinder casting may be too short.
Consequence
A short casting can cause a sudden loss of brakes, increasing the risk of crash. The electronic parking brake and its emergency brake function are not affected and will still function.
Remedy
Audi has notified owners, and dealers will inspect the brake master cylinder, replacing it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 3, 2019. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Audi's number for this recall is 47O9.
02 · Owner allegations
24 NHTSA complaints
Counts are not adjusted for sales, vehicle age, mileage, publicity or reporting behavior. They are allegations, not defect findings or a reliability score.
Crash mentions
1
Fire mentions
0
Injuries reported
2
Most-reported component labels
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM8
ENGINE6
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE4
POWER TRAIN4
EXTERIOR LIGHTING3
UNKNOWN OR OTHER3
Complaints across nearby Audi SQ5 model years
Totals for the same nameplate, scaled against its highest year here. They are not adjusted for how many were sold, how old they are, how far they are driven, or how much publicity a fault received — an older or better-selling year will usually carry more reports. This shows where the reporting sits, not which year is better.
An investigation means ODI reviewed a possible safety issue for this exact model-year identity. Opening one is not a defect finding; closing one does not by itself clear a vehicle.
VERIFIED EMPTY IMPORT SNAPSHOT
No exact NHTSA ODI investigation row was matched.
The checked bulk snapshot returned zero investigation action numbers for 2018 AUDI SQ5. That is source coverage, not proof that no issue exists or will be investigated later.
04 · EPA configurations
Fuel economy & specifications
FuelEconomy.gov records are summarized as ranges where this model name has multiple engines, drivetrains or trims.
EPA configurations
1
Combined economy
21 mpg/MPGe
City / highway
19 / 24 mpg/MPGe
Engine displacement
3 L
Cylinders
6
Fuel type
Premium
Drive
All-Wheel Drive
Vehicle class
Small Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD
Annual fuel-cost estimate
$3800
05 · Evidence strength
Exact identity. Explicit limits.
No opaque score. Evidence strength is expressed through source availability, exact match method, jurisdiction and honest empty states.
exact match
Recall campaigns
5 exact US model-year records in this bounded view.
exact match
Complaints
24 exact US model-year allegations; narratives and VIN fragments are omitted.
verified empty
ODI investigations
0 exact US model-year action numbers in the approved import snapshot.
canonical only
Model aliases
Only the exact NHTSA vPIC model name is published; unverified aliases are not merged.
not published
Manufacturer ownership
No rights-reviewed official ownership record is joined to this exact model-year.
PUBLIC EVIDENCE PASSPORT
Identity, freshness and provenance.
The canonical URL is this file’s permanent public identifier. Source IDs and timestamps show exactly what was matched and when; they do not turn the evidence into a verdict.
Only NHTSA vPIC, NHTSA ODI complaints and investigations, NHTSA recalls and FuelEconomy.gov contribute to this vehicle claim. CPSC equipment notices are searched separately and never joined to vehicle fitment. UK MOT, Canadian, New Zealand and European records are not merged into this US claim.
06 · Research paths
Diagnose first. Confirm fitment.
These are transparent searches, not diagnoses or endorsed parts. Recall remedies come before purchases; exact part fitment requires VIN, trim, powertrain, production date and OE number.
8 complaint labels
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Check recalls and diagnostic information before replacing anything.
Awin US and R2 affiliate inventory are not published until a US programme, merchant and exact-fitment projection are approved. No offer currently has both merchant approval and exact vehicle fitment, so commercial links never count as evidence.