MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Audi Q7 — MOT statistics 2024

The Audi Q7 failed 18.12% of 48,856 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 69.8 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 30% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 69.8, 95% CI 68.5–71.2 (100 = national average) 100 69.8 0 200
Index
69.8
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
18.12%
n = 48,856
Dangerous /100
9
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
+6.6 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
180 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Audi Q5 (index 69.9) — the two published results are 0.1 index points apart.

Audi Q7 common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Suspension is well below the reference at 4.5 per 100 tests, against 11.9 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Audi Q7 common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Tyres9.424,0488.51.11×1.10–1.13
Lamps & electrical9.022,79013.60.66×0.65–0.67
Visibility5.814,6447.10.82×0.80–0.83
Brakes5.513,8999.30.59×0.58–0.60
Suspension4.511,53711.90.38×0.37–0.39
Body & structure1.43,5953.90.36×0.35–0.37
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 254,499 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged3.392.541.33×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view2.722.361.15×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged1.941.631.19×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements3.493.590.97×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunctionEngine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction1.051.190.89×Ask the seller about: Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction
Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources2.142.830.76×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm0.972.150.45×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened1.642.860.57×Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen0.892.220.40×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn1.764.870.36×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Audi Q7 MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Tyres are highest at 37.1 per 100 tests; Identification is lowest at 1.5 per 100 tests — the gap is 35.6 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Audi Q7 MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Tyres37.1
Brakes25.5
Suspension11.4
Non-component advisories10.9
Emissions & leaks5.5
Identification1.5

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Audi Q7 against cars of the same age

AgePartAudi Q7Same age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres6.324.172.15
3 yearsBrakes1.261.77-0.51
3 yearsSuspension0.590.63-0.04
4 yearsTyres5.864.541.32
4 yearsBrakes1.452.43-0.98
4 yearsSuspension1.831.210.62
5 yearsTyres6.255.061.19
5 yearsBrakes1.813.09-1.28
5 yearsSuspension3.532.191.34
6 yearsTyres6.415.540.87
6 yearsBrakes2.053.81-1.76
6 yearsSuspension4.683.720.96
7 yearsTyres6.395.950.44
7 yearsBrakes2.214.55-2.34
7 yearsSuspension4.65.68-1.08
8 yearsTyres6.386.310.07
8 yearsBrakes2.415.38-2.97
8 yearsSuspension3.487.78-4.30

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed23.4%9,147
It passed16.7%152,204

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 6.7 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is body, chassis, structure — 27.6% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 252,553 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only67.7fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage61.8fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year0.6%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 5.9 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Audi Q7 compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeAudi Q7Same class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years11.3%10.76%+0.54 pp29,434
4 years12.05%12.35%-0.3 pp27,039
5 years14.19%14.16%+0.02 pp26,214
6 years15.98%16.08%-0.11 pp25,054
7 years17.08%18.27%-1.19 pp22,470
8 years16.91%20.6%-3.69 pp18,952
9 years17.42%23.18%-5.76 pp15,756
10 years18.3%25.7%-7.4 pp13,862
11 years21.63%28.32%-6.69 pp13,518
12 years23.92%30.67%-6.75 pp14,667
13 years25.67%32.73%-7.06 pp13,640
14 years26.48%34.68%-8.2 pp11,220
15 years26.78%36.13%-9.35 pp9,111
16 years27.78%37.17%-9.38 pp7,073
17 years29.41%37.51%-8.11 pp4,237
18 years27.15%37.86%-10.72 pp1,072

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Audi Q7 perform as it gets older?

The Q7 at age 18 is well below the reference at 27.2%, against 43.9% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Audi Q7 perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–47%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old Q7 has roughly a 17% chance of failing its MOT.

Data table
AgeAudi Q7All vehiclesGap
310.7%12.4%-1.7 pp
410.9%13.1%-2.2 pp
512.0%15.1%-3.2 pp
615.9%17.5%-1.6 pp
718.1%20.2%-2.1 pp
819.2%23.3%-4.1 pp
917.1%26.5%-9.5 pp
1016.7%30.1%-13.4 pp
1117.9%33.2%-15.2 pp
1219.1%35.7%-16.6 pp
1321.7%38.2%-16.5 pp
1424.5%40.4%-16.0 pp
1526.5%41.6%-15.1 pp
1629.6%43.1%-13.4 pp
1729.3%43.1%-13.8 pp
1827.2%43.9%-16.7 pp

Is an Audi Q7 ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Audi Q7 MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 59.0%.

Based on 48,743 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 158
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 11,480
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 10,026
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 4,812
9 years63.3%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,175
10–14 years0.8%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 11,921
15–17 years1.5%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 6,100
18 years5.4%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,071
19 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
20+ yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0

Audi Q7 petrol vs diesel: which ages best

Diesel is highest at 18.5%; Petrol is lowest at 11.8% — the gap is 6.6 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Audi Q7 petrol vs diesel: which ages best — 2024 UK MOT data
Fuel split table
FuelTests% failingGap vs best
Diesel46,35718.4%+6.6 pp
Petrol1,52011.8%+0.0 pp

Chart sample sizes: n=46k · n=1,520.

How dangerous are Audi Q7 MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 21.6 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Audi Q7 MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor9.5514.220.67×
Major21.5752.750.41×
Dangerous8.8811.150.80×

Chart values: Minor 9.6 · Major 21.6 · Dangerous 8.9.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of an Audi Q7 MOT matter?

Nov is highest at 18.8%; Mar is lowest at 16.9% — the gap is 1.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of an Audi Q7 MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 15%–33%.

bars: Audi Q7 · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthAudi Q7All vehiclesGap
Jan18.61%31.12%-12.5 pp
Feb18.54%29.99%-11.4 pp
Mar16.85%28.26%-11.4 pp
Apr18.06%29.78%-11.7 pp
May17.7%28.79%-11.1 pp
Jun17.55%28.15%-10.6 pp
Jul18.31%29.33%-11.0 pp
Aug17.91%29.2%-11.3 pp
Sep17.42%28.19%-10.8 pp
Oct17.64%30.34%-12.7 pp
Nov18.77%30.58%-11.8 pp
Dec17.79%29.33%-11.5 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 1.9 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Audi Q7 average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Q7s runs from 61,325 miles to 93,826 miles, against 75,780 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Audi Q7 · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–173k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Audi Q7 MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 6–9, 12.1% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 19.6% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Audi Q7 MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Audi Q7: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles10.3%9.6–11.1%6,067
3–540-70k miles12.3%11.4–13.3%4,664
3–570-100k miles11.7%9.5–14.3%684
3–5100-140k miles17.3%9.4–29.7%52 (rough estimate)
6–9<40k miles12.1%10.5–13.9%1,447
6–940-70k miles17.6%16.8–18.5%7,590
6–970-100k miles18.3%17.4–19.3%6,447
6–9100-140k miles19%17.4–20.6%2,211
6–9140k+ miles19.6%15.6–24.4%316 (rough estimate)
10–14<40k miles12.2%7.1–20.2%98 (rough estimate)
10–1440-70k miles13.8%11.9–15.9%1,169
10–1470-100k miles17.6%16.5–18.8%4,234
10–14100-140k miles20.8%19.7–22%4,986
10–14140k+ miles22.7%20.6–25%1,430
15+40-70k miles28.3%20.4–37.8%99 (rough estimate)
15+70-100k miles24%20.9–27.4%667
15+100-140k miles29%27.4–30.7%2,965
15+140k+ miles29.2%27.7–30.8%3,419

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
323,34330,43638,8943,233
429,45938,10549,1243,742
536,58046,42458,6734,505
646,24857,97872,2324,764
753,59567,22483,2535,262
861,32575,78093,8264,812
968,26683,616101,9003,175
1075,60892,028109,1473,211
1182,62999,732118,3963,163
1289,039106,842125,0822,326
1394,396113,409134,2801,753
14100,032120,835140,6571,468
15110,877131,237153,1251,191
16115,047136,128156,0972,071
17119,848141,273162,3332,838
18121,905143,134164,3221,071

A typical 8-year-old Q7 has ~75,780 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Audi Q7 fails its MOT most

Dorchester area is highest at 27.1%; Bradford area is lowest at 12.7% — the gap is 14.4 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Audi Q7 fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Dorchester (DT)27.05%+9.1 pp
Galashiels (TD)26.7%+8.8 pp
Plymouth (PL)25.52%+7.6 pp
Perth (PH)25.33%+7.4 pp
Brighton (BN)24.94%+7.0 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Bradford (BD)12.7%-5.2 pp
London E (E)12.78%-5.1 pp
Birmingham (B)12.83%-5.1 pp
Nottingham (NG)12.83%-5.1 pp
Halifax (HX)13.17%-4.8 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest urban share this model fails 5.6 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.55, n=99 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 4.7 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.42, n=99 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest income deprivation this model fails 3.1 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.38, n=88 areas with ≥800 tests).

Audi Q7 Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
Urban share21.1%15.5%-5.6 ppr=-0.55
MOT centre density15.8%20.6%+4.8 ppr=0.42
Income deprivation19.3%16.2%-3.1 ppr=-0.38

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
Urban share (0–1)-0.5519921.115.5-5.60.41
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.4259915.820.6+4.74.98.3
Income deprivation (score)-0.3798819.316.2-3.10.10.2
Distance to coast (km)-0.3599921.117.2-3.96.781.4
Terrain gradient (% grade)-0.0246018.719.9+1.20.53.5
Frost days (days/year)0.0189919.018.1-0.911.534.5
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)0.0089917.918.3+0.4221.6607.2

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 13%–24% failing.

Audi Q7 survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 18 is well below the reference at 4.1%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Audi Q7 survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
329,434100%11.3%
427,039100%12.05%
526,214100%14.19%
625,05496%15.98%
722,47086.1%17.08%
818,95272.6%16.91%
915,75660.4%17.42%
1013,86253.1%18.3%
1113,51851.8%21.63%
1214,66756.2%23.92%
1313,64052.3%25.67%
1411,22043%26.48%
159,11134.9%26.78%
167,07327.1%27.78%
174,23716.2%29.41%
181,0724.1%27.15%

By age 18, only about 4% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈26,102); survivors still fail at 27.1% vs 12.1% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does an Audi Q7 last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 29.0%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 0.7% — the gap is 28.3 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles73,26628.99%
150,000+ miles15,7166.22%
200,000+ miles1,7450.69%

Of 252,690 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 29.0% had reached 100k miles, 6.2% had reached 150k miles, 0.7% had reached 200k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is an Audi Q7 likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 7.0 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 1.9 years — the gap is 5.1 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—7
8—6
10—5.9
12—3.7
15—at least 1.9

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has about 5.9 expected years of further MOT-present life on the 2024 survival curve. Derived from how many cars of each age still appear for test, not from a longitudinal panel.

Audi Q7 faults that come together

Road Wheels + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 9.53×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems629.53× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1668.81× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSteering718.61× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSteering1858.16× (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels2967.39× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks8327.17×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering736.87× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering1626.78× (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems3456.69× (rough estimate)
BrakesSteering4286.55× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels956.49× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels906.48× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks2596.44× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1106.15× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureBrakes6515.91×
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems455.78× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems4955.66× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels3825.62× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1,0285.5×
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels335.46× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks1,0265.21×
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment2,6454.91×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering5344.81×
Body, chassis, structureSuspension4874.61× (rough estimate)
SteeringSuspension2884.59× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks804.57× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSuspension1754.55× (rough estimate)
BrakesSuspension1,3274.36×
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension4834.34× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres3024.09× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSteering404.05× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility2883.9× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility6323.81×
Road WheelsVisibility2163.77× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres8053.76×
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle1793.73× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle613.67× (rough estimate)
BrakesTyres2,1233.63×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension1753.54× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility2,5493.31×
Identification of the vehicleVisibility2233.25× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleTyres2863.24× (rough estimate)
BrakesVisibility1,4663.23×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres3053.21× (rough estimate)
SteeringVisibility3003.21× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension1,6523.2×
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment2603.2× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureVisibility4993.16× (rough estimate)
SteeringTyres3733.09× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres2,6872.71×
Body, chassis, structureTyres5122.52×
Identification of the vehicleSuspension1132.46× (rough estimate)
TyresVisibility2,0312.42×
SuspensionTyres1,3322.37×
SuspensionVisibility9992.29×

Defects in «Brakes» and «Noise, emissions and leaks» appear together 7.17× more often than chance (832 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for an Audi Q7?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 11.0%, against 16.3% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year10.98%4,793
8–12k miles/year16.26%50,905
Gap (low − normal)-5.29 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
59.311,33214.6911,159-5.38 pp
611.991,09316.0111,167-4.03 pp
79.7792117.0610,621-7.29 pp
812.1775617.59,339-5.33 pp
913.0860417.488,199-4.4 pp
1014.7147618.257,436-3.54 pp
1117.0341722.017,414-4.99 pp
1218.6640224.788,131-6.12 pp
1322.437525.977,673-3.57 pp
1415.6430727.276,334-11.63 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
1211.114526.4768-15.36 pp
1327.084824.3982+2.69 pp
1418.423821.1371-2.71 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 11.0% vs 16.3% for 8–12k miles/year — 5.3 pp lower (n_low=4,793, n_normal=50,905). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 11.0% low-use vs 16.3% normal (-5.3 pp).

Which Audi Q7 engine is best?

diesel over 2.0 is highest at 100.1; petrol over 2.0 is lowest at 92.0 — the gap is 8.1 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrolover 2.0 litre9216.27%3,404 (rough estimate)
dieselover 2.0 litre100.118%248,134

No engine band clearly fails less or more for its age: the bands are within 5 index points of each other, or their 95% intervals overlap, so this page does not name a best or worst engine.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for an Audi Q7, and the years to avoid

Build year 2008 is highest at 111.6; Build year 2012 is lowest at 90.3 — the gap is 21.3 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Audi Q7 build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Audi Q7 by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
2020100.293.4–106.911.33%7,547no different
201990.485.9–9510.94%13,789better
2018109.2105.2–113.314.2%19,595worse
2017104.4101.2–107.614.26%28,589worse
2016108.6105.4–111.715.69%29,958worse
201597.694.1–101.115.13%19,592no different
201492.989.6–96.215.41%19,649better
201392.589.3–95.716.47%19,749better
201290.386.7–93.817.27%14,340better
201190.686.7–94.418.53%11,319better
201099.294.9–103.421.85%9,557no different
2009111.5106.8–116.226.24%8,219worse
2008111.6108.3–114.928.08%15,592worse
2007101.498.8–103.926.86%22,795no different
20069995.2–102.826.95%9,794no different

The best build year here is 2012 and the weakest is 2008. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 10 of 15 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Audi Q7 MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £37.41 to £71.08, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£37–71
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment9.0 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£12.60
Tyres9.4 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£8.46
Brakes5.5 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£8.25
Suspension4.5 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£8.10

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £37 to £71, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Audi Q7 running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 17.0%, against 12.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
12
vehicles needing work
At age 10
17
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024
Repairs per 100
£3,741
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 30.36% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
310.73%30,4363,233-1.2 pp
410.88%38,1053,742-1.1 pp
511.96%46,4244,505+0.0 pp
615.93%57,9784,764+4.0 pp
718.11%67,2245,262+6.1 pp
819.2%75,7804,812+7.2 pp
917.07%83,6163,175+5.1 pp
1016.69%92,0283,211+4.7 pp
1117.93%99,7323,163+6.0 pp
1219.05%106,8422,326+7.1 pp
1321.68%113,4091,753+9.7 pp
1424.46%120,8351,468+12.5 pp
1526.45%131,2371,191+14.5 pp
1629.65%136,1282,071+17.7 pp
1729.28%141,2732,838+17.3 pp
1827.17%143,1341,071+15.2 pp

The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 5 and cars aged 6, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 3.97 percentage points higher — the steepest one-year step in this cross-section of different cars, and a natural planning point for replacement.

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Audi Q7 rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at 0.39×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
0.39×
0.3% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
33rd
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 99 postcode areas

This Audi Q7 fails on corrosion much less often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are about typical for the models we publish.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does an Audi Q7 advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 22.7%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 22.7 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Audi Q7 chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Audi Q7, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 22.7% · Suspension 9.2% · Tyres 8.6% · Body & chassis 7.1% · Brakes 6.4% · Steering 4.9% · Seat belts & restraints 4.5% · Noise, emissions, leaks 2.6%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment22.7%12.1 months6,364587
Suspension9.2%12 months7,54512,169
Tyres8.6%12 months7,66341,976
Body, chassis, structure7.1%12.1 months7,7091,042
Brakes6.4%12.1 months7,00828,688
Steering4.9%12.1 months8,1551,296
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems4.5%12.2 months7,5311,007
Noise, emissions and leaks2.5%12.2 months7,9989,420
Identification of the vehicle2.5%12.2 months9,8642,615
Non-component advisories0.0%——17,294

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 23 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12.1 months and roughly 6,364 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on an Audi Q7?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 23.8%; Suspension after a passed at age <3 is lowest at 1.6% — the gap is 22.2 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedTyres 5.6% · Visibility 3.6% · Suspension 1.6%11,758
<3advisoryTyres 7.2% · Visibility 5.1% · Suspension 1.9%4,147
<3failureTyres 6.4% · Visibility 5.4% · Suspension 1.9%1,911
3-5passedTyres 5.2% · Suspension 3.8% · Visibility 3.4%37,998
3-5advisoryTyres 7.3% · Suspension 5.0% · Visibility 4.9%17,128
3-5failureTyres 7.4% · Suspension 5.5% · Visibility 5.0%8,754
6-8passedTyres 5.5% · Visibility 3.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.0%25,472
6-8advisoryTyres 7.5% · Visibility 6.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.4%13,634
6-8failureTyres 7.4% · Visibility 6.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.0%7,853
9-11passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.9% · Tyres 5.3% · Visibility 4.6%15,364
9-11advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.3% · Tyres 7.7% · Visibility 6.7%10,156
9-11failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.3% · Tyres 8.4% · Visibility 7.6%6,782
12-14passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.3% · Brakes 5.9% · Tyres 5.7%12,180
12-14advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 17.1% · Brakes 7.9% · Tyres 7.5%9,928
12-14failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.9% · Brakes 10.7% · Visibility 9.3%7,880
15-19passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.9% · Visibility 6.7% · Brakes 5.9%2,964
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.3% · Brakes 9.7% · Visibility 9.0%3,166
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.8% · Brakes 11.2% · Suspension 9.6%2,396

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Audi Q7 ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 65.6%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 4.1% — the gap is 61.5 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
30.36%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.222
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
42.87%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
1.587%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 33,468 failures followed through to their re-test, 30.36% were repaired and passed the same day and 65.57% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 67,073 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.222 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 7,317 miles a year across 51,174 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 42.87% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 19.97% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 1.587% of 51,213 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 42,210 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Audi Q7 safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 16.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Audi Q7 recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Audi Q7. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2011: 0 · 2012: 0 · 2013: 0 · 2014: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 0 · 2018: 0 · 2019: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2025: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Audi Q7
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2025/44110/10/2025586Software update for battery control unit
R/2024/01815/01/2024187The function of the side airbag may be restricted due to the airbag not being sufficiently
R/2023/33110/11/202313A weld seam on the outer backrest frame of the front seats may not have been made correctl
R/2022/03614/02/20225,327FOLLOWING A PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN THE TOE AND/OR CAMBER VALUES ON THE REAR AXLE MAY IN CERTAIN
R/2021/23625/06/202110,089REAR AXLE SUSPENSION LINKS NUTS DO NOT MEET SPECIFICATIONS
All 16 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2025/44110/10/202505/11/2020 – 10/10/2023586Software update for battery control unit
R/2024/01815/01/202414/08/2023 – 17/10/2023187The function of the side airbag may be restricted due to the airbag not being sufficiently
R/2023/33110/11/202307/06/2023 – 12/06/202313A weld seam on the outer backrest frame of the front seats may not have been made correctl
R/2022/03614/02/202207/11/2019 – 20/02/20215,327FOLLOWING A PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN THE TOE AND/OR CAMBER VALUES ON THE REAR AXLE MAY IN CERTAIN
R/2021/23625/06/202107/11/2019 – 18/02/202110,089REAR AXLE SUSPENSION LINKS NUTS DO NOT MEET SPECIFICATIONS
R/2020/37208/12/202001/07/2020 – 15/09/202031FAULTY CRASH SENSORS FOR AIRBAG/RESTRAINT SYSTEMS MAY HAVE BEEN FITTED IN BOTH OF THE FRON
R/2020/13519/05/202001/09/2019 – 31/12/20191,568GEAR OIL MAY ESCAPE DUE TO A FAULTY WELDED JOINT ON THE GEARBOX OIL LINE
R/2020/12428/04/202001/07/2019 – 30/09/2019130THE FUNCTION OF THE LOCKING MECHANISM ON THE FRONT HEAD RESTRAINTS MAY BE IMPAIRED
R/2020/07518/03/202001/06/2015 – 28/02/2019114BOLTED CONNECTION BETWEEN STEERING SHAFT AND STEERING RACK MAY COME LOOSE
R/2020/05626/02/202019/08/2019 – 22/08/20192IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT THE AIR DUCT COMPONENT IN THE CURTAIN AIRBAG COULD DETACH
R/2019/39519/11/201901/08/2019 – 14/11/20192,390OVERHEATING CAN OCCUR IN THE AREA OF THE INTERIOR MIRROR ON THE WINDSCREEN
R/2019/06527/02/201927/11/2018 – 18/12/201831AN ERROR IN THE CASTING PROCESS MAY AFFECT THE RIGIDITY OF THE SHOCK ABSORBER FORK
R/2016/22023/09/201601/05/2015 – 30/09/20166,775THIRD ROW SEATS MAY DEFORM IN EVENT OF A COLLISION
R/2015/03120/04/201501/04/2011 – 30/04/20121,073FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2014/09801/10/201401/01/2012 – 27/08/20145,755REDUCTION IN BRAKING PERFORMANCE
R/2007/12025/09/200701/06/2004 – 31/07/20078,468TAILGATE MAY CLOSE WITHOUT WARNING

DVSA lists 16 safety recall campaigns for the Audi Q7, covering roughly 42,539 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Audi Q7 technical service bulletins: what dealers are told

US market, Audi Q7, model years 2015–2021 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.

NHTSA manufacturer communications are 2,722.

bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults

These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.

United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications

US technical service bulletins by communication year; leading subjects cover the full file
Communication yearBulletinsLeading subjects across all years
201346
  • Electrical system (930)
  • Equipment (897)
  • Other / uncategorised (189)
  • Engine and cooling (182)
  • Structure (159)
  • Engine (112)
  • Adaptive and mobility equipment (92)
  • Visibility (87)
2014182
2015108
2016191
2017188
2018136
2019239
2020253
2021241
2022197
2023274
2024375
2025188
2026104

Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.

Audi Q7 owner complaints: what goes wrong

US market, Audi Q7, model years 2015–2021 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.

Lamps & electrical are highest at 294; Transmission (not MOT-tested) is lowest at 29 — the gap is 265.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

Owner complaints (US) against actual MOT failures (UK) for the same component groups
ComponentComplaintsShareMOT fail items per 100MOT rankAgreement
Lamps & electrical29443.9%9.0#2complained about and fails often
Engine (not MOT-tested)14822.1%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Suspension609.0%4.5#5complained about, fails occasionally
Steering426.3%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Brakes385.7%5.5#4complained about, fails occasionally
Transmission (not MOT-tested)294.3%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure

Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.

What the reports actually say
Engine started knocking. Excessive use of oil in vehicle. Even after putting oil in and getting the oil changed several times, the vehicle constantly leaks and is consuming massive amounts of oil.
NHTSA complaint, filed 05/02/2025 · ENGINE
Driving down the highway, 70 mph, and the middle panel of the panoramic sunroof just shattered. Nothing struck the glass, and the highway was smooth; no potholes or bumps.
NHTSA complaint, filed 04/18/2023 · STRUCTURE

US owners have filed 670 complaints about the equivalent Audi Q7 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 20 that mention a crash, 4 a fire and 21 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.

Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.

Audi Q7 inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 37.2%, against 50.8% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)18.12%26.01%-7.9 pp48,856
NetherlandsAPK37.2%50.8%-13.6 pp5,206
NorwayPKK25.2%33.7%-8.5 pp2,826
FinlandKatsastus22.1%26.3%-4.2 pp2,643

The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value886failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread576failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread350advisory
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed339failure
RA2Excessive leak of other fluids223advisory
AC5Mechanical brake parts showing wear133advisory
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility116failure
203Tyre damaged112failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.786 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Audi Q7 is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0; Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Audi Q7 MOT: quick answers

Audi Q7 MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 69.8, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Audi Q7 first-time MOT pass rate?
81.88% of first attempts passed in 2024 (48,856 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 18.12% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 48,856 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 69.8 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Audi Q7 with other cars

Land Rover Range Rover is highest at 70.9; MINI Countryman is lowest at 69.3 — the gap is 1.6 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Audi MOT statisticsAudi Q5 MOT statsAudi A6 MOT stats

Similar risk

Audi Q5 (index 69.9)MINI Countryman (index 69.3)Land Rover Range Rover (index 70.9)

Same size class

how Porsche 911 compareshow Nissan Leaf compareshow Jaguar F-Pace compares

By build year

Audi Q7 2006Audi Q7 2007Audi Q7 2008Audi Q7 2009Audi Q7 2010Audi Q7 2011Audi Q7 2012Audi Q7 2013Audi Q7 2014Audi Q7 2015Audi Q7 2016Audi Q7 2017Audi Q7 2018Audi Q7 2019Audi Q7 2020

By area

Audi Q7 MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Audi Q7 body, chassis and structure failuresAudi Q7 brakes failuresAudi Q7 vehicle identification failuresAudi Q7 lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresAudi Q7 noise, emissions and leaks failuresAudi Q7 road wheels failuresAudi Q7 seat belts and airbags failuresAudi Q7 steering failuresAudi Q7 suspension failuresAudi Q7 tyres failuresAudi Q7 visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Audi Q7 in NorwayAudi Q7 in FinlandAudi Q7 in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:audi-q7:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Audi Q7 MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/audi-q7/ · Published 2026-07-30.