Audi Q3 : Official Review

cars_crazy · 7th April 2015, 18:22

@lambhorgini: thats a relief.. I guess then I am going with the Q3 afterall!! There is an excellent deal I have by negotiating with the guys in Audi Bengaluru; am just lucky that they have a bright red with black interiors, just what I wanted. So, lets see, if the $$ works out fine, I am keen to go for it ASAP.

adi_petrolhead · 9th April 2015, 08:56

The Audi uses DQ380 version of the DSG box which is capable to hold 380 nm of torque and is a wet clutch 7 speed unit. Reliability will be concern for any DSG box, not only DQ200. DQ250 has also failed for many, may be just the mechatronic units but still, DSG failure is not exclusive to DQ200. It depends on the conditions in which the car is driven. If your everyday driving condition is relaxed, dust free roads, it automatically results in less strain on the box in the long run, hence failure chances are reduced, unless there is a manufacturing defect by the VW group in case of DSG boxes.

Akshay1234 · 9th April 2015, 11:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by cars_crazy

Akshay, thank you as well.. Yes, you are right, its a 7 speed S-Tronic thats driving the Q3. I am told there are some reliability concerns on the DQ200 models.. I am not sure if thats the same one running the Audi, so the question. The last thing I want is a blown transmission in the 2nd year

Hopefully I am not going wrong in going for a Q3 over a Jetta. or a Audi over a VW.

Don't worry about the DSG. Just slip it into neutral if you are going to be stopped for more than 10-15 seconds. I think while auto hold is activated you can change the gear to neutral so even less of an inconvenience.

adi_petrolhead · 9th April 2015, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Don't worry about the DSG. Just slip it into neutral if you are going to be stopped for more than 10-15 seconds. I think while auto hold is activated you can change the gear to neutral so even less of an inconvenience.

Akshay modern DSGs have tweaked software or hardware, but its definitely an improvement over previous gen models. If I depress the brake pedal completely, the revs go down and its just idling, seems like the clutch engages as soon as you press the brake completely and vehicle is stationary. But of course Q3 has auto hold brakes so there is even more safety added to DSG.

Akshay1234 · 9th April 2015, 12:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead

Akshay modern DSGs have tweaked software or hardware, but its definitely an improvement over previous gen models. If I depress the brake pedal completely, the revs go down and its just idling, seems like the clutch engages as soon as you press the brake completely and vehicle is stationary. But of course Q3 has auto hold brakes so there is even more safety added to DSG.

Hey Adi, there was a discussion on some other thread where some claimed the transmission shifted into neutral when the brakes were pressed, and some claimed it didn't. No conclusive proof of either. In whatever autos I have driven the car does go idling rpm when the brakes are pressed, did you notice anything different on other you have experienced?

Also I doubt it goes into neutral, because the car starts creeping even before your foot in off the brake pedal completely. Also there is a tiny lag when moving the gearshift from N to D, so wouldn't that lag be experienced if the gearbox shifts to N when the brake is depressed?

adi_petrolhead · 9th April 2015, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Also I doubt it goes into neutral, because the car starts creeping even before your foot in off the brake pedal completely. Also there is a tiny lag when moving the gearshift from N to D, so wouldn't that lag be experienced if the gearbox shifts to N when the brake is depressed?

My old Laura had the DQ250 box and it would be very jerky if I slot it in neutral and back to D. The rpm did not settle to idling even after pressing the brake pedal completely.

Where as in the Octy, the changes in the gear lever position are seamless and no jerks what so ever.. However i think the lag is because of Hill hold control which also gets activated if you press the brake pedal completely.

anshumandun · 12th April 2015, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by cars_crazy

@lambhorgini: thats a relief.. I guess then I am going with the Q3 afterall!! There is an excellent deal I have by negotiating with the guys in Audi Bengaluru; am just lucky that they have a bright red with black interiors, just what I wanted. So, lets see, if the $$ works out fine, I am keen to go for it ASAP.

My parents too got a Red Q3 Premium with black interiors in Jan 2015 from Audi Bengaluru. We've done Goa, Pondicherry, Ooty and Hyderabad in the car till now and there is nothing to complain. I'll be writing an initial ownership review on it soon.

Regarding the FE, I stay in a relatively lesser traffic area of Bangalore (yelahanka) and I get around 12-13 kmpl FE in city. On highways, FE is around 14.5-15 kmpl. The max FE that I have got till date is 17.5. It was from Yelahanka to airport on cruise control at a speed of 80 kmph.

I don't have any service or maintenance experience yet with Audi Bengaluru but the sales experience was wonderful. The sales person was very professional and helpful. We requested the delivery of the car to be done from the St Mark's showroom since it's much closer to our place although that showroom was not yet inaugurated. The delivery was arranged from that showroom specially for us and ours was the first car to be delivered from that showroom. Everything was nicely explained during delivery. We took the delivery in the evening on a weekday which is peak time traffic so the sales person advised us to take an alternate route which is less crowded. We were not confident about that route so that person rode his bike with us to show us the way for around 4 kms. Amazing gesture on his part. The sales person at Audi even helped us with some other personal RTO related work since my parents had just moved to Bengaluru from Dehradun and they wanted to change the registration of their 2 wheeler to Karnataka. All in all, 5 stars to Audi Bengaluru sales team!

anandbhat · 4th June 2015, 18:26

Facelift is being launched on 19th Jun as per the sales person. It will be coming in 3 variants, including Technology Pack. Not sure about the navigation, but will have LED head lamps and Audi Drive select. More details to be confirmed yet.

Aditya · 5th June 2015, 13:13

According to Autocar India, the Q3 facelift will be launched on June 18, 2015.

Link to Team-BHP News Article

PPS · 7th June 2015, 14:24

The media drive is happening today in Goa.

pic source: https://twitter.com/halley_27

anshumandun · 5th August 2015, 18:53

I'm starting this thread to report about a poor quality outer rear view mirror (which we assume is fake and not a genuine part sourced by Audi) that was fixed by Audi Bengaluru service center on our Q3 and get some advice. But first let me give a little background.

We bought a Audi Q3 Premium model in January 2015. A couple of problems cropped up within the first 2 months. The brakes started making loud screeching noise every morning for the first 1-2 kms and also during rain. The front power windows also started making weird noises when it rained.

Apart from this, 2 damages also happened. One happened on the Hyderabad Vijayawada highway when we were travelling in the middle of a heavy storm in the night. There was a big puddle of water on a curve on the highway which we could not see due to poor visibility. The car went over it at high speed (around 90 kmph) and the water tore an underbody protection shield. Fortunately, the car was in a drive-able condition and we reached Hyderabad. Went to Audi Hyderabad next day and the person there just cut a part of the underbody shield so that it won't scrape the road and we could drive down to Bangalore. The second damage was a broken right outer rear view mirror that some children broke while playing while the car was parked in our parking slot at our complex.

We took an appointment on 1st August with Audi Bengaluru Service Center to get all these problems fixed. This is where the problem began.

We reached on time. Explained the problems. The service person tried to convince us that brake sound is a universal issue with all cars and told us that cleaning the pads will decrease the problem and it would cost us 15k. We argued that firstly this is not a universal problem and secondly we cannot be charged for a problem that started within 2 months of purchasing the car. He agreed. The underbody shield was replaced and the right side ORVM was also replaced. We waited at the service center since we were told that the work will take 2 hours (and we travelled from Yelahanka to Electronics City which is itself a 1.5 hours drive). The work took 4 hours and it was only that we shouted after several polite requests that the car was made ready and given to us. We were getting really late so we just hurried up and left. While driving back, the replaced mirror looked weird and it was hard to get a good view with it.

The next day, my dad drove the car and he told me that the rear view in the right mirror seems very zoomed in and it's making it difficult to drive in traffic. We had a closer look and realized that it is not a convex mirror (or maybe very slightly convex). It did not even have the warning on it "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear". This most definitely looks like a fake and very cheap mirror that was fixed on the car and we were charged 3k for that poor quality mirror.

We called the service center and complained. The person tried to convince us and started explaining convex mirror physics. It was only when we told him that we are sending the fake mirror to Audi Germany for investigation that he readily accepted for replacing the mirror with free car pick-up and drop. This just strengthens our assumption that the mirror is a fake spare being sold at 3k to Audi customers. And if a fake mirror is being used, how can we be sure that the other parts being used are genuine. We've just lost trust on Audi.

I wrote this full incident to get some advice regarding how to approach this issue. Where should we complain about this issue? Getting cheated is one of the worst feelings and that too by a brand like Audi is just unacceptable.

I am attaching 2 photos (one of Right and one of left ORVM). The difference is clear. The view is much wider in the left ORVM than the right one.

Sankar · 5th August 2015, 19:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by anshumandun

I wrote this full incident to get some advice regarding how to approach this issue. Where should we complain about this issue? Getting cheated is one of the worst feelings and that too by a brand like Audi is just unacceptable.

I am attaching 2 photos (one of Right and one of left ORVM). The difference is clear. The view is much wider in the left ORVM than the right one.

Are you saying the driver side mirror is fake because the it doesn't offer a wide view like the passenger side mirror and it doesn't have that writing??!

The following excerpt is from official test drive report.

Quote:

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Non-convex driver side mirror has limited visibility. The other (LHS) mirror is convex and offers a far superior field of vision. The mirror's shape is similar to the Laura and Superb. Is it the same?

Is the shield they sold you also fake? You got any other proof apart from the "view" that substantiates your claim of fake parts?

karpusv · 5th August 2015, 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by anshumandun

...It did not even have the warning on it "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear"....

Just to update:
The earlier regulation mandated automobile manufacturers to inscribe this statement on the ORVM.
However, this regulation has now been removed and hence manufacturers no longer need to have the mirror with the printed warning.

So it is possible that while some manufacturers are still clearing older stocks (from suppliers) there could be some who have already moved to newly produced batches.

Sahil · 5th August 2015, 20:04

Strongly suggest you write to the top management at the dealership as well as Audi India regarding this.

Audi Bangalore is owned by Jubilant group which seems like a good parents company hence they wouldn't encourage this foul play being done down the line by service staff.

anshumandun · 5th August 2015, 20:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sankar

Are you saying the driver side mirror is fake because the it doesn't offer a wide view like the passenger side mirror and it doesn't have that writing??!

The following excerpt is from official test drive report.

Is the shield they sold you also fake? You got any other proof apart from the "view" that substantiates your claim of fake parts?

I don't know about the shield. I have no reason to doubt that.

The original mirror was a convex one and had a wide view. The new one is not convex and has a limited view. This is the only reason I think that this one is not a genuine part.

But thanks for quoting the excerpt from the official review. However, this was not the case with our car. It had convex mirror both sides originally.

7th April 2015, 18:22	#331
cars_crazy BHPian Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Bangalore Posts: 99 Thanked: 35 Times	Re: Audi Q3 : Official Review @lambhorgini: thats a relief.. I guess then I am going with the Q3 afterall!! There is an excellent deal I have by negotiating with the guys in Audi Bengaluru; am just lucky that they have a bright red with black interiors, just what I wanted. So, lets see, if the $$ works out fine, I am keen to go for it ASAP.
	(1) Thanks

9th April 2015, 08:56	#332
adi_petrolhead Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 1,497 Thanked: 2,652 Times	The Audi uses DQ380 version of the DSG box which is capable to hold 380 nm of torque and is a wet clutch 7 speed unit. Reliability will be concern for any DSG box, not only DQ200. DQ250 has also failed for many, may be just the mechatronic units but still, DSG failure is not exclusive to DQ200. It depends on the conditions in which the car is driven. If your everyday driving condition is relaxed, dust free roads, it automatically results in less strain on the box in the long run, hence failure chances are reduced, unless there is a manufacturing defect by the VW group in case of DSG boxes.
	() Thanks

4th June 2015, 18:26	#338
anandbhat BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 135 Thanked: 15 Times	Re: Audi Q3 : Official Review Facelift is being launched on 19th Jun as per the sales person. It will be coming in 3 variants, including Technology Pack. Not sure about the navigation, but will have LED head lamps and Audi Drive select. More details to be confirmed yet.
	() Thanks

5th June 2015, 13:13	#339
Aditya Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 20,018 Thanked: 86,408 Times View My Garage	Re: Audi Q3 : Official Review According to Autocar India, the Q3 facelift will be launched on June 18, 2015. Link to Team-BHP News Article
	(1) Thanks

7th June 2015, 14:24	#340
PPS Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: mumbai Posts: 2,510 Thanked: 3,943 Times	Re: Audi Q3 : Official Review The media drive is happening today in Goa. pic source: https://twitter.com/halley_27
	() Thanks

5th August 2015, 18:53	#341
anshumandun BHPian Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Bangalore Posts: 502 Thanked: 3,219 Times	Wrong(Fake?) Rear View Mirror installed by Audi Bengaluru I'm starting this thread to report about a poor quality outer rear view mirror (which we assume is fake and not a genuine part sourced by Audi) that was fixed by Audi Bengaluru service center on our Q3 and get some advice. But first let me give a little background. We bought a Audi Q3 Premium model in January 2015. A couple of problems cropped up within the first 2 months. The brakes started making loud screeching noise every morning for the first 1-2 kms and also during rain. The front power windows also started making weird noises when it rained. Apart from this, 2 damages also happened. One happened on the Hyderabad Vijayawada highway when we were travelling in the middle of a heavy storm in the night. There was a big puddle of water on a curve on the highway which we could not see due to poor visibility. The car went over it at high speed (around 90 kmph) and the water tore an underbody protection shield. Fortunately, the car was in a drive-able condition and we reached Hyderabad. Went to Audi Hyderabad next day and the person there just cut a part of the underbody shield so that it won't scrape the road and we could drive down to Bangalore. The second damage was a broken right outer rear view mirror that some children broke while playing while the car was parked in our parking slot at our complex. We took an appointment on 1st August with Audi Bengaluru Service Center to get all these problems fixed. This is where the problem began. We reached on time. Explained the problems. The service person tried to convince us that brake sound is a universal issue with all cars and told us that cleaning the pads will decrease the problem and it would cost us 15k. We argued that firstly this is not a universal problem and secondly we cannot be charged for a problem that started within 2 months of purchasing the car. He agreed. The underbody shield was replaced and the right side ORVM was also replaced. We waited at the service center since we were told that the work will take 2 hours (and we travelled from Yelahanka to Electronics City which is itself a 1.5 hours drive). The work took 4 hours and it was only that we shouted after several polite requests that the car was made ready and given to us. We were getting really late so we just hurried up and left. While driving back, the replaced mirror looked weird and it was hard to get a good view with it. The next day, my dad drove the car and he told me that the rear view in the right mirror seems very zoomed in and it's making it difficult to drive in traffic. We had a closer look and realized that it is not a convex mirror (or maybe very slightly convex). It did not even have the warning on it "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear". This most definitely looks like a fake and very cheap mirror that was fixed on the car and we were charged 3k for that poor quality mirror. We called the service center and complained. The person tried to convince us and started explaining convex mirror physics. It was only when we told him that we are sending the fake mirror to Audi Germany for investigation that he readily accepted for replacing the mirror with free car pick-up and drop. This just strengthens our assumption that the mirror is a fake spare being sold at 3k to Audi customers. And if a fake mirror is being used, how can we be sure that the other parts being used are genuine. We've just lost trust on Audi. I wrote this full incident to get some advice regarding how to approach this issue. Where should we complain about this issue? Getting cheated is one of the worst feelings and that too by a brand like Audi is just unacceptable. I am attaching 2 photos (one of Right and one of left ORVM). The difference is clear. The view is much wider in the left ORVM than the right one. Attached Thumbnails
	(1) Thanks

5th August 2015, 20:04	#344
Sahil Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 6,354 Thanked: 7,999 Times	re: Wrong(Fake?) Rear View Mirror installed by Audi Bengaluru Strongly suggest you write to the top management at the dealership as well as Audi India regarding this. Audi Bangalore is owned by Jubilant group which seems like a good parents company hence they wouldn't encourage this foul play being done down the line by service staff.
	(2) Thanks