Audi Q5 2.0 TDI Sport S tronic quattro Euro 6

This is the specification most used Q5s in the UK are built to. TDI is Audi’s badge for its turbodiesel engines, S tronic is the dual-clutch automatic, and quattro is four-wheel drive. Sport sits in the middle of the trim ladder.

What to check on this specification

The S tronic gearbox

This is the item worth the most attention on a Q5 viewing. Used-car reviewers single out S tronic failures on this model as an expensive, well-documented risk, and the gearbox has its own scheduled oil and filter service that owners routinely skip. Ask to see it in the history. On the drive, check that reverse engages cleanly and that low-speed shifts are not jerky; a car that jolts as it stops and starts is describing a fault that ranges from a software update at the cheap end to a mechatronic unit or a gearbox at the expensive end.

The particulate filter

Every diesel of this era leaves the factory with a diesel particulate filter. Two things follow from that. First, a filter that was fitted when the vehicle was built and is missing at test time is an MOT failure, and removing one will normally put the vehicle outside the emissions standard it was type-approved to — which makes it unlawful to use on the road. Second, a filter only clears itself properly on a run long and hot enough to complete a regeneration; a car used for short cold journeys accumulates soot and, worse, fuel in the sump from interrupted regenerations.

On a viewing this shows up in the paperwork rather than the metal. Look for oil changes at or before the stated interval, and be wary of a car whose recorded mileage is made up of very short annual totals.

Suspension, steering and electrics

Reviewers flag worn ball joints and control-arm bushes on this model, so listen for creaks over a poor surface, and note that power-steering assistance failure is a documented fault that makes the steering feel unnaturally heavy. Electrical niggles cluster around the air conditioning, the boot switch and the tyre-pressure monitoring system — check all three rather than assuming a dashboard without lights is a car without faults.

Ownership notes

The 2.0 TDI in this platform uses a cambelt rather than a chain, on a fixed interval in both years and miles. Establish from the service record when it was last done, because the interval expires on time whether or not the mileage has been covered.

Audi diesel engines from the EA189 family were subject to the Volkswagen Group emissions recall; the affected engines are the Euro 5 1.6 and 2.0 TDI units built up to 2015, so a Euro 6 car of this generation sits outside that action. Confirm the position for the actual registration with the DVSA recall service rather than by inference from the badge.

About this page

The address you are on was part of a used-car dealer site that no longer exists. The individual vehicle it once described was sold years ago; there is no stock here, nothing is for offer, and no enquiry goes anywhere. What has been kept is the specification the address itself encodes, written up as a reference for anyone looking at the same combination of model, engine, transmission and emissions standard on the used market today.

Nothing here is advice about a particular vehicle. Every point above is a thing to check on the car in front of you, and the official services linked below answer against a registration number rather than a model name.