• Excessive oil consumption • Engine knocking • Illumination of the check engine light, possibly for cylinder misfire • Engine stalling- • the pistons unexpectedly fail, drivers may also experience a sudden loss of engine power while operating their vehicles. This can pose a safety risk as it may become difficult for drivers to brake, accelerate or control the steering wheel. Drivers are believed to have experienced problems with the pistons well before they should, with some seeing engine failure before the 75,000- mile mark. Audi Vehicles Burning Too Much Oil A number of Audi drivers have posted complaints online that their Q5 vehicles are burning more oil than they should, an issue attorneys suspect could be related to a defect in the pistons. A sample of these complaints can be found below [sic throughout, emphasis ours]: My Audi Q5 2012, like all suffers from excessive mass oil consumption. A Dealer did the oil consumption test and said the piston and rings need to be replaced. I ve Already spent over $1K on crankshaft repairs etc. Will AoA to pay for new piston and rings? Its a $6K repair that I am unwilling to pay because it should not be going through this crap for such an expensive car.” This "benefit" likely won't me customers due to the age of the vehicles and they don’t seem to care. Not to mention owners will still be stuck with paying a percentage for repairs. I bought a 2012 Audi Q5 in in 2015…For the first 20,000 miles of owning this car, it was my dream car and was all I had hoped for. Then, the check engine and oil light game started. At first, adding oil meant that it would it go another 1500-2000 miles without issue. Then, around 75k, it went to 500 to 750 miles. Once it hit 95k, it dropped to every 400 to 600 miles that it needed oil. I am at 118k and desperately want to dump this lemon. Unfortunately, I have payments on this garbage car. I've spoken with a local mechanic about it and he says the fix is replacing the engine.
2012 Audi Q5: excessive oil consumption
23 of the 168 complaints about the 2012 Audi Q5 describe excessive oil consumption.
- owner complaints
- 23
- of this car's complaints
- 14%
- typical repair cost reported
- $6,000
- typical mileage
- 83,000
- recalls
- 0
Excessive oil consumption by model year
What owners say
I have a one family, mother-in-law former owner 2012 Audi Q5 2.0T and unfortunately like others have the issue of excessive oil consumption. This started at about 75,000 miles and now at 79,000 miles it is using about 1 quart of oil every 1000 miles. Of course dealers have their talking points saying this is normal. No, excessive oil consumption is not normal! Too bad Audi is not doing anything about this known problem. NAA (Never Again Audi).
I have maintained the car well returning to Audi dealerships for all servicing. I’m able to pull into any Audi dealership to top off my oil due to a known issue with excessive oil consumption for Q5s. At 108,000 miles, the consumption is progressively worsening requiring 1 quart of oil every 500 miles. There’s no oil drippings on my garage floor.
The vehicle Q5 takes about 2 Quarts of oil every 400-500 miles. There are no oil leaks . It’s at 117,000 miles. Don’t know what to do . Vehicle runs great but the oil sign comes on every 500 miles
EXCESSIVE OIL USAGE, OIL LIGHT COMING ON EVERY 2-3 DAYS ABOUT EVERY 100 MILES DRIVEN OR LESS. I take it to my same mechanic shop always, this is a major issue with the turbo using excessive engine oil consumptions. It's not leaking, it's a VERY WELL KNOWN DEFECTIVE ISSUE WITH THESE 2012 AUDI Q5 2.0 TURBO AWD. MASSIVE GAS USAGE BUT THE MAJOR OIL ISSUE NEEDS TO BE RECALLED BECAUSE THIS WILL COST THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY OUT OF POCKET CONSIDERING THIS IS A AUDI DEFECT. This issue will end up causing major engine failure if not recalled costing thousands of dollars for a engine replacement.
Needing to put oil in engine at an increasing rate. Low oil light comes on every 3 days now as this has been going on over a year. Engine timing chain then jumped and caused engine failure. Replaced with a used engine and the same problems have begun again.
Oil consumption is getting worse and worse. Currently, I am adding a quart of oil every 3 days in between regular oil changes. This is a real issue. I just spent 5,000 dollars approx. on a tune up at a foreign car body shop but they could not repair the oil issue. This is now a known issue with Audis. What can be done to help this issue?
Excessive oil consumption. Needs 1 quart of oil per tank of gas, more often with city driving. Issues most likely with original rings and pistons. Repair likely $6000. Oil consumption not disclosed as a problem when I bought the car 4000 miles ago. Currently 106,000 miles.
Extreme oil consumption (burning 2+ quarts in less than 500 miles); cutting off while idling. Yes it is available for inspection upon request. If this is a leak, it could possibly catch on fire while my child is driving to school, or it could cut off while driving causing a bad accident. Yes it has been confirmed by a repair facility. Check/add oil indicator; check engine light; emits black smoke from rear. Issues appeared 2 days after purchasing the car.
Heavy oil consumption and leaks into gas, ignition and other areas
Class action law suit for audi USA for excessive oil consumption in models up to 2011, has not fixed the issue becasue alot of people claim the same issue with audi including my 2012 audi q5. More than 1 qt of oil every 200 miles is alot and this seems to be a issue with audi, I have had mu engine check by more than one shop, had a skoke test and oil consumption test done on it and the oil is burning excessively with no resolutions.
Im loosing a liter of oil every 200-500 miles and tyranny feels like it slips a little but the oil consumption is why im writing this I bought my 2012 audi q5 premium sport edition with a 2.0 turbo with 80,000 miles and was not told about the oil consumption!!
Service bulletins that may apply
- This bulletin provides information when the engine is not runing smoothly; all gas engines.
- This special notice is to inform dealers to return the parts listed if it meets the criteria provided.
- This bulletin provides informaiton when the engine is not running smoothly, misfiring.
- This bulletin provides information on VIN Plates, Safety Certification labels, and the ordering procedures.
- This bulletin provides information regarding UV leak additive for finding oil leaks.
- This bulletin provides informatin when the engine does not run smoothly at idling speeds.
- This bulletin provides information when the MIL is on; DTCs for misfire, air/fuel ratio imbalance, or lean...
- This bulletin provides information when ther is an Engine: start/stop system fault shown and start/stop...
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2012 Audi Q5 oil consumption
Is excessive oil consumption a common problem on the 2012 Audi Q5?
23 of 168 owner complaints about the 2012 Audi Q5 (14%) mention excessive oil consumption. The model year with the most reports is 2012.
How much does it cost to fix excessive oil consumption on the 2012 Audi Q5?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $6,000 (median of 5 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2012 Audi Q5?
There are 0 recalls and 199 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2012 Audi Q5
Check engine light 8Engine failure 6Fuel pump 6Stalling 6Sunroof shattered 5
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2012 Audi Q5?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history