2019 Audi Q8: hesitation when accelerating

5 of the 111 complaints about the 2019 Audi Q8 describe hesitation when accelerating.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 5%
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 25 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Hesitation when accelerating by model year

2024
1
2020
1
2019
5

What owners say

Filed Jan 26, 2023 · Electrical, Steering · TX

Got Electrical System Malfunction to start. I called service and they said car was safe to drive. Continued driving got a fault for automatic start/Stop malfunction, followed by: Right lug nut loose Right brake light malfunction Parking brake malfunction Distance indicator malfunction Power Steering malfunction Drive train ,malfunction. Car engine started hesitating and dash went totally blank. Car was hard to steer , luckily I live near the dealership. Dealer said there are 30 cars in their service department with the same problem. I am #3000 on Audis waitlist for parts to fix problem. 48 volt battery and alternator.

Filed Jan 4, 2020 · Transmission · 1,000 miles · PA

Terrible hesitation at stop sign leading to close call. Car will not start off without hesitation of 2 or 3 seconds leaving driver with no control. This is a very dangerous. See google coments about 'q8 problems'

Filed Aug 28, 2019 · Acceleration, Engine · 11 miles · IL

There is a noticeable throttle lag (hesitation) when the auto start/stop feature is enabled, and the car comes out of a rolling stop (ex. When making a left turn). Disabling the auto start/stop feature or selecting sport mode negates the issue.

Filed Jun 26, 2019 · Transmission · 50 miles · DC

My gorgeous new audi q8 has a dangerous hesitation issue when acceleration from a full start with auto start/stop enabled. The issue is described thoroughly in the article @ https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/10/review-the-stunning-2019-audi-q8-has-a-deal-breaking-flaw/. Accelerator response is very inconsistent such that you can't count on the car accelerating in a consistent manner. It either hesitates or surges forward. Turning auto start/stop does improve performance, but one must remember to turn it off every time you start the vehicle. I got my q8 2 months ago. I tried to learn how to predict acceleration from a standstill, but gave up after almost getting into an accident while changing lanes around a car at a red light. I took it to the dealer who says audi has not issued any service bulletins to resolve this issue and the problem was not happening at the time of this test drive.

Filed Jun 12, 2019 · Acceleration · 1,650 miles · SC

Start/stop system has nearly caused two major accidents for me. Turning left at an intersection with approaching traffic and plenty of time under normal circumstances to proceed......push accelerator and 2 to 3 second hesitation (turbo lag). Car does not move. There is no way to permanently disable this defective system in the audi q8.