Audi Q8 review - Reliability & safety

There isn't a safety feature in Audi's armoury you can't specify on the Q8, either as standard or as an option, and it has a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. It's trickier to predict owner satisfaction – while the car itself is bound to please, neither its reliability nor Audi's customer service can be assured.

Audi Q8 reliability

The Q8 is still a fairly new model, which has a relatively unproven reliability and customer satisfaction record. Although it shares much with the Q7 under the surface, it occupies a position in the brand's range that has never previously been filled. Audi having never offered a model quite like this means there's no real precedent when it comes to owner satisfaction.

Audi's standings in our 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey are pretty poor – it could only achieve 30th place out of 32 brands, below Mercedes, Land Rover and BMW. However, the statistic that 23% of Audi owners reported at least one issue with their car during the first year of ownership isn’t horrendous, and far better than Land Rover with 42%. Audi owners told Driver Power they weren’t happy with ride and handling, value or practicality, where the brand came near the bottom of the table. Its best scores were for visibility and rear legroom. 

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Safety

All Q8 models come with lots of driver-assistance features, including lane-departure warning, a rear-view camera and hill-hold assist. The company is one of the front-runners in driver-assistance technology, and the semi-autonomous systems that underpin the Q8's 'Tour Pack' should significantly reduce driver workload, and therefore fatigue, on long or repetitive journeys.

The Q8 has been put through its paces by Euro NCAP and matched the Q7's performance, earning the full five stars. It achieved a 93% score in the adult occupant protection category and a high 87% for child occupant protection.