Q7 - 55TFSI or 50TDI??
Discussion
Any help appreciated….
Expecting my third child and adjusting fleet accordingly. Having looked at Disco5 and XC90, we’ve narrowed down on the Audi Q7.
Up until now I have been looking for a Q7 Vorsprung 50TDI (pre facelift - 2019) but struggling to find a one owner car and low mileage (I’m planning on keeping this for 6-8yrs). As the budget has crept up (now approaching £50k), likely used 2020/2021 cars have cropped up and I’ve found a potential car which is a 55TFSI and wondered if anyone has any real world experience?
We’re currently running an X1 20ixDrive which we’ve had for a very trouble free 4yrs and 16k miles. It mainly does short journeys but now being the main car after buying a campervan as second car, it’s probably closer to 8k per annum going towards. It does everything from 10mile round trips to nursery to 100mile round trips to see my folks or longer for holidays and weekends away every 1-2months.
I bought the petrol X1 to deal with low mileage given issues I’ve had with diesels and short trips before. I’m now considering the 55TFSI given the same issue and increasing concerns about low emissions zones and perceptions of diesel in future.
I’m guessing average 22-25mpg to be expected (27mpg WTLP). Current X1 does 31mpg on average.
Any thoughts or experience?
Expecting my third child and adjusting fleet accordingly. Having looked at Disco5 and XC90, we’ve narrowed down on the Audi Q7.
Up until now I have been looking for a Q7 Vorsprung 50TDI (pre facelift - 2019) but struggling to find a one owner car and low mileage (I’m planning on keeping this for 6-8yrs). As the budget has crept up (now approaching £50k), likely used 2020/2021 cars have cropped up and I’ve found a potential car which is a 55TFSI and wondered if anyone has any real world experience?
We’re currently running an X1 20ixDrive which we’ve had for a very trouble free 4yrs and 16k miles. It mainly does short journeys but now being the main car after buying a campervan as second car, it’s probably closer to 8k per annum going towards. It does everything from 10mile round trips to nursery to 100mile round trips to see my folks or longer for holidays and weekends away every 1-2months.
I bought the petrol X1 to deal with low mileage given issues I’ve had with diesels and short trips before. I’m now considering the 55TFSI given the same issue and increasing concerns about low emissions zones and perceptions of diesel in future.
I’m guessing average 22-25mpg to be expected (27mpg WTLP). Current X1 does 31mpg on average.
Any thoughts or experience?
I had a 50tdi 2020 facelift black edition for 3 years, so can give you a bit of info on that.
It was ok, car was fantastic, but the drivetrain wasn’t great and let it down. It had serious lag when pulling away, a slight delay between asking for acceleration and it then deciding to give you some. Then when it came on song the boost is quite abrupt and you are off.
Took quite a bit of getting used to and drive around the issue. Very hard to give passengers a smooth journey and not cause a nodding dog effect. You became used to it, but when driving something else and coming back it was very noticeable.
It averaged around. 28mpg over 18,000 of fairly mixed driving. No dpf issues even when used for a lot of short journeys.
No experience of the petrol in the Q7 but in other Audis have found the petrol to be significantly worse on fuel than you would expect.
For advice I’d have to say get a G05 X5 30d/40d. Engine and gearbox on a different level. Getting 33mpg now on same journey profile and the drivetrain is on a different level.
It was ok, car was fantastic, but the drivetrain wasn’t great and let it down. It had serious lag when pulling away, a slight delay between asking for acceleration and it then deciding to give you some. Then when it came on song the boost is quite abrupt and you are off.
Took quite a bit of getting used to and drive around the issue. Very hard to give passengers a smooth journey and not cause a nodding dog effect. You became used to it, but when driving something else and coming back it was very noticeable.
It averaged around. 28mpg over 18,000 of fairly mixed driving. No dpf issues even when used for a lot of short journeys.
No experience of the petrol in the Q7 but in other Audis have found the petrol to be significantly worse on fuel than you would expect.
For advice I’d have to say get a G05 X5 30d/40d. Engine and gearbox on a different level. Getting 33mpg now on same journey profile and the drivetrain is on a different level.
Thanks for your review. I think the 50TDI is probably the better overall solution for us, but I won't let the 55TSFI put me off if the car is overall a good spec.
Interesting to hear your thoughts on the sluggishness of the drivetrain - that seems to be a common complaint across the internet and professional reviewers, which does make me a little concerned.
I owned a 2021 G05 X5 30d a couple of years ago and ran it for 9m. Absolutely loved it and would have another in a heartbeat. The only issue now is with the seating. We have a baby on the way plus a 3yr old and a soon to be 11yr old. Don't want the 11yr old squished too much between the younger two and even back a couple of years ago - she was squashed between a small adult and baby basinet in the back of the X5.
What I'm really struggling with now is the level of churn which seems to go on with the Q7. I've enquired now on 5 different Q7 Vorsprung's and all of them have had 3-4 owners in just 3-4yrs. I thought I'd found a 1 owner car this morning at Saxtons, enquired on it and did a CarVertical at the same time and it now appears it's a two owner car which has been falsely advertised. And a very questionable history with it sitting around for long periods of time.
I'm getting hugely frustrated and it's making me question why they turn over so quickly. Makes me wonder if the hesitancy in the drivetrain being reported is cause for people to chuck them in swiftly.....
Unfortunately, the 55TFSI I started the thread about has subsequently sold. Shame as it was a nicely specced and subtle Black Edition.
May end up going for the Disco5 testdrive again after all.
Interesting to hear your thoughts on the sluggishness of the drivetrain - that seems to be a common complaint across the internet and professional reviewers, which does make me a little concerned.
I owned a 2021 G05 X5 30d a couple of years ago and ran it for 9m. Absolutely loved it and would have another in a heartbeat. The only issue now is with the seating. We have a baby on the way plus a 3yr old and a soon to be 11yr old. Don't want the 11yr old squished too much between the younger two and even back a couple of years ago - she was squashed between a small adult and baby basinet in the back of the X5.
What I'm really struggling with now is the level of churn which seems to go on with the Q7. I've enquired now on 5 different Q7 Vorsprung's and all of them have had 3-4 owners in just 3-4yrs. I thought I'd found a 1 owner car this morning at Saxtons, enquired on it and did a CarVertical at the same time and it now appears it's a two owner car which has been falsely advertised. And a very questionable history with it sitting around for long periods of time.
I'm getting hugely frustrated and it's making me question why they turn over so quickly. Makes me wonder if the hesitancy in the drivetrain being reported is cause for people to chuck them in swiftly.....
Unfortunately, the 55TFSI I started the thread about has subsequently sold. Shame as it was a nicely specced and subtle Black Edition.
May end up going for the Disco5 testdrive again after all.
X7 seems slightly out of reach. I've increased the budget from £40k to £50k and I need another £8-10k to get in a low-ish mileage X7. They are appealing though. BiL has one and loves it, even in 30d form (which I thought would be slightly underpowered).
I'm looking at another Q7 Vorsprung in Southend. We'll see where that one is headed. A little overpriced, so we'll see if there's a haggle if it turns out to be a good one. Otherwise I'm tempted to wait it out a few months and see how prices and stock develop over the coming 6-8wks. Ideally want one before Christmas though as we've got a big road trip to Dublin to see the family over New Year and the X1 won't cut it for that.
SQ7 is a good call. Interestingly though, they don't all come very well specced unless up at Vorsprung trim again (which is contrary to what I would've thought was standard on the flagship model). I'll keep my eyes peeled. It's certainly not excluded given I understand the fuel economy isn't massively far off what the V6 TDI has to offer.
I'm looking at another Q7 Vorsprung in Southend. We'll see where that one is headed. A little overpriced, so we'll see if there's a haggle if it turns out to be a good one. Otherwise I'm tempted to wait it out a few months and see how prices and stock develop over the coming 6-8wks. Ideally want one before Christmas though as we've got a big road trip to Dublin to see the family over New Year and the X1 won't cut it for that.
SQ7 is a good call. Interestingly though, they don't all come very well specced unless up at Vorsprung trim again (which is contrary to what I would've thought was standard on the flagship model). I'll keep my eyes peeled. It's certainly not excluded given I understand the fuel economy isn't massively far off what the V6 TDI has to offer.
Spuffington said:
X7 seems slightly out of reach. I've increased the budget from £40k to £50k and I need another £8-10k to get in a low-ish mileage X7. They are appealing though. BiL has one and loves it, even in 30d form (which I thought would be slightly underpowered).
I'm looking at another Q7 Vorsprung in Southend. We'll see where that one is headed. A little overpriced, so we'll see if there's a haggle if it turns out to be a good one. Otherwise I'm tempted to wait it out a few months and see how prices and stock develop over the coming 6-8wks. Ideally want one before Christmas though as we've got a big road trip to Dublin to see the family over New Year and the X1 won't cut it for that.
SQ7 is a good call. Interestingly though, they don't all come very well specced unless up at Vorsprung trim again (which is contrary to what I would've thought was standard on the flagship model). I'll keep my eyes peeled. It's certainly not excluded given I understand the fuel economy isn't massively far off what the V6 TDI has to offer.
AUC 2018 SQ7:I'm looking at another Q7 Vorsprung in Southend. We'll see where that one is headed. A little overpriced, so we'll see if there's a haggle if it turns out to be a good one. Otherwise I'm tempted to wait it out a few months and see how prices and stock develop over the coming 6-8wks. Ideally want one before Christmas though as we've got a big road trip to Dublin to see the family over New Year and the X1 won't cut it for that.
SQ7 is a good call. Interestingly though, they don't all come very well specced unless up at Vorsprung trim again (which is contrary to what I would've thought was standard on the flagship model). I'll keep my eyes peeled. It's certainly not excluded given I understand the fuel economy isn't massively far off what the V6 TDI has to offer.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310092...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307089...
Positives - The handling, steering and general feel are great, I think you can tell there is part Bentayga and Cayenne underneath. Feels really planted and it always remembered the ride hight mode you had left it in, sport, comfort and off-road all done exactly what you would expect. Interior quality and night lighting amazing and always thought it had a fair bit of presence on the big wheels.
Negatives- touchscreen and general infotainment not intuitive at all, and that lag I mentioned. I could never work out exactly where it was coming from and whether a remap would have helped it. I suspect not as I think it was a combination of the engine mapping but also the gearbox mapping. It made pulling out at roundabouts and junctions challenging and as I mentioned it made you look like a learner to any passengers. Nothing, nothing, nothing, you would accelerate more and more, then whoosh, it would respond and you have way too much throttle on and would need to back off. I had the 262bhp version in the car before it an A8 and it was much better, I booked Q7 into service as I assumed something was wrong and was told that all the 280bhp newer models felt like this and it was due to the mapping being done to ensure compliant emissions. Drove their demo and it was the same. Oh and SQ7 has it a bit too.
Replacement 40d.
Not as much presence, not as planted feeling, but that drivetrain and I drive interface, a breath of fresh air. Couldn’t go back.
over the years ive had them all off this type of car...... currently driving a Q7 on a 65 plate....... the best car ive had of this was a merc gls, the ride was unbelievable with massive amounts of space, I may well go back to one after the q7 goes next year, I would imagine the 9 speed box would be epic which was the only draw back of the one that I had which was 7 speed
Thanks for the replies guys.
All this talk of a slowdown in sales, you'd never believe the prices I'm seeing for these cars and then the condition of them when they're presented. Really not happy with the quality of the used cars I've seen both in terms of how they've been presented for sale as well as the way in which they've been marketed (a bit creative with the truth on history etc).
Given the condition of what I've seen, I've now done a complete 180 and looking at our second choice (but 1st in our hearts) a JLR Disco 5, god help me!
Although after enquiring on two this afternoon, they've both sold within 48hrs of going online, so all the ideas that D5's are hard to shift at the moment seem to be unfounded.
All this talk of a slowdown in sales, you'd never believe the prices I'm seeing for these cars and then the condition of them when they're presented. Really not happy with the quality of the used cars I've seen both in terms of how they've been presented for sale as well as the way in which they've been marketed (a bit creative with the truth on history etc).
Given the condition of what I've seen, I've now done a complete 180 and looking at our second choice (but 1st in our hearts) a JLR Disco 5, god help me!
Although after enquiring on two this afternoon, they've both sold within 48hrs of going online, so all the ideas that D5's are hard to shift at the moment seem to be unfounded.
spuffington, what did you end up with in the end?
I've got a similar dilemma and set of circumstances to you. Considering the previous version SQ7, ideally Vorsprung, (£45k ish AUC) but I've seen the new model 55TFSI coming in around £50k AUC in the Vorsprung spec. Or push budget and get the new shape SQ7 (diesel) for £52/53k or even £55k/56k for the petrol version. Insurance on the new models was horrendous though.
I've got a similar dilemma and set of circumstances to you. Considering the previous version SQ7, ideally Vorsprung, (£45k ish AUC) but I've seen the new model 55TFSI coming in around £50k AUC in the Vorsprung spec. Or push budget and get the new shape SQ7 (diesel) for £52/53k or even £55k/56k for the petrol version. Insurance on the new models was horrendous though.
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