Audi Q3 Review (2018-2025)
Audi Q3 cars for sale
4.0
Expert review
Pros
High-quality cabin finish
Strong engines, including efficient diesels
Rapid performance if you opt for the RS Q3
Cons
No plug-in hybrid, which will disappoint company car drivers
The Sportback version compromises practicality for the sake of style
Pricey compared to similar cars without a premium badge
The CarGurus verdict
The Mk2 Audi Q3 is a well-made, quietly stylish and practical small SUV that will have plenty of appeal on the used car market thanks to its badge, feeling of quality and a selection of engines to suit different needs. However, it sits in a busy part of the market with some very good rivals, so we’d advise anyone considering the Audi to also look at its competitors, especially the ones from BMW and Volvo.
All the engines in the range are strong, although there are question marks over reliability. In fairness, however, those same questions could be asked of rivals like BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes. Is it the Q3 the best car of its type? Perhaps not quite, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out.
What is the Audi Q3?
The Q3 has been a solid seller for Audi, and a popular small SUV around the world since the first version was launched in 2011. This is the second-generation Q3, which went on sale in 2018 and was replaced in late 2025. It competed in what was - and still is - an increasingly busy section of the market, with small SUVs being offered by virtually every major manufacturer. As well as premium competitors, such as the BMW X1, Mercedes-Benz GLA and Volvo XC40, the Audi also had to worry about cheaper but still-impressive cars like the Skoda Karoq and Volkswagen Tiguan.
As well as the regular Q3, there was also the Q3 Sportback, a slightly racier-looking SUV with a more coupe-like profile, thanks to a lower roof and more bulging wheel arches. This serves as a foil for cars like the Mercedes GLC Coupe, Land Rover Range Rover Evoque or BMW X2. Either version of the Q3 can make for a great used buy.
How practical is it?
This is a definite area of strength for the regular Q3. Obviously, there's lots of space up front, as there always is, but you also get plenty of room in the rear seats. Rear legroom is very generous, and you can choose to sacrifice a little of it if you need more boot space by shifting the sliding rear seats forward on runners that have about 15cm of travel.
Depending on where the rear seats are set, the boot space is a minimum of 530 litres - which is still impressively large, and already has the beating of many rivals - or a maximum of 675 litres. The space is a good square shape, too, and there isn't much of a load lip to negotiate when loading heavy items.
Going back to the rear seats for a moment, rear headroom is also very generous, so tall adults will travel in comfort. Three adults will fit across the rear bench, but it will be a bit of a squeeze.
Go for the Sportback model, and you'll find that the swooping roofline means that rear headroom isn't quite so generous. Six-footers will still be fine, but anyone much taller than that might struggle. Happily, though, the Sportback's boot is every bit as roomy as the regular Q3's takes to being ever-so-slightly longer.
The sloping roof does mean that there's a little bit less space in the Sportback on those occasions where you fold all the rear seats down and fill the car up to the gunwales. In two-seat mode, the regular Q3 musters 1,525 litres of cargo space, where the Sportback provides 1,400 litres. We doubt that'll be a deal-breaker for most buyers. In both, those rear seats fold down in a 40/20/40 split, which is more versatile than the 60/40 split you get in some rivals.
What's it like to drive?
The Q3 does everything you need it to do, but not much more. Its exact character will depend on which model you choose, as there are various combinations of suspension and engine that make quite a difference to the car's on-road manners.
Entry-level models of the regular Q3 get a standard suspension setup that allows the car to ride pretty well, although it doesn't feel quite as wafty as a Range Rover Evoque. S line models get stiffer sport suspension. This makes things feel more pointy and alert through the corners, but does mean lumps and bumps make themselves more known in the cabin, especially if you’ve got larger alloy wheels.
If you opt for a top-end Vorsprung model, you’ll get sophisticated adaptive suspension that you can stiffen or soften at the touch of a screen. It’s the pick of the bunch when it comes to comfort, but you’ll have to pay quite a bit for it.
The Q3 Sportback aims to have a bit more fizz to the driving experience as well as the styling, with sport- or adaptive suspension depending on the model. It succeeds, but it’s still not as involving as something like a Seat Ateca.
When it comes to engines, you get a range of petrol and diesel units. The badging is a bit confusing and relates to the power output rather than engine size, so the petrol range starts with the 35 TFSI, which has a 1.5-litre turbo engine with 150hp. It’s a great little unit with lots of low-down punch, and unless you’re set on diesel or extra power, it’ll suit a large chunk of potential Q3 customers. The next in the range is the 40 TFSI, which has 187bhp, while the 45 TFSI has 230hp. Both of these come only with all-wheel drive – which Audi calls quattro – which gives you extra traction in slippery conditions, but also adds to the weight and diminishes fuel economy.
On the diesel side, the 35 TDI has 150hp and the automatic 40 TDI has 190hp. Both are impressive, with great pull at low revs, and the improved fuel economy could make up for the extra cost if you’re doing lots of longer journeys. They’re a bit noisier than the petrol engines, but still perfectly acceptable.
After a couple of years on sale, Audi added a plug-in hybrid powertrain badged 45 TFSIe. It combined a 1.4-litre petrol engine with an electric motor for a total system output of 245PS, and had an electric-only range of up to 31 miles, but we never got to try it.
Technology, equipment & infotainment
Audi has long excelled at making great quality interiors and the Q3 is no different. Well, almost; 95% of the cockpit feels premium and tactile to the touch, but there are a couple of places where cheaper-feeling plastics let the side down a bit.
All models get a digital display in place of regular dials – called a Virtual Cockpit – and it works well. The touchscreen infotainment system in the middle of the dashboard includes Amazon Alexa and looks awesome, and is largely fairly easy to use, although not quite as easy on the move as BMW’s system, which allows you to scroll through the various menus with a rotary dial in between the front seats.
Various different trim levels and editions were offered during the Q3's time on sale, but they mainly centred around Sport, S line and Vorsprung trim levels.
Even Sport models are well-equipped, with with LED headlights 18-inch alloy wheels, power tailgate, heated and powered door mirrors, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, rear parking sensors, automatic lights and wipers, and a variety of driver assistance systems including lane departure warning and blind spot assistance.
S line trim adds 19-inch wheels, sports suspension, sportier styling, part-leather upholstery, privacy glass and ambient lighting.
Vorsprung trim ticks pretty much every box there is, adding 20-inch wheels, adaptive suspension, matrix LED headlights with washers, power folding door mirrors, a panoramic roof, electrically adjusting and heated front seats, alcantara and leather upholstery, extended ambient lighting, a self-parking system, 360-degree cameras, adaptive cruise control, wireless phone charging, and a 15-speaker Bang & Olufsen stereo.
Audi Q3 running costs
When the second-generation Q3 was new, it was similarly priced to the BMW X1 and Volvo’s XC40, and a little cheaper than the Range Rover Evoque. So while not a cheap car, it was at least competitive with its rivals.
Sportback models were more expensive, but still cheaper than an Evoque. But the BMW X2 was cheaper still.
The RS Q3 models were a chunk more expensive again, putting them up against cars like the Porsche Macan and Jaguar F-Pace SVR. However, you can also get similar excitement levels – if not the premium badge – from the Volkswagen T-Roc R.
Like all its rivals, it enjoyed fairly strong residual values from new, but it's been around long enough now that the used car market has lots of preowned examples that look very temptingly priced.
Fuel economy is predictably stronger in the diesel version, so if you’re regularly doing longer distances then they’re worth considering, even with the slightly higher purchase price and higher cost of fuel.
For lower-mileage drivers, the 35 TFSI engine is a good one, and officially should give you up to 42.2mpg, depending on the model. A manual version will give you slightly better mpg. We’d expect it to be able to hit mid-to-high 30s mpg in the real world. More powerful engines won't do as well on economy, especially as they have all-wheel drive. In the 45 TFSI, you’ll be doing well to get an mpg in the high 20s, the RS Q3 models will be in the low 20s if you’re lucky.
Audi offers either fixed or flexible servicing, depending on how much mileage you do. Fixed, aimed at lower-mileage drivers, means a service every 9,300 miles or one year, while flexible is up to every 18,600 miles or two years. The car will monitor itself and let the driver know when a service is due. Audi offers 0% finance servicing and repairs and a range of service plans to help you budget.
Audi Q3 reliability
Audi is a premium manufacturer, but its reputation for reliability perhaps isn't as good as you might expect. The brand regularly features towards the bottom of independent reliability surveys, including the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, in which it came 24th out of the 31 carmakers considered. That puts it a little way behind Mercedes, but miles behind BMW and Volvo, although ahead of Land Rover.
In terms of the Q3 itself, the model also put in a bottom-half performance. It ranked 20th out of 33 models in the Family SUV category.
Should anything go wrong - and on that evidence, it might - Audi offered a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty on a new Q3, which is the same as on the Volvo XC40, but isn’t particularly great when BMW and Mercedes’s three-year warranties have an unlimited mileage. And that's before you even start talking about the warranties offered by various Japanese, Korean and Chinese firms, which are way more generous.
- If you want your family SUV to have serious performance, then the RS Q3 and RS Q3 Sportback could be your thing. These come loaded with equipment (as you’d expect for the lofty price) and are powered by a 2.5-litre turbo engine with 400hp. It’s pretty speedy and more than capable of putting a smile on your face, even if it’s not as capable as Porsche’s Macan.
- At first glance, the naming conventions of the Q3 range – 35 TFSI, 40 TDI, etc – may seem baffling, but they’re based on power outputs and the type of engine, and are applied to all of Audi’s cars. The higher the number, the more power, so 30 is for models with between 107 and 129hp, 35 is for between 145 and 159hp, and so on. TFSI (which stands for Turbo Fuel Stratified Injection) is Audi’s name for its petrol engines, while TDI (turbocharged direct injection) is the name for diesel units.
- Most of the Q3 range comes as standard with a seven-speed automatic gearbox, which changes smoothly but can sometimes be a bit hesitant when you want it to change down quickly. Entry-level models, however, come with a six-speed manual gearbox. That’s the 35 TFSI and the 35 TDI on the ‘normal’ Q3, and just the 35 TFSI on the Q3 Sportback
- If fuel economy is a priority: The Q3 35 TDI is front-wheel drive, rather than all-wheel drive, which makes for less weight to haul around and so gives a better mpg figure. The Sport trim line will be slightly more efficient than the others, and you should be able to get an mpg in the low-40s without too much trouble.
- If you need all the space you can get: Nice as it looks, the Q3 Sportback isn’t as practical as the regular Q3, with reduced rear headroom and a smaller boot. If you have lots of stuff and/or adult passengers, then we’d recommend avoiding the Sportback.
- If you want performance: The RS Q3 (Sportback or otherwise) is the most powerful car in the Q3 range, with enough power to sprint to 62mph from standstill in less than five seconds. That’s fast in anyone’s book, and it’ll still easily house the kids and the shopping.
- If you want all the toys: The RS models are loaded with equipment, but if you don’t need that kind of power and performance, then look for one of the Vorsprung models. These are the top-level trim and come with all sorts of fancy features, including 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive suspension and clever matrix LED headlights, which let you keep full beam on at night without dazzling oncoming traffic. You’ll also get an excellent Bang & Olufsen sound system with 15 speakers.
