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2025 Audi Q3

Gas

Small Sport Utility Vehicle 4WD
2 EPA-rated configurations
Data refreshed 2026-10-26

Safety Signal

94 / 100 from the NHTSA recall record

RecallsNHTSA campaigns 1

Complaintsnone reporting a crash, fire or injury 4

Crash ratingNHTSA overall 5★

Fuel economybest combined, EPA 25 mpg

2027 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

The 2025 Audi Q3 is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact SUV with 2 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Q3, is EPA-rated at 25 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of A. Owners have filed 4 complaints, most often about the electrical system. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall.

Audi Q3 — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Audi Q3 · Photo: Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Trims & pricing

Source: manufacturer press kitCompare a trim →

Trim	Powertrain	Drive	MSRP	HP	Torque	MPG comb	Seats	Cargo (2nd row)	Wheels
Q3 S line 45 TFSI® quattro®	Gas	AWD	—	228 hp	251 lb-ft	23 mpg	5	23.7 cu-ft	18 in

MSRP excludes destination. Open a trim for the complete spec sheet and standard/optional equipment. Have the car in front of you? Decode its VIN to see which of these trims it is and what it was priced at.

Specs & fuel economy

Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov

Configuration	Powertrain	Drive	Engine / motor	City	Hwy	Comb	Annual fuel*
Q3	Gas	AWD	2.0L 4-cyl turbo	22	29	25	$3,300
Q3 S-Line quattro	Gas	AWD	2.0L 4-cyl turbo	20	28	23	$3,550

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 48260, 48528.

Emissions & certification

Source: EPA emission certificates

Configuration	Smog rating	Emission standard	Where it can be sold new	SmartWay
Q3	5 / 10	Federal Tier 3 Bin 50 / California LEV-III ULEV50	All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards	—
Q3 S-Line quattro	6 / 10	Federal Tier 3 Bin 30 / California LEV-III SULEV30	All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards	—

Certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S.

The smog rating scores tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, 1 (worst) to 10 (best), and is comparable only within a model year. The standard is the federal bin or California tier the configuration was certified to. Both come from the EPA certificate behind the window sticker.

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Recalls (1)

Source: NHTSA recall database

●moderate

Back Over Prevention

VW: 91NY, Audi: 90AV

29,569 vehicles 79% reported repaired

Problem Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2022-2024 Tiguan, 2023 Arteon, and 2024-2025 Audi Q3 vehicles. An error may occur in the camera control unit at vehicle startup, resulting in the rearview camera image not displaying as intended. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility." Risk A rearview camera that does not display an image can reduce the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash. Fix Dealers will update the camera control unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed to Audi owners April 3, 2024, and Volkswagen owners November 18, 2025. Volkswagen owners will receive a second notice once remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298 or Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are (Volkswagen) 91NY and (Audi) 90AV.

Filed with NHTSADefect report PDF Owner letter PDF Remedy instructions PDF

NHTSA campaign 25V082000 reported Feb 12, 2025 Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.

Whether any of this applies to one specific Q3

A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2025 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Audi publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.

NHTSA VIN check →Audi’s own VIN lookup →

Hear about a recall before the letter does

The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2025 Audi Q3, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.

Owner complaints

Source: NHTSA complaint database

4complaints filed

0 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 0 injuries · 0 deaths reported

1.4 per 10,000 built · Audi reported 28,935 Q3 built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)

Filed per year: 2025: 3 · 2026: 1

Most-cited components

Electrical System 1

Seat Belts 1

Unspecified 1

Seats 1

Fuel/Propulsion System 1

Engine 1

In owners' own words

Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.

I was driving down the highway, roughly 60mph, when my yellow tire pressure warning light came on. The car did not feel any different while driving. I drove for another 5-10 mins when suddenly my car jerked to the left. I let off the gas and slowed to a safe spot to park.

Tires Aug 31, 2026 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11761165

While driving my brand new 4-day old 2025 Audi Q3 at highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly lost engine power and shut off without warning. At the time of the incident the fuel gauge indicated approximately 1/4 tank remaining and there were no prior warnings. I was forced to pull over in traffic, creating a dangerous situation.

Fuel/Propulsion System Dec 14, 2025 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11704946

I purchased a new 2025 Audi Q3 8/18/25 and immediately experienced a potential safety issue with the driver’s seat. The seat structure did not provide stable or secure support, which affected my ability to maintain proper posture and full control of the vehicle while driving.

Seats Dec 9, 2025 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11704041

Vehicle failed to start with many tries despite my own key fob. Initially displayed message with 'Theft' reference, then changed to "Checking remote access rights. Please wait..." on screen. Opening door triggered unexpected shocking alarm, which stopped after using fob to turn it off.

Electrical System Sep 17, 2025 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11687816

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Reported by Audi itself: 2 death-or-injury claims on this model year in its quarterly Early Warning reports to NHTSA (49 CFR 579.21): 2 injured, as claimed, not verified — about 6.9 per 100,000 built. Every Q3 model year, by year and system → Dated and by system, they are exhibit F of the defect dossier.

Crash ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP

Configuration	Overall	Frontal	Side	Rollover	Rollover risk
SUV AWD	★★★★★	★★★★☆	★★★★★	★★★★☆	16%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking.

Service bulletins & campaigns

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications

Communicationsfiled with NHTSA 417

Most recentmanufacturer date 2026-09-30

Kindsas classified by NHTSA 406 service bulletins, 11 others

Most often about: Electrical System, Unknown Or Other, Structure, Service Brakes, Suspension.

TSB_2083444_1 Service bulletin
2026-09-30 · Electrical System
This TSB prvoides informaiton when there is a distance warning + ACC is not available/Audi pre sense fault; DTC U101400, B203200.
TSB_2083409_1 Service bulletin
2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin states that technicians are required to report to the manufacturer when a vehicle has flooded, and specify the height to which the vehicle has been flooded.
TSB_2052680_2 Service bulletin
2026-09-25 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin provides information for reporting safety related information to the manufacturer.
TSB_2074846_5 Service bulletin
2026-09-22 · Steering
This bulletin provides information about vibrations and rotational steering vibrations.
TSB_2020552_15 Service bulletin
2026-09-22 · Visibility/Wiper
This bulletin provides service information regarding exterior glass cleaning.
TSB_2078648_4 Service bulletin
2026-09-18 · Structure — Body
This bulletin provides information about billing for a broken sunroof glass panel.
TSB_2030471_9 Service bulletin
2026-09-15 · Unknown Or Other
This bulletin provides information when the license plate mounting bracket threded inserts are stripped.
TSB_2073860_2 Service bulletin
2026-09-14 · Structure — Body
This bulletin provides information when there are stails/marks on the sill panel trim.

A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.

At the New York inspection station

Source: New York State DMV

New York inspections 0.17%

failed the safety inspection

1,170 initial inspections of 1,160 vehicles.

Measure	The 2025 Q3	Every 2025 vehicle	Behind it
Failed the safety inspection	0.17%	0.36%	1,170
Air-bag warning lamp stayed lit	0.09%	0.16%	1,170
Miles driven a year	5,597	8,354	odometer at inspection
Average odometer	8,041	12,194	odometer at inspection

New York does not emissions-test model years this new, so the safety inspection is the record here. First inspections only, so a car that failed and came back is counted once; private and special plates, not taxis, livery or commercial plates. A rate appears only where at least 200 inspections stand behind it. “Every 2025 vehicle” is every 2025 model-year car, SUV and pickup inspected in the same window, all makes. This is the state’s record of test results, not a reliability score by itself. Source: New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Vehicle Inspections (data.ny.gov, Open NY terms).

Q3 by model year

all years, side by side →

Year Safety Recalls Complaints

2027 A 0 0 24 mpg 2026 A 1 6 25 mpg 2025 this page A 1 4 25 mpg 2024 B 2 18 25 mpg 2023 A 1 2 25 mpg 2022 C 5 34 26 mpg 2021 C 3 15 25 mpg 2020 C 3 66 22 mpg 2019 C 4 10 22 mpg 2018 A 1 26 23 mpg 2017 B 3 8 23 mpg 2016 B 3 28 23 mpg

Common questions about the 2025 Q3

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Does the 2025 Audi Q3 have any recalls?

NHTSA has posted 1 recall campaign for the 2025 Audi Q3. The most serious on file is 25V082000, covering Back Over Prevention. 1 of them was filed with no repair available at the time — NHTSA's file records what the manufacturer had in hand on the filing date, not what exists today. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.

How safe is the 2025 Audi Q3?

NHTSA gave the 2025 Audi Q3 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 4-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 4-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it A (94/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.

What is the fuel economy of the 2025 Audi Q3?

Across the 2 EPA-rated configurations of the 2025 Audi Q3, the best EPA combined figure is 25 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.

What do owners complain about on the 2025 Audi Q3?

Owners have filed 4 complaints with NHTSA about the 2025 Audi Q3, most often about electrical system, seat belts, unspecified. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.

How clean is the 2025 Audi Q3?

The EPA smog rating for the 2025 Audi Q3 runs 5 to 6 out of 10 across its configurations. That score covers tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, and it only compares vehicles within the same model year. It is certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Its configurations were certified to different standards — California LEV-III SULEV30, California LEV-III ULEV50, Federal Tier 3 Bin 30, Federal Tier 3 Bin 50 — which the table above lists per configuration.

Are there service bulletins for the 2025 Audi Q3?

The manufacturer has filed 417 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2025 Audi Q3, most often covering electrical system, unknown or other, structure. The most recent is dated 2026-09-30. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.

How does the 2025 Audi Q3 do at state inspection?

In New York’s inspection lanes over the 12 months to Oct 10, 2026, the 2025 Audi Q3 failed the safety inspection on 0.17% of first inspections — lower than the 0.36% for every 2025 model-year vehicle inspected. The figures are New York State DMV’s own inspection records, first inspections only, and the table above sets each one against every vehicle of the same model year.

What we hold, and what an empty row means

Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.

Data	Held	Source	What it covers — or what empty means
Fuel economy & configurations	2 configurations	EPA certification records	Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures.
Emission certificates	2 configurations	EPA emission certificates	Smog rating, standard and the sales area that decides where the car can be sold new.
Recalls	1	NHTSA recall campaigns	A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags.
Owner complaints	4	NHTSA complaint database	Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold.
Crash ratings	1 tested	NHTSA NCAP	Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them.
Service bulletins	417	NHTSA manufacturer communications	Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall.
Investigations	none	NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation	No defect investigation has been opened.
Driver-assist crash reports	none	NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01	No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like.
Specifications filed with NHTSA	none	NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns	We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable.
Trims, pricing & equipment	1 trims	Manufacturer press kit	Transcribed from the manufacturer's own press material, every value carrying the document it came from.

Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly. Trim-level specifications and pricing are transcribed from the manufacturer's official press kit; every value carries its source in the data file.

JSON for this page · API