Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Audi Q5 2013: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 77 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2013 Audi Q5 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Suspension arm pins and bushes (front).

Summary

The 2013 Audi Q5 follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 5,820 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
77 in every 100
Did not pass first time
23 in every 1001,342 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
12 yearsabout 105,338 miles
First tests counted
5,820

What failed most often

  1. Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)15 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Drive shaft joints and boots (front)14 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Headlight aim10 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2013 Audi Q5 vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: headlight levelling device (rear), 53 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,342 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Headlight levelling device (rear)

Failed on 51 first tests53 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A headlamp levelling device that is inoperative is graded Major, and so is a manual levelling device that cannot be operated from the driver's seat. Vehicles with high intensity discharge or LED dipped beam headlamps may have a self-levelling system, and if fitted it must work. Where it is not easy to tell, testers give the benefit of the doubt, and motor caravans are not checked.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (front): 13 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 34 first tests13 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Excessive wear in an anti-roll bar linkage pin or bush is Major. If the pin or bush is likely to become detached, it is graded Dangerous. The wording is DVSA's general one for a suspension pin, bush or joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 22 first tests, 5.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 201 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Pins and bushes on suspension arms fail as Major when they are excessively worn. They are graded Dangerous when likely to become detached. DVSA uses the same wording for a suspension joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 370 first tests, 3.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 48 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Whether a suspension arm ball joint dust cover still keeps dirt out decides its grade. Severely deteriorated is Minor, while missing, or no longer preventing the ingress of dirt, is Major.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Body and structure

One fault: drive shaft joints and boots (front), 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Drive shaft joints and boots (front)

Failed on 189 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A constant velocity boot that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. It is Major once it is missing, split or insecure so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A transmission joint excessively worn is Major, and graded Dangerous when it is so worn it is likely to fail.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 69 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 85 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
77in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
3in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
20in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 76.9% of 5,820 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 80.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 20 not fixed make the 23 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as tested
Diesel5,304107,783 miles77
Petrol51676,171 miles79

Figures are in every 100 first tests.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

406080100201020132020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020132020Newer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 79 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200966 in every 1003,385
201068 in every 1003,312
201171 in every 1005,072
201275 in every 1004,283
2013 This car77 in every 1005,820
201480 in every 1008,263
201582 in every 10010,012
201683 in every 10010,748
201782 in every 1009,554
201886 in every 10012,565
201989 in every 10011,545
202091 in every 1008,411
202191 in every 10010,889
202293 in every 1009,151

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2013 Audi Q5.

Of 2013 Audi Q5 vehicles with under 81,000 miles, 82 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 133,000 miles or more, 72 in every 100 did.

Under 81,0001,164 tests
82
81,000–98,0001,182 tests
77
98,000–113,000 Typical car1,139 tests
78
113,000–133,0001,184 tests
76
133,000 and over1,151 tests
72

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 81,00098,000–113,000133,000 and over
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)2.13.15.0
Drive shaft joints and boots (front)3.13.23.0
Headlight aim0.72.52.3
Tyre condition (rear)1.81.72.3
Brake pads (rear)1.11.72.2

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

46in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

26in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2013 Audi Q5 follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), about 15 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 76.9% of 5,820 first MOTs on the 2013 Audi Q5 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 80.4%. Among 1,342 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Headlight levelling device (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (3.8% of those tests; 51 observed failures; about 53× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2013 Audi Q5 at the first attempt were Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (15.0%), Drive shaft joints and boots (front) (14.1%) and Headlight aim (9.9%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Headlight levelling device (rear) (3.8% of those tests; 51 observed failures; about 53× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Headlight levelling device (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (3.8% of those tests; 51 observed failures; about 53× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2013 Audi Q5 include Headlight levelling device (rear), Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (front), Suspension arm pins and bushes (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2013 Audi Q5 (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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