Pricing
Fantastic vehicle
This is my second Audi Q3, the first being a 2015. I've had many different luxury vehicles, but this car I'm keeping forever. Love the look, comfort, but most importantly the smooth ride, visibility and safe feeling I get whenever I'm driving it. The trunk holds a lot for a small SUV, the car fits in any parking space imaginable and the highway pick up while entering an 'on' ramp with trucks coming is second to none.
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Overall I love this car. My favorite features in my 2021 Premium Plus include, 360 degree camera, Upgraded sport seats, kick to open trunk, wireless phone charger, wireless Apple Car Play, integrated infotainment screen, and keyless entry and locking. I test drove the Q3, Q5, X1, X3, C300, Macan, and the Evoque. The Audi Q3 was my favorite and having the lower base price, I was able to add many upgrades that I would not have been able to afford on the other brands. Some of my upgrades included the Black Optic package which allows you to get the Sport seats! They are beautiful and look amazing! I also included the Navigation/Technology package, Audi beam rings, 20" rims, and several others. I love being able to drive a fully loaded car instead of a base model Evoque or Macan. If you have the extra room in your budget to deck out those cars then go ahead they are beautiful! But i was very unimpressed with the base trims on both of those cars. My only complaint so far has been the poor charging quality of the wireless charger. It makes my iphone very warm, almost hot to the touch, and charges very slowly.. On a 20 minute drive I can get about 4% of charge on my iPhone 12 mini. I brought the car in to Audi to be inspected and they gave me a BS answer and told me it was working the way it should. Despite this, I would 100% recommend this car and I believe it really is the best bang for your buck.
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- Premium S line 4dr SUV w/45 TFSIMSRP: $28,788In-stock online
- Premium Plus S line 4dr SUV w/45 TFSIMSRP: $36,203In-stock online
- Premium S line 4dr SUV w/45 TFSIMSRP: $35,988In-stock online
Definite bang for the buck – with some caveats
We were specifically looking for a small SUV that looks good, is a reasonably recent design, and has ample features at a reasonable price. The "looking good" part disqualified both of the Benzes Edmunds has ranked higher among subcompact SUVs, and "recent design" disqualified the increasingly ancient Lexus NX. After comparing it to the X1 & RDX, we decided the Q3 was easily the best all-around package. My biggest complaint is how scarce they are! (or at least the S-line Premium Plus 45) We live in Austin and I checked inventory levels at literally every Audi dealer in Texas; only one of them had more than 7 in stock! I'll mention right off the bat that Edmunds' review omits a rather pertinent detail: many of the Q3s sitting on dealer lots are Q3 40s, not Q3 45s, and for good reason. I didn't even notice it myself until after we test-drove one, but the 40s (in both Premium & Premium Plus guise) have a significantly less powerful engine: a mere 184 hp and a frankly slow-as-molasses 0-60 time of 8.6 seconds. The 45s cost $2K more either way, and I *strongly* recommend them! (Btw here's the easy way to instantly tell which is which: all of the S-line models have the larger engine.) I still have my 2016 S3, and the differences in technology between the two are amazing. The Q3 has a touchscreen interface for the latest version of its MMI system, and for the most part it's quite intuitive to use – along with having almost iPhone-level screen quality. (My S3, meanwhile, has a pop-up non-touchscreen with graphics in all of 16 colors.) I was extremely impressed with its adaptive cruise system along with its lane-keeping assistance; while it's not quite at autonomous-vehicle level, using both is extremely handy on long, monotonous drives. Still, as some others have pointed out, its lack of certain features is curious, to say the least. Apple CarPlay only works wirelessly if you opt for the Technology Package. It has no memory settings for the seats (even the 2010 RDX we traded in had that!); no steering-wheel warmer; and heated, but not cooled, seats – and in Texas we need the latter far more than the former. While its Active Cockpit feature gives you a 3-D view of the road ahead via built-in Google Maps, you can use your phone's native navigation on the center screen, so we definitely wanted to skip that part. Just IMO both of the smaller wheel packages look dinky, so we opted for the 20-inch rims, as well as the parking assistance package. We *really* wanted the Black Optic package as well – I have it on my S3 – but there were none, period, *anywhere* in the state except in the brashest exterior colors (orange & blue), and we already knew we wanted a gray one. On whole, however, it's a thoroughly modern car that's surprisingly fun to drive – much more so than the first-gen Q3 we looked at a few years back. I only wish they'd introduce an SQ3 model in the US! (We get the SQ5 & SQ7, but for some reason Audi only sells the SQ3 outside the US.)
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Fuel economy
Most reviewers say the Audi Q3 has worse gas mileage than the other luxury subcompact, but they don't tell you that the Audi Q3 uses REGULAR gas, while all the others require premium. This should be factored into the gas mileage ratings.
Excellent Small SUV
I looked at three small Luxury SUV's (Volvo XC-40, BMW X1, Audi Q3) and the Audi Q3) was the best in my opinion. I am 6ft and this SUV has plenty of room. Here are my Pros and Cons: Pros: - 8 speed automatic transmission - More buttons to control things even though it does have a touch screen. Folks looking at the BMW X1 and Volvo XC-40 will not like the big touch screens with no buttons. These touch screens are a distraction and can cause accidents. Also the BMW X1 is one of the top 10 most traded cars within a year. I used to like BMW but not so much anymore. - Comfortable seats if you get the better seats - Audi Quattro ( the best all wheel drive system) - Uses regular gas - 360 parking screen, dynamic cruise, Audi Pre-sense - Very good GPS system - Nice leather seats - No recalls in 2022 or 2023 so reliability is very good (See JD Power review) NO issues with mine so far. Cons: - Wish it did better in gas mileage, but I getting over 32 MPG on the highway - Wish it had a bit more horse power, I did get the 45 engine at 228 HP - Wish it was alittle more quieter like the Q5 Advice: Make sure you do your research and go drive the cars/SUVs you are interested in. Take with a grain of salt all these reviews you see on Youtube, etc.
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Early days yet
While I am reviewing the Q3 I got a mere five days into my three year lease , I couldn’t be happier with the car. It is solid and drives accordingly. Quiet, comfortable and luxurious, this is a quality ride. It has good get up and go with the 45 engine, and while I haven’t been able to race around In it yet, driving is fun.
Amazing Car
I transport my most price possessions in this vehicle such as my children. I feel safe and secure. My Q3 is by far the safest car I’ve ever driven. The lane assistance is great almost like the car is driving itself. It’s just a dream come true for moms and busy women. I wouldn’t want any other car except this one.
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Great suv, but missing some features for premium+
We bought s line premium plus. The vehicle runs great. Hiwever, it's a bit disappointed that memory seat and heated steering wheel are not included in the top trim or even be an option for upgrade.
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Not a true Audi
I previously owned an A3 sedan followed by an A5 sport back prior to my Q3. To sum it all up, it’s an otherwise wonderful premium vehicle that’s let down by a not so premium drivetrain. The 45 2 litre engine sounds extremely grainy at high RPM and the 8 speed transmission is what really lets this vehicle down. Clunky rough shifting in higher gears and it gets even worse as it lurches through downshifts when braking. Everything else however is typical top notch Audi. A gorgeous modern interior, solid quality finishes and the baby Q8 design. In winter driving while the Haldex AWD is not real “Quattro” performs extremely well in slippery conditions with barely any hesitation in kicking the other wheels into motion for seamless traction. My advice? Spring for the Q5 and enjoy the refinement that a real Audi should be known for.
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Should have bought something else. Overpriced!!
We traded our 2022 Volvo XC60 B5 Inscription for a 2022 Audi Q3 S-Line with technology package. After having too many issues with Volvo we decided to try Audi. We were so upset with the Volvo that we probably should have do more research and just bought off of emotion. The Q3 is definitely a dolled up VW Tiguan, which isn’t a bad thing but for the price!!$49k! The dealer added $2,500 because they said everyone is doing it, no free maintenance and the attitude at the dealer was terrible. So much so that I almost didn’t buy it. Anyway, it’s a nice SUV and gets excellent gas mileage. We were upset it did t have a heated steering wheel and no blind spot monitors. At this price it should have all of that. The digital cockpit is definitely the coolest thing in the Q3, however the Sonos stereo is a let down. At normal volume the subwoofer cuts out and sounds like a transistor radio. It currently has 4K miles on it in 3 months of ownership and has been in the shop the past 3 weeks. It broke down twice. First was a shorted out fuel injector and the day we got it back it broke down again with the same symptoms. Now they believe it’s a bad ground somewhere in the vehicle!!! So far the dealer (Audi Wilmington) is doing a good job, so we will see what happens. We may just get an Asian vehicle and be down with it.
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