The planning was over, the day had arrived. Standing at the baggage claim, the excitement of the imminent rental car lottery was overtaking me. All that separated me from some unfamiliar new chariot was a short tram ride and going down a flight of stairs. My excitement was considerable.
Upon arrival at the rental garage, my excitement level was hoisted upon hearing “Mr. Shafer, we are out of what you reserved. Please choose a vehicle from the luxury aisle; the keys are in it.”
This rental company is now my favorite. It is also author Jeff Sun’s favorite, who recently shared his Maserati win in the rental lottery. It’s a shame this St. Louis based company has never used the enterprising William Shatner as a spokesman. It would be a perfect fit.
Stepping over to the luxury car aisle (it was a short walk as opposed to, say, the economy cars; I wonder why) provided me with a choice of three unique models among the four vehicles present.
The black BMW 530e intrigued my wife until she saw the trunk. The three of us pack heavily (there are extenuating circumstances about why), having two large suitcases, three carry-on bags, two backpacks, and my CPAP machine. The trunk of that BMW was about the size of a credit card slot, so we passed.
There were two Audi A4 units awaiting a user. As we were deciding between one of these and the Q5, my daughter requested the Q5 as her ability to see from the rear might be better. So the Q5 it was.
It made me really happy I had price checked three days prior and was able to make a new reservation, for significantly less, to obtain better than my original “full-size, Chevrolet Malibu or equivalent”. Then Enterprise upgraded me again.
As a quick aside, I drove a 2024 Malibu a few weeks before our departure. It had 460 miles on the odometer when I got in. It drove really odd, with the engine running the same speed regardless of my velocity. Then it occurred to me…it has a CVT transmission. Oh, joy of joys.
I digress.
Knowing absolutely zero about the Q5 has compelled me to perform research. Thus, I now know the Q5 built on VW’s MLB platform, which is also found beneath a slew of other Audis plus the Bentley Bentayga and Lamborghini Urus. It also has seven actual gears in the transmission.
The Q5 comes in nine different permutations for 2024, there being three power outputs in each of three trim levels. All are powered by a 2.0 liter four-banger (is there any manufacturer who does not have a 2.0 in their engine arsenal?) with the highest output level having the engine mated to a supplemental electric motor.
Running the VIN number for my rental through a decoder revealed I had the base Premium trim but with the mid-range output of 261 horsepower and 273 ft-lbs of torque.
Audi’s website claims the Q5 will do zero to sixty in 5.7 seconds and top out at 130 mph. That is somewhat deflating as it seemed half my time in this thing was spent at speeds well below 35 mph due to heavy traffic, a wreck, and urban areas. But I did stick the spurs to it a time or two and I don’t think Audi is exaggerating their acceleration claims by any tremendous lengths. This little thing will scoot quite nicely.
Part of that is accomplished by gearing. Once upon a time a differential ratio of 5.3:1 would have been for heavy duty trucks. Not anymore.
A day or two into our nine day rental term, I told Mrs. Jason I doubted we’d see too many other Q5s floating around. Wrong. These things were everywhere, which makes me wonder how many were rentals and how many are privately owned. The Q5 is Audi’s best seller, which injects a further degree of intrigue into my question as we were in a location having a heavy rental car market.
These were so thick on the ground I even followed its twin (down to the ski racks on the roof) into the Whole Foods parking lot. Naturally, most were painted white.
Vehicles are like people, having a combination of endearing and irksome traits. So let’s get the negative out of the way first.
The day after we picked this unit up a low tire pressure warning popped up. It constantly announced its presence which would have been fine had there been a low tire, but there wasn’t. I checked the tires daily and nothing was amiss. Even a slow leak would make itself known over nine days time.
We parked in a parking garage for one of our journeys. My parking spot was at the end of a row, with the last car parked along the perpendicular wall being quite near me. I had parked, but thought it wise to pull up a bit further. However, the safety nannies sprang into action and in their unrelenting wisdom vetoed any forward movement.
The nannies got cussed at many times, as they would squawk, squeal, and howl with every parking block, most curbs, and would protest if I tried to pull into traffic before they thought I should. The existence of such nannies aren’t the fault of Audi, but the sensitivity could use some tweaking.
In a sense, the nannies were like the old fable of the little boy who cried wolf. These nannies effectively worked themselves into a position of being ignored.
My other critique, before I jump into the positives, is about egress. The side bolstering of the driver’s seat is welcoming, but made egress awkward. To get out of the car, I had to climb over that bolster every time, letting myself slide to the ground. If not done correctly, I would dental floss my posterior with that bolster – perhaps some would enjoy the experience, but I did not. Being 5’11” tall with a 32″ inseam means I am not some outlier in the spectrum of physical size; in other words, I doubt I am alone with this.
I have not experienced this phenomena in other S/CUVs; perhaps it is the height of the bolster?
Yet the seat itself was one of the better qualities I found in the Q5. Despite the side bolsters, the Audi has this amazing and seemingly impossible combination of firm seats that are insanely comfortable. I could sit in these seats for any length of drive as could the other two I live with.
Another nice thing about this Audi is the triple zone air-conditioning. We were in a warm climate. My wife is usually chilled whereas I am the opposite. Thus Mrs. Jason could set her thermostat for 78 Fahrenheit, I could set my thermostat at 68 Fahrenheit, and daughter, in the rear, could find some middle ground. A multitude of other cars have similar systems, but this was our first time with a triple.
The Q5 was almost able to accommodate all of our luggage. The cargo hold quickly filled with suitcases and backpacks went into the back seat. Good thing there were only three of us.
Best of all is the driving experience. Given the high traffic environment, any deep exploration of the Q5s limitations was about as realistic as finding gentility in a national political campaign. That said, the Q5 is delightfully tossable, has terrific power, and its ride quality is very nice, particularly when set to “comfort” or “coddling” – whatever it was called. Forget the “dynamic” or “sport” business…if one is going to get a luxury car, why spoil it with a choppy ride that does nothing but jostle your innards? Think of it like a good bourbon and go for smooth.
The influence of Volkswagen in the Audi is inescapable and that isn’t a bad thing. Overall, with this being my first time ever in an Audi, my take on it is Audi has taken all that is good in a Volkswagen (comfort, ride and handling, smooth drivetrains) and amped it up a notch or two. That is worthy of praise.
Yet there is a brutal reality contained herein. This rig stickers for nearly $50,000 and one can spec one out for over $70,000. As one who doesn’t like spending money on vehicles, I can get an awfully nice Tiguan for a whole lot less and it will be equipped close enough in many regards – although one can get a Q5 with something other than an insipid black interior, unlike some trims of Tiguan. Is the extra outlay for an Audi worth it? That’s up to the buyer to decide, but Audi has obviously found something that resonates with buyers. Or rental companies.
I enjoyed my time with this Audi. While I cannot envision myself buying a Q5 it is completely understandable why someone would do so.
Related Reading: 2019 Audi Q5 review by William Stopford
Thanks for your take on a modern SUV.
You forgot to say something about the exterior. Usually, and especially for us car enthusiasts, the outside, the shape, the lines are important. But I see why you choose not to say something about the exterior because it is so utterly common. It looks a bit comical, too high, or too big wheels with the wheel wells accentuating it even further.
I was always proud for myself to recognize all cars on the road – 20 years ago. Now with the influx of modern SUVs, of which I do not have a tiny bit of interest, I cannot keep them apart (and I do no try). Apart from the badges, it could be any Hyunday, Kia or maybe even Maserati as they all have a similar shape.
Good choice, better say nothing about the exterior.
A day or two after I scheduled this I realized the exterior was something not mentioned. Then again, I only saw the exterior when in a parking lot looking for it. It’s not like I ever had it in my driveway or garage. I didn’t even look under the hood until a few hours before I turned it back in.
So I will offer this…my daughter says it looks like an egg, particularly in white.
My wife has a 2024 Q5 Premium Plus, and I would echo pretty much everything you said to a T. The driver bolster is annoying upon entry or exit, and I am not a large or heavy person. But once seated, it’s a great place to be. The thing scoots, gets good MPG, and is seriously quiet in town or on the interstate.
Hers is metallic black, which looks a lot better in my opinion. Yours and ours, has the optional S-Line trim, which is a different front fascia and rear bumper, essentially. The wheels on your rental are a $900 option IIRC and my wife had to have those wheels too.
These can get pricey (especially in SQ5 trim), but at least when we bought ours four months ago there were pretty aggressive discounts at the dealer we settled on (went to more than one). There was also a $1500 cash incentive for Costco members going on at the time, so we got about 11% off MSRP all told.
It’s Audi’s version of the Lexus RX. They are everywhere in better shopping center and office parking lots nationwide, but with good reason.
This was interesting to read, because I have zero experience with these but see quite a few. I think. I add that qualifier because I agree with Dion about how vanilla the styling is. But at least it is an attractive variety of vanilla.
VW/Audi have never become known as the place to go for V6 engines, so it doesn’t surprise me that $50-70k gets you only four cylinders. I guess this shouldn’t matter if the package performs well enough, but I am an old fuddy duddy who prefers more displacement to turbos.
But it must be a compelling package to sell as it does because there is A Lot of competition in this segment and price class.
The EA888 is a real romper-stomper. There is absolutely no reason to get V-6 in place of this engine. It makes prodigious low end torque. It is also very stoutly built and has an excellent record for reliability.
The 1.8 EA888 makes 283 lb/ft at 2450 RPM, making the car feel very light on its feet. In fact, it feels more like a V-8 than a four cylinder. it also gets 8.0L/100 KM in Vancouver’s horrid traffic.
Before reading this, I would not have been able to guess what model is currently Audi’s best seller. And I’m also completely unaware of whether these cars sell well where I live or not. The styling is complete anonymous – not bad, but plain in a contemporary context.
Did you happen to notice that, while the Q5 is built in Mexico, it has a “W” VIN, as if it was built in Germany? I have asked VAG reps how they have managed to pass off a Mexican product as German, but they have no answer. Not denigrating Mexican production. My Jetta wagon was built in Mexico and is a fine car, but my Jetta carries a “3” VIN, as you would expect for Mexican production.
I snatched this pic off of a listing for a 2023 model. Sticker says Audi AG at the top, even though the sign on the plant says “Audi Mexico”. Just below the statement about meeting US regs, the sticker says “Mexico”.
Interesting observation!
This got me curious as my Tijuana-built Tacoma and our Puebla-built Golf both have VIN’s starting with 3. But apparently Audi embeds the manufacturing site further down in the VIN and the first characters refer to the manufacturing “entity” which is European, not the location. I found some discussion about this on an Audi forum.
the first characters refer to the manufacturing “entity” which is European, not the location.
Just to throw a bit more fuel on the fire, not only does the sign on the plant say “Audi Mexico”, PR releases, like celebrating a production milestone for the Q5, say things like this:
Audi Mexico celebrated another achievement on its tenth anniversary: making one million Audi Q5 units for the global market since the factory’s operation began in September 2016.
Moreover, Audi Mexico aligns with the various programs promoted by its parent company in Germany,…
There is some loophole in the VIN reg big enough to drive an expensive SUV through. I was talking about this with a VWoA rep at a show a couple years ago, when a guy overheard us, and got really exercised about how a Mexican car could be VINed as German.
My Golf was built in Mexico. I rented a similar Golf 7 in Germany last year. The rental had the 1.4 litre motor but otherwise looked and drove identically.
Great review…and I hope Shatner is reading this and takes the suggestion to sign up to be a new spokesman for Enterprise. I haven’t seen him around so much lately, and I don’t think that has anything with being 93 (in Earth years). He could probably use the job.
The Audi Q5 is thick on the ground in my area as well. Here in the greater Boston metro area, I doubt that many of the ones I encounter are rentals. I see a lot more of them than the VW approximate equivalents. Generally in my area, if one can move up to the higher cost brand of a vehicle (so Lexus from Toyota, Infinity from Honda, Audi from VW, etc.) and pay a premium, one will. I don’t exactly get it, but I’m not the guy that strategy was invented for.
While I’ve never driven one, I am constantly alerted to them via the (somewhat out of date) radar detector in my car…which has come to be called the “Audi Detector” given its propensity for finding Audis and then warning incessantly until I get far enough away from said Audi. This speaks to the multitude of radars on newer Audis especially. And that speaks to the aggressive nanny controls on your rental. That said, I’d be pretty sure that could be tamed through settings to turn them off or to at least reduce the number of things it prevented you from doing (like parking near a wall). If I had one for 9 days, guaranteed after day 2 or 3 I’d have made my family sit in the car with me for 30 minutes or so as I worked my way through menus trying to control the damn thing.
I also agree with you about the “comfort” versus “sport” settings. I can honestly say that I have never driven a car (usually the higher end euro or euro-wannabe vehicles or Jeeps) that has those settings where anything other than “comfort” wasn’t actually the best setting. Believe me, I’ve tried all of the settings (except for “drag race” mode on the Maserati) and I’m pretty sure that these adjustments are largely there as a marketing ploy to make owners feel like they have choices…even though most all of the choices are not very good ones. Oh, and also to have one more thing to break out of warranty and/or require very expensive maintenance parts (which the original owner will never know since they’ll ideally get rid of the vehicle after 3 years).
Anyhow, glad to hear that you were able to Boldly Go…
After our divorce, my ex treated herself to one of these on lease, trading in her well-served RX350 (“new life, new you” phase….). We’re on friendly terms, so I continued to advise her on maintenance etc when requested. Whether or not she took offered advice showed up when her lease was up….off-brand tires, brakes and windshield as well as multiple thousands of miles over her lease mileage limit required a $10k+ payment to end the lease. That or get another Audi. She’s driving a Q3 now….
That said, Audi makes a great vehicle if you can afford to properly maintain it. Her Q5 was a solid driver and definitely a step up from a VW.
I think it’s slightly the other way around, the Audi fit and finish qualities have worked themselves downmarket into VWs products. Take a glance into a mid 1990s Audi, it’ll be very similar to this (hardwearing, solid construction, actual premium feeling items instead of just fluff), and then start looking at VWs from about a decade later and you’ll see similar all the way up to present day with the difference that the VWs tend to start out good in their model cycles and then somehow get decontented and cheapened a bit over time with plastics getting harder and shiny surfaces looking glossier, all in order to squeeze a little more out of the price (or cost) whereas the Audi isn’t quite as burdened in that regard. As you noted, you see and feel the interior all the time whereas the exterior is for others to gaze upon.
Compared to the competition, the “vanilla” styling obviously works as it outsells most of its direct gas-powered competitors and nobody is complaining about bizarre or odd or polarizing styling for once. Yet, anyway. For 15 years now the Q5 has had a winning formula and thus they have become quite ubiquitous, helped by the one styling update over that timespan having been relatively minor. $50k is the new $30k, dontchaknow, and the price of entry of a Q5 is now $46k; while the neighborhood of $50k isn’t nothing, there’s likely a lot of people that think $46k-$50k starting for an Audi is cheap whereas $30k+ for a small VW that’s roughly the same size is absurdly expensive.
The people complaining about a proven 2.0 liter turbo 4 engine design that regularly racks up well over 200k miles and has been doing so for close to a quarter century, their heads are gonna explode when they realize a larger and larger number of not particularly smaller vehicles sold by former providers of 7+ liter big block V8 engines are now 1.2 and 1.3 liter three-bangers mit turbo… The 2.0t IS the modern big block as far as power goes, but doesn’t your own “thirsty” turbo 2.0t regularly get 40mpg on the freeway?
My VW has the frugal 1.8T and we’ve only seen 40 mpg two or three times in 90,000 miles. I suspect that 1.8T is nowhere near approaching its half-life.
The overall challenge with writing this was brevity ( and it was still 1500 words). The 2.0 comment wasn’t disparaging so much as shows how life tends to go in cycles. Once upon a time it seems the largest engine one could get in a domestic passenger car was some form of 5.0 liter V8 (302 from Ford, 305 and 307 from GM). The prevalent 2.0 seems a modern equivalent albeit more widespread among makes.
You’ve seen my thought transition over time. Once upon I time was a devout “no replacement for displacement” guy; now, as long as it pumps out judicious power I’m all in regardless of engine size. This 2.0 was also very good about not suffering from turbo lag, much to its credit.
“The overall challenge with writing this was brevity ( and it was still 1500 words).”
I feel happy when I manage to keep it under 1500 words before the jump… 🙂
I didn’t think YOU were disparaging the 2.0t in this car or any other, btw.
It’s been a long time (40years?) since any reputable manufacturer just hung a turbo on the side of whatever engine they happened to have without any other changes, if they in fact ever did that. There’s a reason that early Audi turbo engines for example (tangentially related to this one) generally had a slightly lower displacement when turbo’d than not. You don’t get to having 45 years of significant competition and market success with turbo engines by not making them generally durable and long-lived. PS there are lots of turbo’d 5s, multiple turbo V6s and even turbo’d V8s in Audi’s history and some in the present worldwide range. Supercharged ones as well. And of course the twin turbo 5.0liter V10 in the 2009 RS6 (not available in US) which, while related to the NA V10, has hundreds of unique and upgraded parts relative to that.
So if you were to want an Audi with a 5.0 to relive another cycle, it exists. But it isn’t as underpowered and lethargic as the ones you were generally familiar with 🙂
Another great you-are-there writeup, Jason. I learned a lot, even if I’ll likely only drive one of these in similar (rental-upgrade) circumstances.
Pricing: I’m only enough to remember when a “premium” kind of car was $5K, then gradually broke $10K, $20K, $30K……..and so it goes…..
Ha, yes. I remember being shocked seeing a Chevy Monte Carlo window sticker with a final price of $6500. Who would ever be able to afford that?
Based on the perceived quality (by me) and so far, after ten years, durability of our VW Golf interior, compared to our 2001 New Beetle, I agree with Jim that perhaps Audi quality has moved down into Volkswagens. These Q5’s are everywhere in our community, which puzzles me as it’s normally a thrifty place, and we have a local VW dealer for service but no Audi anywhere in the county. The new car in this category that is really starting to be very visible, is the VW ID4.
Regarding that 5.32 final drive gearing: With a top gear (7th) ratio of 0.386, that makes a bit more sense, along with the big tires. First gear is 3.188, so this 7-speed box has a range of almost 10:1, from 1st to top. We’ve come a long way since the barely 3:1 range of ye olde 3-speed automatics of yore.
That answers a question I had and could not find an answer…one of the decoder sights gave six of the seven transmission gear ratios. I’m thinking either fourth (or fifth) gear and up are overdrive gears yet I could find nothing for seventh. All this is why I didn’t dive to heavily that direction.
A 0.386 may be the tallest ratio I’ve seen in a transmission. I do know this thing was only turning about 1700 rpm at 70 to 75 mph.
The torque peak appears to be 273lb-ft at 1,600 rpm which seems well matched then to the cruising speed gear ratio…and while I couldn’t find the curve it likely remains pretty flat well above that number if it’s anything like the other turbo-4s in the Ingolstadt stable.
These small CUVs are very popular around here, expensive makes like BMW, Acura, Mercedes, Lexus and of course Audi. There are also lots of the lower cost variants. I don’t see these as actual SUVs, but instead as a replacement for smaller sedans and coupes, like a Mustang. Being a Ford guy I’m curious about the Ford Edge, and the Lincoln Corsair, and the older MKC. These would seem to be a better choice than a Mustang, or similar vehicle, as they have a lot more utility and might even be a bit smaller. I’m not ready to give up my big SUV or Pony cars yet, but I like to look at what’s out there.
My Golf was built in Mexico. I rented a similar Golf 7 in Germany last year. The rental had the 1.4 litre motor but otherwise looked and drove identically.
I too am a fan of the car rental company sharing its name with that famous Constitution Class (Federation Ship) NCC-1701, or the Big E (CVN-65) for you Navy guys…
You ALWAYS seem to get an upgrade, although I’ve never gotten the “luxury row” unfortunately.
Closest I came was a 2021 Chrysler 300 (also in white… um, guys, there ARE other colors, or just simply COLORS), but in that case, “[they] pick[ed] [me] up!” at a body shop, so that was the choice.
My neighbor up until recently had the high end sporty version of this car called an “SQ5”. Hers was black. I think it had a twin turbo V6 if I’m not mistaken. It was a really sharp car and she loved driving it. Like Dave M mentioned above, I think her Audi SQ5 was also a “new life, new you” phase car, and she too had an ex that was friendly with her and would work on her car and give advise. This dude was a car guy. I never saw him roll up in the same car twice. Everything from a ’69 Chevelle to a Ferrari. Must be nice.
With both you and Jeff winning the rental car lottery recently, I’m almost itching to go somewhere and rent a car. Since I don’t travel for work any longer, and all of our recent family trips have been by car, it’s been nearly two decades since I’ve rented a car. But with my luck, I’ll be the guy who still gets stuck with a Corolla.
Well, someone has to get the Corolla. 😉
But of course, I’m now worried that all of this talk about upgrades will only result in my getting an unwashed Hyundai that someone has rubbed ground beef under the seat (Yeah, I got one of those once. Not from the rental car company that ought to have Bill Shatner as its spokesman…).
The rental car gods can be vengeful and furious gods.
I used to enjoy renting cars, both for the variety, and for the occasional upgrade. Nowadays, I rarely drive cars that aren’t my own, so even that Corolla would probably be an eye-opener for me.
Sadly, the only rental cars I’ve driven in recent years – were a last generation Corolla and last generation Sentra that both made me pine for my old beater car. I so far have loathed CVTs.
I have been upgraded a few times but it’s always been a domestic. From compact or sub-compact, to a Dodge Daytona (of the K Car vintage), a couple of Mustangs, a Jeep Liberty and the last time, a Suburban. With cylinder de-activation it was surprisingly economical, and a very pleasant vehicle. But I’ve never been upgraded to a car that used less fuel 😀.
The problem with upgrades beyond a certain level is that the insurance aspect is never addressed if you decline the rental company’s insurance. Your own insurance will likely cover you for rentals in general and for liability but if the windshield cracks on a rental upgraded Maserati it’ll likely cost far more than in a Corolla (and you’ll use more of your deductible than you would otherwise) and if you use a credit card that covers you some/many specifically exclude “premium” or exotic vehicles and when using your own insurer of course you’re limited to whatever limits are on your own insurance – i.e. if you write off the Maserati but only carry minimal coverage on a cherished beater 2004 Impala at home, well, there’s gonna be a problem…. The rental agent at the desk of course never explains this but if returned damaged certainly it won’t be ignored.
Note also that many insurance policies (def. American Family) as well as credit cards with rental car coverage (def. Chase Sapphire Reserve) explicitly exclude Turo vehicles (limit coverage to actual rental car companies with cars dedicated specifically as hire cars), and adding Turo’s own insurance to that sort of rental often makes the rental far less attractive from a cost standpoint.
Yes. You make a very good point Jim. And it’s the same point that the rental car girl (she was…and since she was about 40 years younger than me, I think I get to say “girl”) made when she drove me from my drop off of the Maserati to the “airport” in Grand Island, NE.
She was all about how the last guy who she knew who she could recall who had rented an Enterprise Maserati did some kind of damage to the car, but he hadn’t opted in for the extra insurance and was subsequently billed some extraordinary sum.
It gives one pause. But living on the edge… 🙂
I have to know. Were the safety nannies an actual voice, or just equipment that kept you from moving? If they spoke, did they have tone? Tone can often make or break communication. If they were to tell me I was doing something wrong, I’d be prone to paying more attention if they said it nicely. That’s all I’m saying.
When was the last model year that Audi’s best-seller was a car and not a CUV? Maybe some time in the 2000s? I’d curious to know.
And I’m also a fan of this rental car agency.
I think sound effects would be a vast improvement. I just can’t decide if it should sound like Mrs. Doubtfire or Mary Poppins. Or perhaps in the case of the Audi, Frau Farbissina.
The third choice, 100%. One would never make the same mistake twice.
Being denied movement happened only once. Otherwise it was an abidance of chimes and buzzers that would annoy the snot (or other bodily waste) out of a person. These would also be accompanied by some diagram on the middle screen showing what body part was about to be obliterated.
I’m thinking a voice would be more welcomed. One saying “Damn, you’re getting too close to that parking block”. Or “Hey, watch out for your nose (tail, side, etc).” But, no.
I’m strangely disappointed to learn there was not even an evil “Speak ‘N Spell” voice to chide you.
Seems like with that company you either hit the jackpot or get screwed.
The Q5 is also a platform-mate of the Porsche Macan
Last year I finally sold the A7 and purchased a Q5 Sportback. The “safety nannies” are adjustable, fortunately, as they’re too intrusive as delivered. With a little over 14,000 miles, I’m averaging between 30 and 31 MPG. I expected better mileage than the A7, but 30+ is a pleasant surprise. And, it’s rated for 1,100 pounds of cargo and can tow 4,400 pounds. Not bad as there are some full size pickups that can’t even hold 1,100 pounds…
On a recent trip to the airport, we had four adults, four full size suitcases, one carryon and four backpacks. Yes, we took up all the space but…that’s impressive. Every vehicle has compromises, but the performance, economy, size, and load carrying ability fits my life pretty well. I expect that I’ll be keeping this one for a long, long time.
Nice review – I’m glad you enjoyed the upgrade. It sounds like the Q5 fit your needs well, which might have challenged the Malibu.
The Q5 is really popular around here, second only to the Lexus RX, especially for women in the 45 yrs+ age range. I think it’s a really nice package overall, exemplifying most of the best Audi traits, and, to my eyes anyway, far better looking than the Lexus, which I’ve never quite taken to.
Both of our cars have all the electronic nannies too, but I quickly adjusted the sensitivity levels to make them less annoying and more effective. That may be too much of a major task in a rental, as the time and effort to do so may not be merited by the distances to be driven or the amount of time spent in the car.
“That may be too much of a major task in a rental, as the time and effort to do so may not be merited by the distances to be driven or the amount of time spent in the car.”
That’s it in a nutshell. We had too much planned to just sit around for me to figure it all out plus the owner’s manual was MIA. I figured one could adjust them (I did so in my work assigned 2023 Ford Explorer two minutes after taking possession of it) but I had other things that were more pressing when having this Audi.