2018 Audi Q7

THE CAR CAN BE LOCKED BY A TODDLER FROM REAR SEAT EVEN WHEN THE CHILD SAFETY IS ENABLED WHILE THE CAR IS IDLE. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER THE REMOTE/KEY IS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE CAR. WHEN THE CAR IS IDLE, YOU CANNOT UNLOCK THE CAR USING THE REMOTE AND THE TODDLER WILL BE LOCKED INSIDE THE CAR. THIS CASE IS THE SAME PROBLEM AS THE CASE OF NHTSA ID NUMBER: 10626358, WHICH WAS REPORTED FOR 2014 AUDI Q7 IN 2014. I SEARCHED ONLINE AND FOUND LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE REPORTING SIMILAR PROBLEM. BUT THIS CASE POTENTIALLY CAN BE DEADLY FOR THE TODDLER IF THE CAR IS PARKED IN A NON-OPEN SPACE. THE 2014 CASE REPORT MENTIONED THAT THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN THERE FOR AT LEAST 5 YEAR BEFORE 2014. SO, IT HAS BEEN ALMOST 10 YEAR SINCE THE PROBLEM WAS REPORTED. FORTUNATELY, THE MOTHER WAS INSIDE THE CAR TOGETHER WITH THE TODDLE AND SHE UNLOCKED THE CAR FROM INSIDE. OTHERWISE, IT WILL BE A TRAGIC DAY FOR US WITH ALMOST 0 DEGREE AND THE SNOW STORM. AUDI NEED TO DISABLE THE 'LOCK ALL DOOR FROM REAR' FUNCTION. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN AND AUDI SHOULD PAY ATTENTION TO FIX THE PROBLEM. IN SUMMARY, THERE ARE TWO SITUATIONS THAT THE TODDLER CAN LOCK HIMSELF INSIDE THE CAR: 1. THE CAR IS NOT RUNNING. THE TODDLER CAN LOCK HIMSELF IN THE CAR IF THE PARENTS ACCIDENTLY LEFT THE REMOTE IN THE CAR. FOR THIS CASE, THE PARENTS CAN UNLOCK THE CAR WITH THE OTHER SET OF REMOTE. 2. THE CAR IS RUNNING. THE TODDLER CAN LOCK HIMSELF IN THE CAR NO MATTER WHERE THE REMOTE IS. BUT IN THIS CASE, THE DOOR CANNOT BE UNLOCKED WITH THE REMOTE. SO, IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE CAR (FOR EXAMPLE, JUST FINISHED BUCKLING UP THE TODDLER), YOU ARE OUT OF LUCK. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO BEFORE THE CAR IS OUT OF GAS. AND THIS SITUATION IS MORE DANGEROUS.

I WAS TAKING A U-TURN UNDER A FREEWAY IN MY 10 MONTH OLD AUDI Q7. AS I WAS FINISHING THE U-TURN A STABILIZATION ERROR MESSAGE APPEARED AND MY BRAKES WENT OUT. I WAS FINISHING MY UTURN AND COULDN'T SLOW DOWN SOI ENDED UP RUNNING INTO THE CEMENT BARRIER WITH MY RIGHT BACK WHEEL AND WENT ONTO THE FEEDER. LUCKILY IT WAS AT 5AM SO NO OTHER CARS WERE ON THE ROAD. HITTING THE BARRIER SLOWED BY CAR DOWN TO 5 MPH. AS I STRAIGHTENED OUT MY CAR, THE BRAKES STARTED WORKING AGAIN. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP SAID AUDI OF AMERICA HAD TO LOOK AT IT. THE ENGINEER FINALLY CAME TO LOOK AT IT ON JAN 3RD (3 WEEKS AFTER THE ACCIDENT). HE SAID THAT THEY COULDN'T TEST DRIVE THE CAR BECAUSE THE CONTROL ARM WAS BROKEN BUT THE TESTS THEY RAN SHOWED THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG WITH THE CAR AND TOLD ME TO CALL MY INSURANCE. I ASKED HOW THEY KNEW NOTHING WAS WRONG AND THEY SAID TESTS WERE RUN. I ASKED HOW THEY EXPLAINED THE ERROR MESSAGES (STABILIZATION ERROR AND SAFETY ERROR). THEY SAID THOSE CAME UP AFTER THE ACCIDENT. THEY DON'T THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT SO HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS?. I TOOK PICTURES OF THE ERROR MESSAGES AND KNOW THE TIMING OF THAT. I ASKED FOR A PRINT OUT OF THEIR FINDINGS 3 TIMES. IT HAS BEEN 10 DAYS AND I STILL HAVE NOT GOTTEN ANYTHING FROM THEM. THE CAR IS STILL SITTING AT THE DEALERSHIP.

THE BRAKES HAVE SQUEALED SINCE 3K MILES. NO MATTER THE WEATHER CONDITIONS MAY BE. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IS NORMAL, BUT I AM RESEARCHING OTHERWISE. AT 5AM LEAVING THE HOME, THE BRAKES SQUEAL, AT 2PM SQUEALING, 5PM SQUEALING, MIDNIGHT SQUEALING. FOR BEING A LUXURY VEHICLE I LOVE AND TRUST, THIS MAKES ME EXTREMELY NERVOUS AND EMBARRASSED WHEN NEIGHBORS ARE OUT AND HEAR THIS SQUEALING. THE BRAKE FOOT PEDAL DOES NOT GLIDE WHEN BEING USED. THE STEERING WHEEL HAS A LOCKING MOTION WHEN BEING USED ON TURNS.

CAR IS EQUIPPED WITH 360 DEGREE CAMERAS AND SYSTEM DEFAULTS TO GRAPHIC MODE (VS CAMERA MODE) IN AN UNPREDICTABLE MANNER. THIS REQUIRES THE USER, WHILE IN REVERSE, TO CHANGE THE SETTINGS BACK TO CAMERA MODE IN ORDER TO SEE THE VEHICLE CLEARLY IN THE SYSTEM. THIS IS A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DUE TO THE DISTRACTING NATURE OF THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE STATE OF YOUR BACKUP CAMERA, THE COGNITIVELY COMPLEX AND DISTRACTING STEPS NEEDED TO CHANGE TO CAMERA VIEW WHILE YOU ARE BACKING UP, AND THE SAFETY ISSUE CAUSED BY NOT HAVING THE CAMERAS WORK PROPERLY. I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS AFFECTS NEARLY EVERY AUDI WITH THIS OPTION SOLD IN THE 2018 MODEL YEAR. IT IS ALSO MY UNDERSTANDING THAT AUDI HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THIS SAFETY ISSUE BUT HAS REFUSED TO OFFER ANY SOLUTION FOR OVER A YEAR -- AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, HAS CONTINUED TO KNOWINGLY SELL THOUSANDS OF VEHICLES WITH THIS DEFECT, AND HAS MISREPRESENTED THE SAFETY FEATURES OF THESE CARS.

WHILE IN REVERSE BACKING UP, THE BACKUP CAMERA UNPREDICTABLY REVERTS TO USELESS "GRAPHIC" MODE DESPITE REPEATEDLY BEING SET TO "CAMERA" MODE. CHANGING THIS SETTING WHILE BACKING UP IS DANGEROUS, DISTRACTING AND UNPREDICTABLE. SOMETIMES IT WORKS CORRECTLY AND STAYS IN CAMERA MODE, OTHER RANDOM TIMES IT REVERTS TO GRAPHICS MODE. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT OF MOST 2018 AUDI VEHICLES AND HAS BEEN UPDATED IN LATER RELEASED VEHICLES, BUT NO UPDATE TO EXISTING VEHICLES HAS BEEN OFFERED.

REVERSE BIRDS EYE CAMERA OFTEN FLIPS TO A DIFFERENT MODE AND YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT CAMERA VIEW YOU WILL GET. HAPPENS ONCE OUT OF EVERY 2-5 REVERSES. THIS IS A SAFETY-RELATED DEFECT DUE TO THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE STATE OF YOUR BACKUP CAMERA. I MUST THEN GO THROUGH A MULTI STEP PROCESS TO REVERT IT BACK. THIS APPEARS TO AFFECT NEARLY EVERY AUDI WITH THIS OPTION SOLD IN THE 2018 MODEL YEAR.

WHEN ATTEMPTING TO CROSSOVER A BUSY INTERSECTION, AND TRYING TO DETERMINE THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC AND MYSELF, THE 2018 AUDI Q7, HAS A HESITATION BEFORE THE VEHICLE STARTS IT ACCELERATION. I HAVE HAD TWO OCCASIONS WHERE THE VEHICLE JUST WOULD START A SLOW ACCELERATION BUT WOULD HESITATE BEFORE ENGAGING AT ITS HIGHER ACCELERATION. THIS CAUSING THE ONCOMING VEHICLES NEARLY HITTING MY VEHICLE. I HAVE TAKEN THIS TO THE LOCAL AUDI DEALERSHIP AND SAID THAT IS NORMAL. I VALIDATED THE OPERATION, WHEN THEY LET ME TEST A NEW AUDI Q7, AND HAD SIMILAR OR WORSE SYMPTOMS. THEIR ONLY WORK AROUND IS TO ENGAGE THE VEHICLE INTO "SPORT" MODE. THAT MODE HELPS WITH THE RESPONSE. BASICALLY IF, I STEP ON THE GAS PEDDLE, I SHOULD EXPECT IT TO DRIVE AND BE RESPONSIVE AND NOT HESITATE. HAVING THAT HESITATION, MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE WHEN ACCELERATE.