Audi Q7 Review & Prices

Big SUVs are everywhere, and it’s become harder and harder to tell which one is which. An average UK carpark these days looks like an action movie henchman convention, with so many big black and grey SUVs.

Audi’s Q7 is one of the originals, and has actually been on sale in its current form since way back in 2015. It’ll be with us for a while yet, too and so Audi has been busy with the crayons, giving the big Q7 new styling at the front, with new lights and some tweaks to the grille. It does look a touch freshened-up, but hardly brand new, although you can actually now fiddle with the front and rear ‘light signatures’ in the LED lights through an on-screen app.

Speaking of which, while Audi hasn’t changed the Q7’s touchscreen software, it has expanded it a little, which means that third-party apps such as Spotify or Amazon Music can now be downloaded and integrated into the big touchscreen. 

That big screen looks impressive, but it has to be said that the big screen in a Mercedes GLE looks better yet, and the BMW X5’s iDrive screen is easier to find your way around. Still, the Q7 comes with all the bits you expect, such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connections, and the big driver’s digital display is excellent. Just try and avoid the black leather option — it makes the cabin look too gloomy. You can spec the Q7 with nice trims such as carbon-fibre and brushed aluminium, though.

Watch: Review of the high-performance Audi SQ7

Space in the back seats is huge, and so too is the boot. As standard, the Q7 comes with seven seats, and you really can — just — fit full-sized adults in the third row. Fold them away, and there’s more luggage space than you’d find in a BMW X5 or Mercedes GLE, but a Land Rover Discovery holds more than the Audi. It’s also worth noting that the tax-friendly plug-in hybrid TFSIe models don’t get seven seats at all, as the hybrid batter eats into the boot space. 

If you’re sitting up front you won’t care about that too much, not least because the Audi Q7’s standard-fit air suspension is soft and supple and eases away those long journeys. It’s a refined SUV, this, and if you’ve gone for one of the two V6 diesel engine options, it’s even quite economical for something this big. 

What it isn’t is much fun. OK, so there is optional adaptive sports suspension for the pricier Black Edition and Vorsprung models, and that does help with handling on twisty roads, and there is the sporty and powerful SQ7, but even so you’d have much more fun in a Porsche Cayenne or a Range Rover Sport.

Oddly, it’s actually in town that the big Audi Q7 kind of comes into its own. You wouldn’t think that a huge SUV like this would make a good town car, but the Q7 has excellent visibility, a handy all-round camera view system and there’s optional four-wheel steering that means it can turn with surprising tightness. It’s annoying that some of the tech options are only available for the priciest models, but even with its age counting against it, the Q7 is still one of the best in its class, and more practical than many rivals.

See how much you can save on your next car by heading over to our Audi Q7 deals page or browse the latest used Audi Q7 stock from our network of trusted dealers. You can also check out other used Audi models, or find out how much you could sell your car for through Carwow's Sell My Car service.

For a big old thing, the Audi Q7 is actually surprisingly well priced. It undercuts a basic BMW X5 by as much as £5,0000, and is a whopping £20,000 cheaper than the massive X7, which is really more comparable to the Q7 in terms of space and practicality. In fact, even a top-spec Vorsprung model is cheaper than an X7… A Mercedes GLE is a full £10,000 pricier than the basic Q7, even in its cheapest form. In fact, there are only two comparable vehicles which undercut the price of the Q7 — Land Rover’s big Discovery, but that currently comes with only the one engine choice, and the Volvo XC90 which although ageing now, is still excellent and comes only in plug-in hybrid form, making it better value again than the Audi.

The Audi Q7 is quiet, comfortable and relaxing to drive, and it even corners surprisingly well, although you don’t get quite the commanding driving position found in other SUVs

In town

The Audi Q7 is one of the easiest big SUVs to drive around town because its dimensions are very easy to judge and – despite it not being the tallest of its type – you still get a great view out. High-end models also get rear-wheel steering that gives them the manoeuvrability of a much smaller car. Getting parked up is hassle-free thanks to the car’s light controls and the creep function of its automatic gearbox, which makes it easy to control delicately at slow speeds.

Parking sensors are fitted as standard all around and you get a reversing camera with a large, colourful display. It’s all very impressive, although we would still consider the optional Technology Pack. It adds a Park Assist which can select a space and accelerate, brake and steer you straight into it, automatically. (There’s also a Technology Plus pack which includes remote parking assist, allowing you to shuffle the Q7 back and forth a little from outside, using your phone as a remote control). There’s a standard 360-degree camera which is a bit like having a drone filming a view above the car – it means you can tackle width restrictors and park tight against the kerb without risking wheel damage.

The Q7 is surprisingly good at other aspects of town driving. It will roll over the nastiest of speed humps like they’re not there and the air suspension smooths out the road like you’re floating on, well, air. It’s got plenty of performance, too, although sometimes it’s held back by the automatic gearbox that’s slow to respond when you want a quick burst of acceleration.

On the motorway

Out on the motorway, the Q7’s slow responding gearbox isn’t such an issue and you’ll find it’s a very relaxing car to travel big distances in. The air suspension deserves special praise again because it makes you feel like the lower half of your body has been given an epidural – you really feel very little from the seat of your pants. On top of that, there’s little wind noise and the engines are also quiet. The optional Tour Pack can make driving even easier, simply because it does much of the driving for you on motorways and in queuing traffic – just turn it on, keep your hands on the steering wheel and let your Q7 take care of the rest.

On a twisty road

The Audi Q7 is pretty good on a country road. Yet again, the adjustable air suspension helps here because it cuts out body roll in its stiffest setting and helps make the Audi feel more nimble than the likes of a Land Rover Discovery. The Audi even feels pretty quick, especially with the 50 TDI diesel engine which has loads of oomph. Okay, so a Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5 is more overtly sporty but it comes at the expense of comfort – it’s the Q7 that is a better overall package. You could upgrade to the expensive, and high-performance, SQ7 if you want a Q7 with a more aggressive chassis setup, but that does come at the cost of some every-day usability, not to mention that it’s ruinously thirsty on fuel.

The Audi Q7 has loads of room for five adults and its boot is big and practical, however alternatives are roomier in the third row of seats.

You won't have much difficulty getting comfortable in the Audi Q7 because both front seats come with electrical adjustment, while your seat also has a memory function so it’s easy to get it back in your position after someone else has driven the car.

Even the lumbar adjustment is electrical – handy when you need extra support on a long journey – and if that doesn’t dull your back pain, the standard heated seats should do the job. Finding handy interior storage is far from a pain. The Q7’s door bins are huge, you get plenty of USB charging points, the glove box is a decent size and you get two cup holders in the front and the back. Even your passengers in the third row get cup holders.

Space in the back seats

The space in the Q7’s middle row is impressive. Your tall passengers will have plenty of knee and headroom and the seats slide back on their runners and recline, so your passengers don’t need to feel like they’re being short-changed. Even with three people in the middle row, the Q7 is really comfortable, the centre seat is supportive and the large footwells have plenty of space for everyone’s feet – it’s better than a Volvo XC90 or Land Rover Discovery in this respect.

Babies are well catered for too. The Q7 has no fewer than six ISOFIX mounts and fitting a baby seat to the middle row is easy – once you remove the (slightly old-fashioned) cover, the ISOFIX points are easy to line up to your seats’ mounts and the Q7’s large rear doors give you plenty off room to move. Somewhere the Q7 doesn’t impress quite so much is in the third row.

Accessing it is a bit of a faff that involves hauling the outer middle-row seats out of the way (gas struts hold them in place at least) and clambering in behind it, before locking the middle seat back into position. Once you're in, you’ll find head and legroom is tight if you’re tall – the Land Rover Discovery is a better bet if this matters to you. Just remember that if you’re buying a plug-in hybrid QFSIe version of the Audi Q7, you won’t get the extra seats in the boot — it’s strictly a five-seater.

Boot Space

With all its seven seats in place, the Audi Q7 has about the same capacity as a Volkswagen Polo small family car, which is less than a Volvo XC90 with all seven seats upright. Because the load opening is large and there’s no lip to lift luggage over, getting luggage into the boot is easy and heavy items can easily be slid into place. The third row of seats folds away electrically (slowly) to reveal the kind of boot capacity you’d expect of a large SUV – 780 litres to be exact. It’s enough to swallow a set of suitcases with quite a lot of room left over for boxes and soft bags. It's also just fractionally more than you'll get in the XC90, which has 775 litres, and the BMW X5's 650 litres. A Land Rover Discovery holds even more — 922 litres — but Land Rover measures its boots loaded up to the roof, so it’s not quite an equal contest.

Even with all the back seats folded away, the load bay remains completely flat and serves up a total load capacity of 1,925 litres (which is almost 100 litres more than the Volvo). It’s ideal for house moves or flat-pack furniture raids to Ikea, and the sheer size of the boot opening makes it easy to load an adult’s bicycle without the need to remove any of its wheels. Boot features include a 12V power socket, luggage tethers, shopping hooks and a netted storage area, but there is no useful storage under the boot floor and nowhere to store the parcel shelf when it is not in use.

Just remember if you’re buying a TFSIe plug-in hybrid Q7 that boot volume falls to 650 litres with the rear seats up, or 1,835 litres with the seats folded down. That’s because the hybrid system’s battery takes up so much space.

The Audi Q7’s interior design and construction are top-notch, but the centre touchscreen can be fiddly to use on the move

The Audi Q7’s interior looks absolutely brilliant and there’s no rattle or movements in the trim. You get soft-touch plastics on the dashboard and the tops of the doors, which you can upgrade for leather and you get shiny black plastics trim pieces with chrome metal highlights. All models also get coloured ambient lighting that gives the Audi a cocktail-bar theme at night.

Want a sportier look? Then popular S line models are the ones to go for thanks to their standard leather upholstery, sports seats, sports steering wheel and matt aluminium inlays but just beware that the cabin can look very dark and gloomy depending on how you spec the interior colours.

Whichever version of Q7 you go for, you get an excellent infotainment system with no less than three colourful displays to play with. The centre touchscreen is used for most of the car’s systems and it features haptic feedback (which vibrates to imitate pressing an actual button) and large tile-like menus. They're still not the easiest to operate when you’re driving, although a lot of the features are also accessible on the wide Virtual Cockpit display behind the steering wheel.

Having said that, your easiest option is likely to be plugging your smartphone in and using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto – giving you access to your phone’s reliable voice activation system.

The third and final display is stacked below the centre touchscreen and is used to control the car’s ventilation system, seat heating and (when you’ve got it) cooling. It has a permanent layout that makes it easier to use on the move, has haptic feedback (which still feels odd, to be honest) and which is just as clear and colourful as the Q7’s other screens.

Diesel might not be the fashionable fuel of choice at the moment, but it makes so much sense in a heavy SUV like the Q7 because it gives lots of lazy grunt and decent fuel economy.

The 286hp 50 TDI demonstrates this perfectly. It’s the more powerful of the Q7’s two diesel engine options, giving the Audi smooth and lusty power that translates into acceleration of 0-60mph in 6.5 seconds.

Yet it can still return fuel economy of 35mpg, which is perfectly respectable for a four-wheel-drive, seven-seater SUV like this. Having said that, emissions of up to 218g/km mean you’ll face a hefty first-year road tax bill.

If you’d rather go for petrol power, it’s worth side-stepping the 340hp 55 TFSI model – it struggles to get 25mpg and costs loads to tax – in favour of the 381hp petrol-electric Q7 plug-in hybrid 55 TFSI e.

The 55 TFSI e’s ability to travel up to 29 miles on battery power alone (thanks to a slightly larger battery than the old model, and Audi claims it will do 52 electric miles around town) could save you a lot of money if you have a short commute and a place to charge your Q7 at home or work. It also means the Audi produces low CO2 emissions of no more than 60g/km, so road tax is only £20 in the first year and a bit lower than standard thereafter, though all Q7 models do face the extra £410 charge for cars that cost more than £40,000, and you’ll pay £590 from the second year.

Performance isn’t found wanting, either, because the 55 TFSI e can launch itself from 0-60mph in just 5.9 seconds. However, if it's performance you're after, the 507hp Audi SQ7 should be your first port of call.

The current Audi Q7 has been on sale since 2015 but was retested by Euro NCAP in 2019 (when the Q7 was given its first big update), scoring the full five stars in the process. All Q7s come with safety features such as automatic emergency braking that detect pedestrians and cyclists, and works at town and motorway speeds. You also get a pop-up bonnet that protects pedestrians in the event of a collision and lane assist that can gently steer the car in lane on the motorway and A roads. It’s also worth mentioning that the Q7 comes with an alarm as standard.

Audi’s reliability ratings often don’t reflect the company’s premium brand billing, although you do at least have a three-year/60,000-mile warranty to fall back on, and you can extend it to a five-year/90,000-mile at extra cost. The Q7 has been subject to several recalls relating to its steering rack, third-row seats that can deform in an accident and faulty shock absorbers. Audi finished — somewhat shockingly — close to the bottom of the latest Auto Express Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, ahead of only Fiat and MG.