maximq7

I've now had my 2010 Q7 for almost 60 days and felt comfortable enough to give a detailed review.

Wife and I needed a vehicle to accommodate our growing family (20 month old and a new baby on the way in December). As such our trusty Honda Element wasn't going to cut it.

Wife didn't want a minivan, and we weren't keen on owning a Toyota Highlander like everyone else on the road although by the numbers, the smart money would have been on the Highlander hybrid or the Chevy Traverse.

Finally decided on a white Audi Q7 TDI Prestige with the warm weather package, tow kit, and 20" wheels.

For those that live in warmer climates, the warm weather package is a must have since the first two rows of the Q7 cool down very nicely with the warm weather package when used in conjunction with the second row window shades along with the rear trunk shades drawn. Third row still gets hot however even at full blast - so unless you live in the far north (at least Pennsylvania), you'll want to seriously consider the warm weather package.

Pleasant surprises that you'd only learn about by owning one:
1. LEDs Rock - by far the coolest thing about the Audis are its liberal use of LED lighting in its headlamps as well as in its interior doors that are dimmable. Unfortunatley you would never know this driving it unless it were at night and you turned the interior LEDs in the doors higher- (VERY COOL effect on the interior). Additionally the Q7 has LEDs that illuminate the foot area for front and second row passengers.

Also, if you tap the turn signal stalk (half press without fully indicating a turn) it actually flashes your turn signals for 3 blinks to signal a lane change. Very nice.

2. Tires come straight from the factory pre-filled with Nitrogen gas. Supposed benefits include less air seepage over time, problem becomes where do you go for nitrogen fill ups? Closest thing to me is a Cadillac dealership and apparently I get some kind of one year free nitrogen refills as part of the Q7 purchase.

3. Q7 has 3 windshield wiper jets per nozzle for a total of six. One of my good friends summed it up in one word: GANGSTA! Most cars only have 2 per nozzle.

4. Q7 when using the windshield wiper fluid spray will do its wipe job, stop for 5 seconds to let wiper spray settle and then do one final wipe - COOL!

5. Triple sized monster sun roof that does a pretty decent job of blocking out the sun with its cloth perforated sunscreen - haven't heard any complaints yet regarding the interior being too hot on long car rides from passengers.

6. Q7 has second row passenger child safety lockout buttons, one for each side, that prevents any buttons on the second row from being messed with by kids (I have a 20 month old who likes to use his toes to lock the doors so this was VERY helpful).

7. Power rear trunk comes in handy when your arms are full of groceries.

8. Parking distance control comes in handy for navigating tight parking spaces - be sure to know that there are two settings for adjusting the visual guide lines, one for straight parking, and another for parallel parking.

9. Glove box has a small vent to allow A/C to pipe in to keep contents in the glovebox cool (assuming A/C is on). Can't really use the glovebox as a cooler for drinks but it's nice to cool down any electronics in the glovebox.

10. Hidden storage compartment located under the passenger seat. Nice!

Unexpected Nits:
1. Our dog hates the sound of vehicles with diesel engines (thanks to UPS and FedEx delivery trucks rumbling around our neighborhood). Dog took awhile to learn not to bark at the Q7.

2. MMI interface has a steep learning curve. Took me about 45 days to get used to the interface and I still haven't even attempted to use voice prompts. Navigation unit is nowhere near as easy to use as a Garmin, but it does have greater details.

3. Driver display (located in the center of between the speedometer and the tach) has its own stalk buttons to cycle through the various menu display options (of which there are at least 3 different views with different sub-screen options). Takes awhile to get used to the various sub-screen options.

4. Eyeglass holder is way too small for the big style Ray Ban aviators and their styles out there today.

5. Third row seating for passengers is - quoting the Q7 owners manual, NOT RECOMMENDED for anyone over 5' 7". Additionally, anyone sitting in the third row must have the second row seats pushed all they way forward for third row passengers to have ANY leg room.

Third row seats are manually operated, and somewhat heavy. Not a huge deal for us and I'm sure it saved us some weight but there is no power option like the Mercedes GL.

If using the third row for passengers, trunk space shrinks to about the size of one golf bag. If using the vehicle to transport folks for a vacation at the beach, you'll want to consider getting a roof carrier or some kind of trailer to hold accessories in.

6. Power rear trunk extends pretty high - in some cases you're awfully close to hitting the top edge of our garage door, but it fits.

7. 10GB music hard drive can only import songs in MP3 format. A full CD of MP3s takes approximately 15-20 mins to import, using a SD Card is an option but transferring music to SD Card takes forever. Also cannot import iPod song files directly to the hard drive. But between the iPod interface, the in dash DVD/CD player, and the 6 CD disc changer mounted in the center armrest, all the FM radio stations, and if you subscribe to XM/Sirius satellite radio, you should have more than enough music to keep you busy.

8. In dash DVD/CD player will only play movies on its display when the vehicle is not in motion (BOO!!!).

9. Brake dust is heavy on the Audi (normal for all German vehicles but rare for American).

10. Would not recommend this car if you have more than 2 child seats to accomodate. 3 child seats forces you to place one in the third row which becomes a problem because you'd have 2 child seats in the second row that prohibit you from sliding the seats forward to access the third row. If you have 3 children at any time requiring car seats, go with a minivan or a Tahoe/Yukon/Escalade class vehicle. the Q7 is more narrowly focused on going after the family segments that don't have more than a 2 child seat requirement per trip.

In all, very pleased with the monster torque of the Q7. We were lugging around 7 passengers in the Q7 and still got 20mpg on long distance drives with plenty of torque to spare.

Bluetooth integration with our Verizon cell phone was seamless after we synced everything up. Not as easy to use as Ford's Sync system but works as advertised.

Garage door opener sync also required a one time physical set up to get it working, but after setting it up it works great although the range isn't quite as far as the one that came with the house.

Also had a couple in a late model Mercedes S550 rubberneck our Q7 in the parking lot by the Wal-Mart which was neat.

Fill ups on the Q7 run about $60USD for a 25 gallon tank and according to our on board computer runs about 575 miles before empty. It takes our current family of 3 about 3-4 weeks before having to fill up at the pump.

Note that Audi's manufacturing plants close down annually in August to retool for the new model year. So if you're looking at a 2011 Q7 TDI, now's a great time to get one of the first ones for the new model year.

Also order a set of the Weather tech precision fit mats to replace the stock carpet mats - you'll be glad that you did plus your stress levels will drop knowing that fluids and dirt won't be getting onto your carpets.

Also, a Q7 TDI in white is ridiculously difficult to get so order early. Good luck!

Jusforfun

Nice review thanks for the effort. Always interseting to get more views. Unexpected Nits 6. Press and hold old the open button (I think its 2seconds) at the desired lift height to reset to new max level.
8. If you vag the preset stut off speed up from 10 MPH to 100MPH it will stay on. Pretty sure this can also be done via the "hidden menu"!

Aggie88

Have you found the speed warning sensor? I set it to 75 which is 10 over on the local freeways.

Also, if you have 3 child seats (I use 4), the beauty of the Q7 is the center row, center seat folds down and the kids just scamper over the hump to get to the 3rd row. Can't do that in 90% of the SUVs out there.

arU4ic

Great review, love the details. Thank you.

"Dog took awhile to learn not to bark at the Q7."

I don't quite know why, but the made me laugh out loud a bit.... very funny.

Probably the High Pitch on the turbos spinning up and down.

ness7

Great review man...

If you can post some pics in detail that will be great1

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

Thank you for the detailed review. Today, after 28 months driving our Q7, we opened the secret compartment under the passenger seat for the first time. Now we have more places to put the kids toys on our trips.

Cheers,

Louis

maximq7

Awesome! Always glad to help out a fellow owner learn something new!

maximq7

Glad it made you laugh! It did to me when I first realized what our dog was doing.

maximq7

Fantastic recommendation - just tested out the center fold down feature. Never even occurred to me that the kids would use it in this way.

wabisabi

[EDIT]Forgot to thank you for taking the time to write a thorough and accurate review.[/EDIT]

For having only two children, the Q7 is extreme overkill in my opinion. Our A3 worked well until child number three. The Volvo V70 was great until child number four.

It makes me chuckle every time I hear of some family that is "forced" to supersize their vehicle because child number two is on the way. Very American

The Q7 works perfectly for a family of six. My five year old and four year old sit in the third row and my 8 year old and new born sit in the middle row.

If you are in the market for good, and easily detached, child booster seats, I recommend Clek Oobr and Clek Olli. CLEK/ These seats fit better than any other I have found and the third row head rest does not have to be removed to get them to sit right. Oobr has a back rest(that is detachable) and the Olli is just the seat.

By the time child four comes along, child one is typically old enough for the Olli. That is unless you are very busy or have twins or more.

Congratulations on child number two.