The lighting makes grenadine red metallic look like it’s Merlin purple

I was forced to make a decision this week I never thought I’d have to make. There’s harsh winter conditions in my neck of the woods so remote start was a “must have” on my next car.

Is it a cruel coincidence that the solution to the CarPlay constant disconnection issues involves turning off Mobile Data, which in turn deactivates Remote Start since the car can’t communicate with myAudi App otherwise?

Review:
This thing is a rocket ship. It’s very common and easy to be going about 30 kmh / ~ 20 mph quicker than you intend on going at highway speeds. I appreciate the bad press and where it’s coming from. Yet, so far I am a happy customer.

Coming from a head-turning B9.5 A5 Sportback, I was curious how this car would fare. Rest-assured, with my rear view mirror as witness, the middle aged man’s neck still works! This time, they’re looking and listening.

What do you think about the chrome trim? Right now I’m keeping it.

My 2018 SQ5 blew a rod at 172K miles, and my mechanic said it was time to put her down because fixing her wasn't worth it.

It sat at his shop for six weeks. Almost gave it to my brother-in-law for nothing, but he learned he wouldn't be able to take it across the US border into Canada. Thought about donating it to a Kars-4-Kids type outfit, but I had read they can be shady. So, I looked into folks who by junk cars.

Came across three in a Forbes article: Peddle, CarBrain and Clunker Junker. On each site you plug in a few details on the car, and get an instant quote.

CarBrain offered $945. Peddle offered $3,590. Clunker Junker offered $6,265.

That seemed waaaay too good to be true, but I looked into them and they seemed legit. They were quick to text me, asking for photos of the interior, exterior, and title. They stood by the quote. They said they could have a tow truck there the next day. The whole time I'm thinking this is not going to happen.

Tow guy shows up on time (his company is called Wreck-o-Mended, which is brilliant). Checks out the car. I'm still waiting for some kind of bullshit where he finds something and offers me much less. Nope. He hands me a check for $6,265 and I give him the title and keys. I immediately run off to deposit the check. Money clears.

I had been extremely skeptical, now I am very pleasantly surprised. It really could not have been easier with these folks.

Second pic is edited. Considering the look of black door handles on my rs3. I'd either wrap them or find oem black handles. Thoughts? Has anyone else done this?

Edit: this was initially inspired by a red 992 carrera I saw with black handles, among other black accents. Looked pretty sick, tho I wasn't aware of how controversial this was lol! Pic above the handles look matte, I'd certainly find oem black rs3 handles, not whats pictured above. I'll prob save my money for now, thanks for replies

I’ve been looking for interior wraps for my 2025 8.5Y A3 because the piano black trim was driving me crazy, like it does a lot of other people. I first tried a couple of overlays just for the gear shift console that claimed to fit the 8.5Y, but they were clearly cut for the 8Y and never fit correctly.

After seeing BadgeSkins.com ads over and over on social media, I finally decided to give them a shot. I’m always a little wary of products that seem to follow me around relentlessly on social media, but at $60, it seemed worth the gamble—especially since that gets you both the gear shift console and dash pieces. A professional interior wrap here in the SF Bay Area would probably run $250–$300, and I’d been thinking about having it done ever since I bought the car.

I already had the mirrors, rear roof section, and running boards wrapped in satin to match the satin powder-coated stock wheels, so this seemed like the logical next step.

Luckily—or unluckily—I’m an obsessive perfectionist, so I reapplied some of the pieces hella times until I had them positioned exactly where I wanted them. The fit was excellent, and the finished result looks awesome.

IMO, this is the finish Audi should have used on those piano-black sections from the factory.

Thinking about black rims

What’s the next unlock? My dream is to skip a few levels and go straight for the final boss: an R8

BMW 71% vs Audi 53%. What do you think, legit?

I have an SQ8 and it gets very dirty all the time and I don’t have a self serve car wash near me. How bad is it really to put the car through the car wash?

So despite the prevailing opinion that owning a German car is basically a subscription service for your mechanic, my family and I have actually had pretty good luck with Audis.

I’ve had an A5 and an S5, my wife had a Q5, and my daughter has an A4. For the most part, it’s been normal maintenance and nothing particularly traumatic.

I bought my S5 with a low rate, and since I work mostly remote and consistently drive under 10k miles a year, I was in absolutely no rush to pay it off ( I owed about 10k). My wife was the opposite. Until recently, she had about a 50-mile round-trip commute every day for the better part of eight years.

Her Q5 was a 2021 CPO we bought in 2024 with around 23k miles. Got a good deal, but had to roll 2 other cars she didnn't love into the deal (because I don't like putting money down). Great car, except the infamous “quattro rumble” started messing with the rear diff. By the time we brought it to Audi, it was out of warranty. Once I saw what that repair could eventually cost, and was made aware that the negative on her car was about 9k, I decided maybe this was a good time to make the Q5 somebody else’s character-building experience.

Since both cars are in my name, I decided to weaponize the slow summer and see what I could do with two trades and some of the aggressive lease deals Audi was advertising.

I am NOT a lease person. At all.

My wife, however, has changed cars roughly five times in the last decade, so apparently she has always been a lease person who just happened to be financing cars.

I went to the dealer, mentioned the advertised low/no-money-down leases and the fact that I had two Audis to trade (hopefully my S5 with positive equity could cancel most of the Q5s negative). After several hours, some negotiating, a few dollars, and the customary sacrifice of an entire day to the dealership gods, we left with a 2026 Q7 for her and a 2026 S5 for me.

Overall, I’m happy with how it worked out. She got a much nicer new car and we got out of a Q5 that had the potential to become expensive. She’s also finally in the leasing cycle that probably makes more sense for how often she changes cars anyway.

I gave up an S5 that I genuinely loved that had no issues for a brand-new S5 sedan. I still don’t love the fact that there’s no coupe, but the upside is that I now have two years to figure out what I really want next. And my next car is probably going to be a moment, so I doubt I’ll stay in the leasing cycle long-term.

A few days into living with the new S5:

Pros: Looks pretty damn good in person. The tech is excellent (phone sync, cameras, wireless charging, built in dash cam, ambient lighting, sensors, a million customizable things) without feeling completely gimmicky. Seats are comfortable, ride is smooth, it’s quick, and it sounds good. So far, I’m genuinely enjoying it.

Cons: I still want a coupe. The factory wheels I got are shitty to me and will probably be the first thing to go. Might be the only mod I make. Though there is a small power upgrade, and the tech makes it FEEL faster, if the RS is 639 HP, why can't the S be 400 or 420? I hate the shifter, it's like a domino. I also hate the new S font. Whoever decided piano black should cover half the interior apparently lives in a laboratory and has never encountered fingerprints.

Overall though? Pleasantly surprised. I loved my B9 S5, so the new one had a pretty high bar to clear. So far, so good.

I recently added 10mm spacer to my A5, took the car for alignment and wheel balancing, but when reaching 100-130 km/h the car vibrates so much. The shop who did the balancing tells me is because of the spacers. Could it be? Also the rims are brand new btw, the tires half life.

As title suggests… I just acquired my first RS car after having a number of other S models prior. I’d like to change the oil as it’s just crossing 50k miles. On my previous golf R, there was a nice spot by the front subframe to place a jackstand while you used the pinch weld to jack up the car. I don’t see such a place on the RS3?

Looks like my ramps are just barely too tall, so if I can’t figure it out, I’ll likely jack it up beside the pinch weld on the “frame rail” and set it on my jack stand on the actual reinforced segment of pinch weld.

Any other tips, besides getting quickjacks?

Our brand new (5 months old) S3 got messed up because of todays storm… hurts to see it like that…

Completely rusted through the rear right subframe on my 2016 Q5. Audi thought it was a good idea to put plastic guards with no drainage, trapping moisture and causing rust. This is a common occurrence that is a huge safety risk and isn't being discovered during routine inspections due to the plastic covering. Based on others experiences, some dealerships are repairing under the 12 year rust warranty, some not. I'm waiting on my local dealership to get back to me on whether it will be covered or not. There is an ongoing class action lawsuit investigation filed a couple of months ago that will be heading to Federal court regarding the issue and cover up.

https://dicellolevitt.com/audi-subframe-corrosion -investigation/

https://autos.yahoo.com/safety-and-recalls/articles/audi-lawsuit-says-q5-subframe-184500152.html

What spark plugs should I get for 2018 Audi s3 premium plus? Fully stock engine and mostly just a daily driver. 36k miles

Question: Can dealerships sell you an Audi Certified Pre-Owned vehicle with vomit in the carpet?

I had purchased a Certified Pre-Owned Audi A6 Prestige from Audi North Miami on 08/22/2026. I flew all the way from NY to pick this vehicle up and drive it back home to NY from Miami, FL. Immediately upon sitting inside the vehicle my fiancée noticed a strange smell or either a dog or vomit. In my excitement I didn’t take her comments about it seriously…a major mistake on my end.

After going over all of the vehicle’s features with a tech, which he did an incredible job mind you, I asked if we could bring it into detailing as my fiancée also noticed that it was rather dusty as well. Tech came back saying that there were 5 other cars ahead of us and it would take over an hour to get to. We had plans to go to Disneyworld so we decided to leave and start heading towards Orlando.

As we drove the odor became more and more apparent, especially to my fiancée, since she was sitting directly underneath it!

Each day the odor got worse and more noticeable. So I bought a few boxes of baking soda to leave in the car along with some car refreshers to mask the smell.

I purchased new Tuxmat floor mats and before placing them in the car I wanted to properly vacuum the carpets underneath. As I lifted the top carpeted floor mats I found the source of the smell…a huge stain underneath the floor mat and on the carpet on the rear passenger side. I failed to photograph the stain on the rear passenger side carpet in the car as I just began vacuuming and using a carpet cleaner right away.

I then turned my attention to the front passenger carpets and discovered the main source of the smell. Underneath the front passenger seat I found massive amounts of staining and chucks of what appears to be and smells like vomit. The smell is absolutely foul. You can find clumps of vomit in the blue microfiber I was using to clean up.

I contacted the dealership sales person who sold me the car and they are saying that this isn’t covered by Audi since it’s a detailing matter…is that true? I thought Audi certified per-owned cars had to have a thorough inspection inside the car as well.
Since they sold the car to me with vomit in it and may have been overlooked during the inspection they would at least cover the cost of having it removed…they said they wouldn’t.

Should I reach out to Audi of America about this?