NHTSA Complaint #11532835 — 2018 AUDI Q5

We purchased our 2018 AUDI Q5 in May 2018, which currently has 31,567 miles. Having done the majority of the driving, I am pleased overall, and continue to be a proud AUDI owner. However, as with all new cars, we had some glitches. For example, when backing out of the garage, the pre-sense would activate for no apparent reason, causing the brakes to lock up This happened three times and each time the Service Department was able to recalibrate the system. I felt the problem was resolved until recently when it occurred for the fourth time. This is not the reason for my letter but is intended to provide background information I feel is related to a more serious problem. Recently I have experienced situations that concern my safety and the safety of my passengers, not to mention other drivers, especially those immediately behind me. On two occasions while driving on the open road, the brakes have slammed on even though, fortunately, there were no other vehicles or impairments near us. (Incident dates: 05/28/2023 and 06/09/2023.) It was indeed a frightening experience, to the point where my wife will not drive the car believing that the potential for another incident could occur (reference previously mentioned backup issues). My AUDI Advisor, whom I highly regard, has provided me with a five step procedure for bypassing the associated emergency braking pre-sensor(s), which requires being activated with each drive cycle. I did some online investigating and discovered that this is a known problem since at least 2016 as you will read in the attached article. Also included is a related Audi Technical Service Bulletin. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-b9-platform-discussion-212/permanently-disable-pre-sense-2945351/ https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10176756-0001.pdf Reference Page 7. After years of known awareness on the part of AUDI corporate, I would conclude this work-around is not a fix but a design flaw and known safety risk.