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How common is the 1.5 TFSI engine problem?

72K views 60 replies 22 participants last post by  martindelittle 
#1 ·
I am currently waiting for delivery of my new Q2 fitted with a 1.5 TFSI engine and I am wondering how likely it is that I will have the engine problem.

I was wondering if everybody that has the 1.5 TFSI engine is experiences the kangarooing or are there a lot of people that are having no problems.

Is the problem only when the engine is cold or can it be all the time?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Hi Andy,

Mine can do the kangarooing at any temperature although it does seem to be a bit worse when initially setting off on cold mornings. This I could live with, but the most serious problem as far as I am concerned is the cutting out when pulling away in 1st gear, which has happened 4 times so far, twice when my wife was driving and twice for me. About another 4-5 times i think have caught it just in time by dipping the clutch and giving it a bit more gas when it felt like it was about to die. The cutting out has happened when the engine has been fully warmed up. It MIGHT have been worse when the outside temperature was low but not too sure about that. Fortunately the four times that it has cut out have not been in particularly dangerous situations, but it's bad enough for my wife to not want to drive the car until it's fixed, assuming a fix is in the pipeline.

We have only had it for just over a week, so plenty of time to decide what to do.

Good luck!
Simon.

Update - just noticed that yours is going to be an automatic so maybe you will not be affected so much.
 
#3 ·
Hi Simon,

Thanks for your reply, I don't know if the auto gearbox helps much as there still seem to be people complaining that have automatic cars..
 
#4 ·
I'm baffled. If Audi know there is an issue with this engine, why are they still installing it and shipping cars knowing full well the customer will complain and possibly reject the car. I will be more than p.... Off if when I eventually get my Q2 in now hopefully 17 weeks and its faulty / dangerous. Annoyingly after months of research and toil, the 2 cars that I had to decide between were Troc and the Q2, both got the same 1.5 engine.

I wonder if anyone from Audi read these to comment?
 
#5 ·
Loll69 said:
I'm baffled. If Audi know there is an issue with this engine, why are they still installing it and shipping cars knowing full well the customer will complain and possibly reject the car. I will be more than p.... Off if when I eventually get my Q2 in now hopefully 17 weeks and its faulty / dangerous. Annoyingly after months of research and toil, the 2 cars that I had to decide between were Troc and the Q2, both got the same 1.5 engine.

I wonder if anyone from Audi read these to comment?
Yes i have to totally agree with you. That is why I was wondering if every car with the 1.5 engine suffers from this problem or are there a lot of people driving about with no engine problems.
 
#6 ·
I picked up a manual 1.5 new last Friday and it shows similar issues to SimonS. It is obvious when cold and yesterday's heatwave it was fine. When I say fine, the car is poor in first and second and does not respond to throttle until over 25mph.
Going for a test drive in another 1.5 and 1.4 later to assess what's going on. I have written to the dealer registering the issues from day one.

Made a point about asking pre-sale about the 1.5 engine and all dealers were very positive. My daughter is an estate agent and they have to divulge absolutely any negatives to prospective buyers (yes really!)
 
#7 ·
Delstron said:
I picked up a manual 1.5 new last Friday and it shows similar issues to SimonS. It is obvious when cold and yesterday's heatwave it was fine. When I say fine, the car is poor in first and second and does not respond to throttle until over 25mph.
Going for a test drive in another 1.5 and 1.4 later to assess what's going on. I have written to the dealer registering the issues from day one.

Made a point about asking pre-sale about the 1.5 engine and all dealers were very positive. My daughter is an estate agent and they have to divulge absolutely any negatives to prospective buyers (yes really!)
I'm sorry to hear that, it is unbelievable that Audi are selling cars with a known problem, I've got one on order and it's a bit worrying waiting to see what I get.
 
#8 ·
My Q2 35 TFSI S-Line ( delivered May 2019) has the same kangarooing problem. Just back from the dealer where the service dept has acknowledged the problem as they experienced it first-hand. It was referred to Audi who are apparently "working on a solution". The dealer will be back in touch when they have a further service bulletin but I will be chasing them too! (Other than this, the Q2 is great, powerful, comfortable and well-specified).
 
#9 ·
tomp said:
My Q2 35 TFSI S-Line ( delivered May 2019) has the same kangarooing problem. Just back from the dealer where the service dept has acknowledged the problem as they experienced it first-hand. It was referred to Audi who are apparently "working on a solution". The dealer will be back in touch when they have a further service bulletin but I will be chasing them too! (Other than this, the Q2 is great, powerful, comfortable and well-specified).
My Q2 35 TFSI S-Line delivered in March suffers from the same issue, although I haven't approached my dealer yet.
 
G
#10 ·
I have an automatic and I hadn't noticed it until I read about it on this forum. Now, I'm aware of the issue, I notice mine surges slightly when cold, but I used to drive old bangers 30 years ago and they were always like that on choke so it doesn't bother me that much.
 
#11 ·
Jo67 said:
I have an automatic and I hadn't noticed it until I read about it on this forum. Now, I'm aware of the issue, I notice mine surges slightly when cold, but I used to drive old bangers 30 years ago and they were always like that on choke so it doesn't bother me that much.
Yes that is much the same as mine, i probably would not have thought much about it if I had not read all the comments. Hopefully it won't get worse in the winter.
 
#13 ·
Bugsy
I too have not seen kangarooing but have noticed significant issues at low speed. Most often seen (although I must now be self-programming not to do it) is where you would change down towards a traffic island ready to stop, perhaps doing 5mph, when the island becomes clear and you decide to go - the car will not pick up smoothly without the clutch being pressed and then extra throttle. Every car I ever has will pull away in 2nd at 5mph. Not this one.
 
#14 ·
I got delivery of my Q2 in January. I noticed the kangarooing the day after. I thought maybe it was just tight being new.
It didn't improve. I got onto Audi Assist, who have been out 3 times. They changed a fuel injector to no avail. They told me to put it back to the dealer who could investigate it further. This I did and was told a program update was imminent.
Totally frustrated I complained to Audi customer service. They promised to ring back. They didn't. I rang again. In a nutshell they weren't interested. I was asked if I wanted to escalate it. Well yes...... I got a call from someone else. I went through the whole thing again. He promised to look into it and he would ring back within 48 hours. I have now rung this guy to no avail 4 times. He is never there and never rings back. That's another week gone.
I took it back to the dealer last week. They are as frustrated with Audi as I am.
The car is dangerous, unpleasant to drive and in 6 months I have restricted my driving to 2500 miles. I had a courtesy car last week with the same engine. Needless to say it was perfect....
Can someone tell me what I need to do to reject this car.
 
#15 ·
Shaker said:
I got delivery of my Q2 in January. I noticed the kangarooing the day after. I thought maybe it was just tight being new.
It didn't improve. I got onto Audi Assist, who have been out 3 times. They changed a fuel injector to no avail. They told me to put it back to the dealer who could investigate it further. This I did and was told a program update was imminent.
Totally frustrated I complained to Audi customer service. They promised to ring back. They didn't. I rang again. In a nutshell they weren't interested. I was asked if I wanted to escalate it. Well yes...... I got a call from someone else. I went through the whole thing again. He promised to look into it and he would ring back within 48 hours. I have now rung this guy to no avail 4 times. He is never there and never rings back. That's another week gone.
I took it back to the dealer last week. They are as frustrated with Audi as I am.
The car is dangerous, unpleasant to drive and in 6 months I have restricted my driving to 2500 miles. I had a courtesy car last week with the same engine. Needless to say it was perfect....
Can someone tell me what I need to do to reject this car.
I'm sorry to hear about your problems, it really is not how you expect to be treated by Audi, you have to feel that they are not returning your calls because they don't have an answer, but it is very poor customer service.
It is interesting that you say that the Kangarooing is not temp. related as some people are saying they only had the problem in the winter, also Skoda have an update so I don't know why all the other users of the engine don't also have the update!
It's also strange that there are no magazine tests of the car that mention the problem, I presume the test cars are hand picked to make sure they run properly.
 
#16 ·
I posted this in a different thread but it is relevant here I think.

I ran an A3 saloon 1.4 tfsi s-line for four years as a company car until early this year.

Never had any problems with the car over 132k miles over which (according to the DIS) achieved 45 mpg overall, which I take as real world driving as it included motorways and town driving in my job as a civil engineer visiting sites across the UK.

I then took possession of a Q3 35 (1.5 tfsi) as a replacement as I wanted something a big higher, (elderly legs getting stiff etc).

I only had this about seven weeks before changing jobs but found the Q3's engine nothing like as good as the A3's. First start of the the day found me kangerooing off the drive and up the road, more often than not stalling at the junction with the main road unless I revved it up a bit.

The stop/start caught me out so many times dying at junctions, just when you wanted a smart getaway. On motorways the engine didn't seem as perky or lively as the A3 had. Also over about the 7k miles I did, it only averaged 38mpg according to the DIS.

After changing jobs rather than take a car as I retire in a couple of years, I decided to buy one and after looking around bought an ex-demo Q2 1.4 tfsi S-Line from the local Audi dealer.

Well what a revelation, it is just like driving the A3 but sitting higher up. Perky responsive engine, comfortable, slightly elevated diving position, lots of space for the two of us.

We have just got back from a drive abroad, ferry to Spain then drive back through France to Zeebrugge. Mixture of rural roads and a few motorways (last day rush for ferry so 300 miles at Mway limit) keeping to speed limits and over a total of 1500 miles achieved 45mpg.

Oh and all three cars were/are manual by the way

I have to say that didn't think the new engine would be so different but I am so glad that I changed back, the 1.4 in my opinion, is a far better engine than the new 1.5. Smoother, perkier, no hesitation and more economical.
 
#18 ·
I heard from my dealer today. The service manager had to do some digging to discover the patch - it would appear that Audi are treating this as a low-key rollout, and the dealership hadn't been aware of the issue until today. I suspect that in most cases the patch would have been applied as Q2s arrived for scheduled services. So definitely not a recall, but available now. My car's booked in for a week on Monday.
 
#19 ·
My dealer had loads of cars back, sales guy I dealt with has over 20 customers himself. Audi know about this issue and are keeping it low key..... it's been a massive issue to them and they are only patching those that complain

My issue is on a Q3 which is my 3rd brand new Audi and after this my last. It's much better now its mended but having to drive this from new and knowing Audi took my order knowing they'd be giving me a dud engine doesnt make me want to buy off them again.

Hope.yours is sorted next week matey xx
 
#20 ·
The last thing Audi needs is a pile of class action lawsuits and claims for compensation - hence keeping it ultra low-key and apparently describing the issue as "a slight judder"!! Anyway, I'm glad to be getting the fix before winter arrives up here in the frozen North.
 
#22 ·
It's safe as long as you're aware of the issue! The worst that can happen is that occasionally the engine might stall when pulling away from a junction or roundabout. I would suggest taking this up with your dealer, and check that the software update has been applied at the factory - I would be surprised if this was not the case.
 
#23 ·
Sandyghirl said:
Hi, I'm currently waiting on my q2 s line 1.5 automatic due to be delivered in 2wks. I have been reading your posts and honestly knew nothing of the engine problem. Is this safe? Thanks
And if the upgrade has NOT been applied in the factory, insist this is done during the pre-delivery period. I would not be driving away in a vehicle you and they know has faulty software.
 
#24 ·
A Skoda Karoq owner seems to be seeing an improvement with the latest software update.
Scroll down to recent post from "JakeB1941"
https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/465281-karoq-software-update-progress-report/page/10/?tab=comments#comment-5303815
 
#26 ·
I have followed this topic with interest since owning a 1.5 TFSI which was new at beginning of June 2019. I did post early on that I did not have any problems but as time has gone by I have had a few issues. No kangarooing but very occasionally a slight hesitation when pulling away. My main concern was the lack of power in 2nd gear. I found when coming up to a roundabout or junction and slowing down and then seeing my way clear to go the engine response was poor so much so that I invariably went into 1st gear to ensure a smooth getaway. Having read the advice on here I thought what the heck and booked the car in to my dealer. They were fully aware of some problems with the Q2 . They had the car for 2hrs and after gave me an official warranty statement that they carried out a software update. It is too early to say whether the occasional hesitation has been fixed but there is now a positive response when pulling away in 2nd gear. It performs now as it should. I did deliberately try this manoeuvre several times and the difference of before and after the update is very pleasing.
 
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