2023 Audi Q8 Safety and Reliability

At this price range, it is to be expected that occupant safety has been prioritized in a big way, and when it comes to the Q8, that is true. This has to be one of the safest cars in its class, and a review by both the NHTSA and IIHS proves that the Audi Q8 will keep you safe in most situations. Although the 2023 model lacks a side crash evaluation from the NHTSA, it scored five stars for the frontal crash test and four stars for the rollover test. Similarly, the 2023 model achieved the best possible Good rating for every crash test and was announced as a Top Safety Pick+ vehicle for 2022.

The safety rating agencies clearly love the Q8, so there must be a good reason why this vehicle is so impressive. The secret lies in the Q8's numerous driver assistance systems that come as standard across the range. The base variant features eight airbags, including side-curtain airbags and rear side airbags. Driver assistance features that are standard across the range are Audi pre sense front/basic/rear, front/rear parking sensors, high-beam assist, Audi side assist, and Audi pre sense rear, including rear cross-traffic assist and vehicle exit warning. The Premium Plus gets lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control with traffic-jam assist. The Prestige additionally includes a head-up display and traffic sign recognition. A night vision assistant with large animal and pedestrian detection is an optional extra on the Prestige at $2,500.

The 2021 Q8 was recalled five times for an inoperative rearview camera display, a fuel pump that may fail, a rear axle that could be misaligned, rear axle lock nuts that could break, and a seat belt locking retractor malfunction. Two rearview camera display issues affected 2022 models, but 2023 models were recall-free at the time of writing.

J.D. Power has given the 2023 Q8 an overall score of 75 out of a possible 100, but only 71/100 for quality and reliability. Clearly, there is some room for improvement for the Q8 in this category when you consider the BMW X6's 83/100 score for quality and reliability.

Audi will back the Q8 with a four-year/50,000-mile basic warranty and powertrain warranty, and a four-year roadside assistance plan.