FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSAudi Q4
Top three failure systems, annotated from 451 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Tyres are 79% of everything that fails an Audi Q4
3,945 inspections in a single year make the Q4 one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 78.7% of its failures; tyres take 3.3× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD11.6%
Q4 failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%
All electric cars in the data.
At three years old the Audi Q4 fails 11.6% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. Tyres cause 78.7% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION257 certificates in 2024
The tyre that wears from the inside
Tyres take 78.7% of the defects that fail this car, 3.3× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 257 times in 2024.
SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the Q4's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
What to check
Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run. Check the washers reach the screen. It fails the test and it is a thirty-second check. Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.
3 inspection points:
✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age
✓ Washer reach
✓ Wipers and washers
FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars
Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.
Data sheet
- Inspections
- 3,945
- Passed
- 3,436
- Failed
- 451
- Passed after repair
- 58
- Failure rate
- 11.4% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.0 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 11.6%
- Worst year
- 3 yrs · 11.6%
- Top cause
- Tyres 78.7%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 78.7% | 3.3× more | |
| Suspension | 1.6% | 8.5× less | |
| Brakes | 0.5% | 37.4× less | |
| Visibility | 8.2% | 1.5× less | |
| Lighting | 3.8% | 4.3× less | |
| Steering | 0.2% | 15.5× less | |
| Body | 0.4% | 10.2× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged257
- A tyre cords visible or damaged217
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements123
- Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen26
- Tyres on the same axle or on twin wheels are different sizes21
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen18
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (1.6% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.5% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.2% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (3.8% of defects vs 16.5%)
Where it fails
- Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (78.7% vs 23.7%)
- At three years old it fails 11.6% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- Q4 E-TRON S LINE 401,775
- Q4 E-TRON S LINE 35516
- Q4 E-TRON S LINE LAUNCH ED 40462
- Q4 E-TRON SPORT 35319
- Q4 E-TRON EDITION 1 40316
- Q4 E-TRON SPORT 40273
- Q4 E-TRON EDITION 1 35136
- Q4 E-TRON S LINE 50 QUATTRO55
OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched
No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.
Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.
SIMILAR CARS IN THE DATAclosest rate and age, other brands
BMW iX311.4% fail · 3,079 testsSkoda Enyaq11.3% fail · 4,360 testsBMW iX11.6% fail · 484 testsVolvo XC4010.7% fail · 1,746 tests
OTHER AUDI ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 3,945 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Tyres take 3.3× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- It ranks 48 of 81 electric cars by first-time failure rate.
LIMITS // WHAT THE INSPECTION DOES NOT TELL YOU
No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain. Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing; every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.
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