Audi Q8 e-tron - Reliability and safety
The Audi Q8 e-tron (formally e-tron) should be a very safe car; the brand’s Driver Power score has fallen
Regarding safety, the Q8 e-tron should prove a tough family car. The pre-facelift model achieved the maximum five-star crash safety rating from industry experts Euro NCAP in 2019, and every model is fitted with Audi Pre-sense Front and Basic, lane departure warning, cruise control with a speed limiter, camera-based traffic sign recognition, a reversing camera, parking sensors all round and a host of airbags.
Top-of-the-range cars also come with adaptive cruise, swerve assist and cross-traffic alert, among additional safety kit, that are included in the optional Tour Pack and the City Assist Pack.
The Audi brand has slipped down the Driver Power rankings, coming in a woeful 30th place out of 32 manufacturers in the 2023 survey. That puts it behind Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar, and even upstart Tesla.
Warranty
As with any new Audi, the Q8 e-tron comes with a three-year/60,000-mile manufacturer warranty. Extended warranties are available for both the Q8 e-tron and the Q8 e-tron Sportback, priced at £635 for the four-year/75,000-mile warranty, and £1,670 for five years/90,000 miles of coverage.
Q8 e-tron owners also benefit from an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty, which matches Jaguar I-Pace’s powerpack coverage. Teslas get an eight-year/unlimited mileage battery warranty, however.
Servicing
The Audi Q8 e-tron only needs to be serviced once every two years or 18,000 miles, whichever comes first. To make life easier, Audi has three service plans available for the Q8 e-tron, offering different levels of attention according to how far owners are likely to travel.
A basic ‘Level 1’ package with a single service costs £399 up front or £33.25 per month over twelve months, while a two-service Level 2 is £785 or £32.71 per month, and Level 3, which also includes two MOTs for the third and fourth years of ownership, is £880 or £36.67 per month.
