# Shopping for a used Q7



## jbtyson (Jul 22, 2015)

I'm not specifically looking for a Q7, but a decent sized luxury SUV with plenty of power in the under $20k range. I've been shopping multiple brands and as of now, I'm really interested in two. 

A 2012 Q7 TDI with 84k miles. 2 owner car originally from California. I am concerned with the emissions deal and longevity of the TDI. I love diesel vehicles but worry about them in small passenger vehicles. I have them in all my trucks for the last 10 years.

The other is a 2013 Mercedes ML550 with a bi-turbo v8 gas motor. Really slick vehicle with a ton of power. A bit cheaper, similar miles and newer than the q7, but the reliablility is going to be that of a typical mercedes which is my concern. 

I didn't come here for mercedes info unless someone knows them real well. But what about the Q7? And the TDI at that point? What about the whole diesel thing with VW a few years back?


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## testarossaguy (Aug 13, 2007)

The TDI is a great option if you find one that still has the diesel-gate extended warranty. Audi had extend the original warranty to 10 yrs / 120k miles, and 4yrs / 48k miles from the date that the emissions were updated - which ever scenario is longer. So if a Q7 is at 125k miles the original warranty has expired, but if the emissions fix was performed in year 2019 at 90k miles then there is still warranty until year 2023 or 138k miles - which ever occurs first. I too am looking at the TDI's, my big worry is that the high pressure fuel pumps are a known issue and when one fails it contaminates the entire fuel system with metal particles - and EVERYTHING must be replaced. If there is still some diesel-gate warranty it will be fixed. It seems like most of the people who have theses TDI's are very happy with them. Regarding the 2012 model year, I think maybe that had a previous version of the high pressure fuel pump that was not prone to frequent failures - so that's good.


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## cuatrokoop (Nov 19, 2020)

I've got a '13 P+ TDI and absolutely love it, owned it for 3-4 years now. There are some things you can do to mitigate the HPFP grenade taking out the rest of the fuel system (literally the whole fuel system has to be cleaned/replaced because it sends debris back to the tanks, yes, it's two saddle tanks of around 13.5 gallons each). One of the guys on another forum has fit a filter on the return line, which would catch all the [email protected]#$ before it does any damage. At that point just replace the HPFP, clean the one line and replace the now junk filter and you should be good.

Downside is that things like sunroof drains can sour people's opinions of the electronics, but this is my third Q7 (4.2, 3.6 and the TDI). So yeah, I kinda have a soft spot for them.


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