Proper German Luxury, Kid-Only Third Row

Audi piques the interest of three-row luxury SUV buyers with a simple script: refined luxury that doesn’t stand out and delivers solid build quality.

As competitors continue to get gaudier with gaping nostrils or lit logos, Audi holds the line with temperate design, terrific road manners, and rock-solid build quality. But the 2025 Audi Q7 falls short with a small third row, a gruff turbocharged V6, and cupholders that drew complaints from my kids.

Pros

In a time when BMW’s twin-kidney grilles are getting bigger by the minute and the Mercedes-Benz logo is now larger than my hand, Audi stands alone from the German brands and in solidarity with Volvo with a tempered exterior design. It blends in sitting in a parking lot and doesn’t radiate one-percenter vibes. 

Inside, the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster sits in a housing, and the central 10.1-inch infotainment and 8.6-inch climate and secondary control touchscreens are integrated into the dashboard. This is the opposite look and feel of the virtual tablets sitting on the dashboards of Mercedes and BMW SUVs. The slap-a-tablet-on-a-dash look is borderline lazy, but Audi’s approach, like the rest of the Q7’s design, is more elegant and grown-up. Sure, Audi spent time making it so users can waste time changing the LED daytime running light pattern, but that’s not nearly as boisterous as the competition.

Whether it’s carving around a clover leaf, blasting down a highway, or inching along in the school bus drop-off lane, the Q7’s a gem to ride in or drive. My loaded $88,790 (including $1,195 destination charge) Prestige model had the available $1,350 rear-wheel steering option that helped the Q7 virtually shrink while entering the neighborhood, going around tight corners, or maneuvering in tight parking spots. The Q7 drives smaller than it is. The steering is never too heavy, and the suspension balances road comfort with controlled moves. It’s never jarring, even over broken Midwest pavement or highway expansion joints. 

Open the door to the Q7, and it clicks. Shut the door, and you can feel a thunk. This isn’t a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, but it certainly sounds and feels like it’s built better than the tinny (and more expensive) Lexus LX. Every knob, switch, and button in the cabin clicks into place with satisfying feedback. The Q7 is built with care and pride.

Cons

Mercedes, BMW, and even Volvo have better third-row seats. While the Audi’s third row does fold flat, it’s a kid zone, at best, with limited leg, knee, and foot room. It’s not ideal for regular use. Adults aren’t going to want to sit back there for more than a quick coffee run, if at all.

The current generation Q7, which is only the second Q7 in history despite launching in 2006, offers a choice of a 2.0-liter turbo-4, a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6, or a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 under the hood. There’s no hybrid to be found, which is a shame, and the turbodiesel is long gone. The turbo-4’s fine, but it isn’t going to raise anyone’s heart rate. The twin-turbo V8 amounts to overkill. That makes the turbo-6 just right in terms of balancing power and efficiency, but it’s not smooth. It’s a little coarse compared to the supercharged 3.0-liter V6 the second-generation Q7 launched with. Turbo lag is present for a short time at launch, which means power delivery isn’t as smooth as the supercharged V6 that’s now dead. We miss that old engine, and the turbo-sixes in the BMW X7 and Mercedes GLS-Class are smoother.

“What are these, cupholders for ants?” Both my children loudly voiced their opinions that the cupholders, which are revealed from under a flip-up cover on the fold-down rear center armrest, were tiny and “useless.” They didn’t hold any water bottles or cups that my kids had during the week we spent with the Q7. Both kids were frustrated, and no father wants to deal with that.

Verdict

The Q7 is aging, but it’s still a standout choice against flashier competition. That is, as long as your kids don’t care about the rear seat cupholders.