Q: Which car is more expensive to maintain: the Audi Q5 2.0t or the BMW X5 35i?

Hello, thank you for your question. I’d be happy to provide my insight. The answer to this question isn’t as simple as it may seem. The biggest factor is going to be the year of the two vehicles you are comparing. The BMW comes with two possible motors. One larger than the other so this will affect fuel mileage. You may or may not want to take that into account when figuring cost of maintenance. Both of these vehicles are packed with advanced electronics that will be expensive to repair. German vehicles in general are more expensive to repair in comparison to a similar class Asian car. There are fewer German car experts than Asian and American made vehicles. The lack of expertise adds to the repair costs of a German vehicle.

The Audi is a turbo four cylinder that is most likely more fuel efficient than the BMW, but higher on maintenance. The BMW comes with a supercharger which produces more power, but doesn’t help with efficiency in most situations. Both cars will use more expensive performance tires. But you can choose the tires when it comes to replacing them, so this comes out equal. Both will need synthetic oil, so the difference between the two will be negligible. Transmission service and camshaft timing will need to be addressed depending on the year of the vehicle you purchase and how long you intend to keep it. What is left is what breaks the most. Again, this is going to greatly depend on the exact year and model and the details that can make a difference will be difficult for one person to know. For this reason I direct you to the following link: Which brands cost the most to maintain? Although this averages out all the vehicles that BMW and Audi make. The main thing to note with your comparison is Audi and BMW are among the most expensive to maintain.

In my opinion, it is a bit like splitting hairs to compare the cost of maintenance between the two. They both have similar challenges with complicated electrical issues in the long run as well as being performance oriented vehicles of which the way you drive the car can make big differences in how fast the tires wear, how soon the oil changes are needed and how fast the brakes wear out. BMW is number 1 and Audi is number 5 on this list. I think that is the best answer you can reliably get with this comparison.

Personally I like the BMW better. My personal experience tells me it is a better vehicle. I think it will break less over the long run. Keep in mind, the long run is over 100,000 miles. If you sell the car before then, simply compare the manufacturers recommended maintenance for each vehicle. Call you local shop to see how much they charge for each service and you have your answer. Most cars on the road today won’t have any failures before 50,000 miles.

If you would like further help, consider having an expert automotive technician from YourMechanic perform a pre-purchase car inspection for you to give you more details about each car.