I rented a Q7 in the Colorado for a week. Like anything pros and cons. Overall I like the look as well as the roominess compared to the E53, but there were several annoyances that made the car simply unsuitable for long-term ownership in my opinion.

First was the terrible visibility. Seriously, EVERY TIME I parked this thing I was nervous about hitting things. In one case I backed into another car bumper at low speed because the parking sensor warning tone is so frustratingly low in volume. The high window sills and the extra high grill makes parking and overall manuevering (even on the road) a needlessly stressful, daily endeavor.

Second was the gawd-awful dashboard design. While I liked the exterior and interior design, the dashboard looked like it was designed by blind monkeys. Over compartmentalized, a visually annoying and non-sensical number of dimensions of depth to it, typically poor choice of display LED colors for Audi, and a very fragmented and distracting design overall both electronically as well as physically. The way the electronics were functionally grouped made no sense at all, especially the shift console layout. One wouldn't think to reject an entire car soley based on the dashboard design but this car is a likely candidate for that because it really, really sucks.

Lastly, the engine is absolutely gutless and uninspiring. Granted, I had the smaller of the two engines and I was at higher altitude but still...lame. Drives like an overgrown warthog. :

I was very thankful to be back in the saddle of the X5...