About to pull the trigger on one or the other this week. I understand they are in a different class BUT the process of likes/dislikes has resulted in a stalemate...

PROS...
MDX=great price for what you get, excellent proven track record, roomy cabin, DVD player while driving for the kiddies, resale is on the good side
Q5=sporty ride, slightly better fuel mileage, not many on the road, resale...what resale?

CONS

MDX= fuel consumption, so many of them on the road
Q5= smaller cabin space, big $$ for every toy u get, no DVD while driving

Anyone out there have experience with both these cars -- give me the real scoop!

 

Get DVD Headrests in the Q. That's one more off the Con list. Owned an Acura of one model or another for over a decade, the new styling is not to my tastes at all. The Acura "Shield" has done an excellent job keeping me away. The Acura interior is not as... "refined" as the Audi IMO. Too many MDX/ RDX's on the road too. I've only seen a handful of Q5's in my city, versus several different Acuras on a daily basis.

 

Very nice! Is this an Audi option or aftermarket? How much either way? Thanks!

 

Sodapop.........at the end of the day the MDX is a Honda. The Q5 is not a Toureg or a X3, it's a very interesting rig. I was merging onto the Transcanada higway off a secondary highway outside Banff Alberta when a guy on a cell phone hauling a large horse trailer didn't see/care to move over for me and my lane was short and ending to merge. The 3.2 Q5 has the BHP to with little work move and I had no trouble quickly and efficiently moving pass the ambivalent cowboy and leave him Kilometres in my rearview mirror.
Genspec is right tons of MDX's everywhere small handful of Q5's.....had two people come right up to me today and ask "what's this? Oh it's a Q5! NICE"
Now your problem will be to locate one for a reasonable price. If you haven't yet test driven one good luck and have fun I think you'll like it.

 

Aftermarket through the dealer, not OEM. You can also purchase them through a licensed installer, although if you buy through the dealer they warranty them to match the bumper to bumper which is great.

Made by Invision.

Here's the info on them... SL8's (No idea what the difference is between the SL7 and SL8 )

SL Series - Headrest - Rear Seat Entertainment | INViSiON Industries

Was a little over $2k purchased from and installed by the dealer. Steep but worth it IMO as that included everything from install to full warranty. You can watch 2 different DVD's simultaneously or one at the same time by slaving the head rests. You can also listen to them via the wireless headphones or through the car's stereo. They are controlled by remotes (one for each) and you can plug anything that is USB or RCA's (Yellow, White & Red) like X Box, Play Station, etc... Not sure what the warranty is if you purchase from a licensed installer, but they are worth it IMO. If you get them be sure to register them online with Invision within 90 days as that is the warranty registration procedure.

The "factory leather match" is not 100% perfect as they don't use the same leather as Audi, but on a black interior it is only very slightly off (It's still black but not a perfect leather match). Just FYI. It's hardly noticible. If you have a cinimon interior I have no idea how good the match would be and I'd be skeptical they could match it closely enough.

 

I did a very extensive comparison between the Q5 and MDX/RDX. Q5 came up always. Also note that the MDX is redesigning next year so right away your resale will fall.