Jay007

Our sales guy / dealer tossed in the Audi winter mats (set of 4) with our purchase. I also wanted the Audi trunk liner as I know from experience my goalie bag is hard on the carpet especially in the winters. They didn’t have it in stock at the time but wentback a week later and got her. We paid for that at about $150 but it fits extremely well and in the few weeks we have had her its awesome. Just last night we did a greenhouse run and had some various plants / flowers / dirt on it. Takes 1 minute to pull it out after and shake it off on the street. No vacuuming required!

Dexter1110

Found this post looking for a solution to better protect front carpet in winter. The dealer provided complimentary front & rear Audi winter ("all weather") mats and cargo liner with purchase of 2014 SQ5. I love the original cargo liner, and the rear mats seem fine, but the front driver side liner is next to useless for significant snow. I was initially impressed by the quality of the rubber, deep wide grooves, and look, but ultimately they are too short at the front on the driver side, leaving wet snow on carpet under the pedals to melt and run down the slope uner the mat. The carpet was water-logged before I realized and had to shop-vac it. This was also the case to a lesser degree on the passenger sid, but that side is also used less often.
Following the good reviews here I just ordered the Weathertech liners (front and rear) but will keep the original cargo liner.

55cadillacking

I got the full Weathertech package and it is far superior in every way to the oem winter mats. I love them.

Dexter1110

Good to hear. I'm looking forward to receiving them. Wish I'd known earlier. I'll be cleaning the carpets once they get closer to being dry (its been a week in the garage at home and at work, with doors open at night with rubber mat removed for the night, still humid...). Not much out there with good ratings to clean carpets. Turtle wax Power Out Carpet cleaner has great reviews. The higher end consumer stuff from AutoGlam and Meguiar's not so much... Any recommendations?

55cadillacking

Does your carpet have salt damage? If so, Salt Eraser is a great spray to lift that out. Do you have a wet vac?

55cadillacking

You should check out AutoObsessed's online store. All the best products at great prices. Lots of high quality carpet cleaning products on there. I prefer the Griot's Garage carpet cleaner spray but I have all kinds of others. Check 'em out.

Dexter1110

I do have some minor salt and had picked-up Salt Eraser at the beginning of the week but haven't tried it yet. The reviews were good but you never know. Good to hear that it is effective. A lot of the other stuff beside it in the Canadian Tire isle got bad reviews.
I was debating on whether to wash the carpet now or wait until after Tuesday, when I'm taking the SUV in for another matter (tinting!). There is a bulletin out on older Q5 and on Q7 about drain clogging and/or disconnection causing water on the driver and/or passenger side carpet. I found that the amount of water in mine was excessive for simple snow melting; I was also concerned that it took a week to dry out after the wet vac (did not wet it myself, simply aspirated the water). I washed the exterior today and had no new water, so that's a relief. It was probably only snow melt after all.
I'll post some pics of OEM all-weather mats vs Weathertech once they arrive so others can make an informed decision. If the Audi mats can let all this water occur then I'm not impressed!
We should start a "New Q5/SQ5 Owners Accessories" post to list stuff people feel new owners should know to avoid these headaches. Don't get me wrong, I think all cars have their issues and I would not trade mine for anything, but...

Dexter1110

Thanks for the tip. So is Griots your go-to line? I have Meguiar's stuff myself and am satisfied but could not find their carpet cleaner in Canada. I hate that the detailing world is a closed club unless you dedicate your full time to it. On the other hand, having it done commercially can be a train wreck.

Dexter1110

A few pictures of Audi winter mats (before cleanup) vs Weathertech liners (freshly installed after cleanup). Front is as good as it gets (always an area or two that could improve). Rear is better than Audi, but could have greater coverage. Not as impressed as with the front liners. After all this is an SUV and kids have been known to be filthy...

Front driver-side Audi: my biggest peeve is they're too short up front and don't ride up the inner right side.

Front part:



Side of middle console:



Side of door:



Front driver-side Weathertech:





Rear left:

55cadillacking

I've been quite happy with the WeatherTech's all around. I think it will be a bit different once my little guy's feet reach the ground, though! Currently, his rear mat doesn't seen any action whatsoever! I have found that you do get some seepage on the forward edge of the fronts, so I actually tucked a few microfiber cloths along the front edge to absorb any overflow. All in all, they are way better than the OEM's, but still not 100%.