Jump LinksTransmission Valve Body FailureSteering IssuesBrake Wear And Rotor WarpingInfotainment GlitchesInfiniti is an automaker that has not been doing so well of late. Could that be partly because it only has two models available for sale? Sure, there is a funky new QX65 coupe SUV, but it doesn't arrive until next year, and since the Q50 was discontinued, there is no sedan in the lineup. If you want an Infiniti that isn’t an SUV, you will therefore need to look through the used car market, and being the most recent sedan to be produced by Nissan’s luxury sub-brand, the Q50 may well be the first model you check out. If you do, you will see that this Japanese compact executive car can be had for not very much money at all, as shown below, but what about the Infiniti Q50 maintenance cost?Infiniti comes from a car-making country famed for making very dependable vehicles, and the Q50 shares underpinnings Nissan Z cars, some of the most beloved sports sedans, but are there any common problems that you might need to look out for, and how much might it cost to put them right? Read on to find out.This article explores the common problems, maintenance costs, and price of repairs as reported by owners and local authorities of the Infiniti Q50. Information is correct at the time of writing, and your mileage may vary. An Overview Of The Infiniti Q50 InfinitiGoing back to when Infiniti was first introduced by Nissan at the end of the 1980s, at the same time as Toyota’s Lexus, executive sedans were a core part of Infiniti’s lineup, as shown by the plush, technologically ambitious Q45. After then producing the J-Series, I-Series and much-loved G-Series of sedans, the Q50 arrived as the midsize sedan replacement for the G35 in 2012, in time for the 2014 model year. The Essence concept from just a few years before had previewed what the design language of future Infinitis would be and the chic aesthetic of the Q50 had clearly taken inspiration from it.Infiniti Underneath, it actually used the FM platform that was also used by Nissan’s sports cars and, like them, it was available with a V6. Initially, it was a 3.7-liter twin-turbo V6 and a hybrid powertrain consisting of a 3.5-liter V6 and an electric motor. Later on, however, the 3.7L V6 was replaced by a 3.0L V6, and a Mercedes-derived four-cylinder engine became available. Being an executive sedan, its main rivals would have been the BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes C-Class, and the Q50 was praised for the impressive performance of its V6 engines, and technical innovations like the dual-screen dashboard and its steer-by-wire system. Its handling wasn’t particularly inspiring, however, and over its ten-year life, it received only one proper facelift, so when it went out of production in 2024, it was already old hat. Infiniti Q50 Common Problems Infiniti The Infiniti Q50 was a new generation of Infiniti sedan based on an entirely new platform with lots of new technologies. All of that newness means that there was the potential for more things to go wrong, and what we have found is that the biggest number of problems with the Infiniti Q50 happened in its first few model years. Infiniti did slowly manage to address them later on in its life, which is good news as the reliability issues, particularly these most common ones, could be pretty nasty... Transmission Valve Body Failure The transmission valve body is a complex assembly inside the transmission that effectively acts as its control center, directing automatic transmission fluid through hydraulic circuits to change the gears. Owners of the Q50, particularly those from the first three years of production, have reported being limited in what gears they can shift into or not being able to shift into gear at all, sometimes without warning. Being a complex component, if it fails, it will need to be replaced, and taking together the price of the component and labor, it could be an $800 or maybe even a $1,000 fix."Transmission intermittently will not shift to the next gear. Sometimes will not shift from first gear, other times will not shift from 3rd gear. Sometimes no issue at all. It is intermittent and no warning to when the issue might happened. It happens when trying to accelerate and has put me in an unsafe situation trying to accelerate on the highway or around town."- Owner of 2015 Infiniti Q50 on NHTSA portal Steering Issues The steer-by-wire system in the Infiniti Q50 was awfully advanced back in the early 2010s, because it involved the steering wheel having no mechanical connection to the front wheels. Infiniti may have bitten off a little more than they can chew with this, however, as it was a major source of complaints and especially in those first few years of the Q50’s life. Owners have reported a lack of steering feedback, stiffness, or in some cases, the steering locking up altogether. A recall was issued to patch the software issues that caused this, so checking this has been carried out before buying an early Q50 is a must. Brake Wear And Rotor Warping Premature and uneven wear on the brake pads has led to vibrating and groaning when pressing the brake pedal, all while the car has done less than 50,000 miles. This has led to owners having to replace their brake pads, in some cases, multiple times. Being mainly a software issue, as was the case with the steering, updates were also issued to pare back the overly aggressive calibration of the system. If you do have to replace the pads on top of this, new ones will be around $400 per axle, which should be all that’s required, as this issue mainly affected the front brakes. Infotainment Glitches Infiniti’s InTouch system was quite ahead of its time with its interior dash being mostly made up of touch-sensitive screens. This became a problem, however, when said touchscreens were not responding as expected, by lagging, freezing, rebooting, or not showing certain features like the backup camera correctly. Some updates were made within warranty, but repairing these out of warranty could cost up to $1,000."The navi and info touch system would randomly restart. Within the 45 minute drive the system has restarted twice on me, and at the most inconvenient times, where i really needed to see the directions."- Owner of 2014 Infiniti Q50 on NHTSA portal Infiniti Q50 Maintenance Costs InfinitiIn terms of average 10-year maintenance cost Infiniti does not compare well to rival manufacturers like Audi, which has a 10-year cost of $10,213, or fellow Japanese luxury brand, Acura at $8,566. The annual costs for maintenance on the Infiniti Q50 are slightly higher than they are for Infiniti on average, suggesting that some of the reliability concerns make the Q50 marginally more risky to buy than other models.When you compare it to its direct rivals, like the BMW 3 Series, however, the annual cost is lower than Bimmer’s midsize executive sedan at $773. The 60k mile Infiniti Q50 service cost includes things like fluid flushes, belt and hose inspections, and replacement of air filters and spark plugs. What all of this shows is that while repairing the Q50 might not be as much as it would be for a premium German sedan, it is important to choose an example from a non-problematic year that has been well maintained to keep annual costs low. The Worst Infiniti Q50 Model Year For Reliability Infiniti We have already established that the Infiniti Q50 arrived with a lot of reliability problems that gradually became fewer and further between as time went on and updates were made. This means it will not at all be a surprise that we are naming the 2014 model year as the worst Infiniti Q50 model year for reliability. This is the year that has received the most complaints on the NHTSA; it is also the most complained-about year on Car Complaints, and it has the highest number of recalls. Many of these were also for quite costly and potentially dangerous faults, the most prevalent of which has already been mentioned. The 2014 Infiniti Q50 might be one of the cheapest years to buy used, given how old it is, but it is important to be hyper-vigilant so the money you save up front isn’t canceled out by expensive repairs. The Best Infiniti Q50 Model Year For Reliability Because the first few model years are the worst for the Infiniti Q50 in terms of its quality and reliability, it naturally follows that the best model year will be found amongst the Q50’s latter years. From 2019 onward, many of the worst reliability issues, whether they were with software for the steer-by-wire system or parts like the driveshaft and brakes, had been fixed.This means that any example from this point on would be a solid choice. If we had to pick one year in particular that stands out, it would be 2020 purely because it has one of the best quality and reliability ratings from J.D. Power at 81/100, it has almost no complaints on the NHTSA and Car Complaints, and it had no recalls. Summary: Is The Infiniti Q50 A Good Used Buy? Infiniti If you want a sedan that has the very latest in technology or is the last word in reliability, then it isn’t. It may only have gone out of production two years ago, but even then, the executive sedan game had moved on significantly, and the Q50’s handling and technology showed the car’s age. Its reliability issues and associated costs, have been laid bare here. The design has aged well though, with the Q50 looking refined and tasteful compared with massive-grilled BMW’s and pebble-shaped Mercs of more recent years, and many will be drawn to its throaty V6 engines. It is also not expensive, with examples even from 2024 not costing much more than $40k. But any Q50 you are looking at needs to be thoroughly checked for fixes to the issues, and examples from the first three years of production are best avoided.