Owners have filed 191 complaints on the Infiniti I30, covering 1996–2001. The system named most often is Air Bags (36 reports). Worst years by volume: 2001, 1998, 2000; cleanest: 1997, 1996, 1999. 23 reports describe a crash, 11 a fire. On average the car was 7.7 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Infiniti I30
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 191 I30 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Air Bags 36 Read
Airbags did not deploy when an oncoming vehicle hit my car. It is a total loss
Takata air bag recall, involved in a front end collision with the car. Other vehicle at fault, ran stop sign. Car was total loss, airbags never deployed. Daughter sustained minor injuries
Takata air bag recall. The contact's husband owned a 2001 infiniti i30. The contact stated that while her daughter was in line at a drive thru, a smell emitted throughout the vehicle without warning. As the burning smell progressed, she also saw white smoke coming from the rear end of the vehicle. The driver got out…
Electrical System 25 Read
While the vehicle was idling a high pitch noise was heard then smoke began flowing from under the hood. The consumer opened the hood and saw the alternator on fire. *ak
Car was driven short distance (approx. 2 miles), parked and turned off. Within 2-5 minutes I had to put something in car and noticed smoke flowing out of grill area, and popped the hood, and noticed orange flame in alternator. Fire dept. Was called to scene, and a report is available. At time of complaint, car is in…
The contact owns a 1999 infiniti i30. The contact was driving when he noticed smoking emitting from the hood into the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who informed the contact that the diode ignited, causing a fire in the alternator. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact called the…
Service Brakes 21 Read
While driving about 65 mph and cruise control set, consumer tapped brake to slow down. Instead, vehicle maintained speed. Consumer then applied brake hard, and cruise control would not cut off. Consumer steered vehicle toward median, and hit a guardrail. Vehicle was totalled, consumer not injured
We experienced a problem when the brakes were applied, it seemed as though the ABS system kicked in, but did not properly slow the vehicle. We took the vehicle in for inspection. The dealership replaced the brake pads. The same failure occurs twice more over the next month. So we took the car back to the dealership.…
While driving the vehicle came to a complete stop, applied pressure to accelerator pedal, vehicle went into pen throttle position; applied brakes, would not stop vehicle, impact 12:00 position, hitting a tree and a pole and other vehicle
Suspension 21 Read
Car flipped over due to suspension failure. Suspension part was subject of may 2002 recall
I was driving along the middle lane in heavy traffic. At the intersection with traffic lights, the lane was stuck in front of me and there was no space to go. In order not to block the intersection, I had to slow down and stop at the traffic lights. While I was waiting at the lights, after 10 seconds the other car…
Car backfired when going around a curb and caused me to go off the road into a ditch
Engine And Engine Cooling 14 Read
2001 infiniti i30. Electronic motor mounts fail, causing cascading failure of idle air control and destroying ECU. Alternately, the idle air control valve fails and destroys the ECU which in turn destroys the electronic motor mount circuit which resides adjacent to the iacv circuit on the ECU main board. The resulting…
The car just start smoking under the hood. My car caught fire, and nobody knows what is going on
The contact owns a 1997 infiniti i30. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph the vehicle suddenly stalled. After driving onto the side of the road fumes began to come from the engine. The vehicle was towed to the contacts home. The vehicle was not inspected by the dealer nor had it been repaired. The…
Structure 14 Read
2001 infiniti i30t my mechanic had the infiniti on a lift to investigate a brake problem. While there he noticed that a section of the frame just below the radiator that supports it and the engine cradle was extremely corroded. What alarmed him is that one, he's seen this with greater frequency on the few infiniti…
I own a 2001 infiniti i30 which was purchased in november 2000 from lynnes infiniti in new jersey. Except for the problem discussed below, I have been quite pleased with the vehicle. Recently I noticed an unusual sound coming from the engine compartment. The sound seemed to be more pronounced at high speeds, above 50…
Radiator core support is rusting at an unusually rapid rate. This is also the front mount for the engine. When this finally breaks it is likely the engine and cooling system will suffer. There is no rust anywhere else on the vehicle. Note: this car is structurally and mechanically identical to the nissan maxima of the…
Power Train 13 Read
The car turns off but I want complete service
Takata recall the car has manufacture things that need to be fix for no xcost
Rear suspension failed
Vehicle Speed Control 9 Read
While in a parking lot, slowing down, vehicle suddenly accelerated. Motor could be heard revving up before it took off. Could not control vehicle. Had hit another vehicle in parking lot. Had taken vehicle to body shop before going to dealership
Had started to slow down when vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning. Before taking off engine was revving. Owner had no control. Vehicle hit another vehicle parked in parking lot. Before taking vehicle to dealership, vehicle was at body shop
The contact owns a 2001 infiniti i30. The contact stated that while driving 15 mph, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to a local shop who stated that the idle control valve was defective and the electronic control module may be defective as well. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not…
I30 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 2 | 4 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 4 | 3 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 4 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 70 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.7 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.7 years |
A model average of 2.7 hides a worst series at 9. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the I30?
By complaint volume, 2001, 1998, 2000 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which I30 years are the cleanest?
1997, 1996, 1999 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Infiniti I30 have?
191 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1996–2001. Of those, 23 describe a crash and 11 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.