Owners have filed 178 complaints on the Infiniti I35, covering 2002–2004. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (40 reports). Worst years by volume: 2003, 2002, 2004; cleanest: 2004, 2002, 2003. 12 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire, 11 a death. On average the car was 10.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Infiniti I35
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 178 I35 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 40 Read
The contact owns a 2004 infiniti i35. The vehicle shut off without warning while driving 50 mph. The throttle position, crank position sensor, and timing control sensor were the causes of the failure. The vehicle lost total power and the power steering and brakes also failed. The vehicle restarted five minutes later;…
The i35 was hard to start, tcs, slip and check engine lights stayed on. Dealer diag. Bank 2 cam shaft pos sensor failure. This problem appeared similar to NHTSA 2003 campaign number 03V455000. Dealer stated there were no recalls for this problem in 2004 i35. The 2003 campaign report date was 04 nov 2003. My i35 was…
While driving about 40-50 mph the vehicle suddenly stalled without warning. I pull over to the road side and was able to restart after several attempts. The service engine soon warning light was not illuminated. Later I found 2 pending dtc p0340 stored in ecm and contacted infiniti hotline. I was told there was no…
Air Bags 29 Read
Consumer states the vehicle at a stand still and was struck by a streetcar. The driver door was hit and none of the air bags deployed in the vehicle. The dealer was notified. Please provide more information. Mr
I was in a car accident on 10/8/09 and was hit in the front of my car at approx. 55mi per hour. My passenger air bag deployed, but my driver side did not. I did not have a passenger in the car. I called infiniti consumer affairs, and they told me, if the airbag feels the driver is rigid enough and that the seat belt…
I drive a 2002 infiniti i35 I was involved in a classic t-bone collision the front end of my vehicle totally destroyed and both vehicles were totaled. The passenger airbag deployed in my vehicle but the driver airbag did not deploy. I was wearing my safety belt. When I reported the incident to nissan/infiniti their…
Engine 27 Read
The contact owns a 2004 infiniti i35. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the vehicle stalled with the illumination of the check engine warning light. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis where it was advised to the contact that the cam shaft and crank shaft sensors…
The contact owns a 2004 infiniti i35. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was able to restart after the battery was recharged, but it failed to accelerate over 5 mph. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was made aware of NHTSA campaign number: 03V455000 (engine and…
The contact owns 2003 infiniti i35. The contact stated that while driving 70 mph, the vehicle stalled in the middle of the road. The vehicle was not acclerating at the time of the stalling. The contact merged onto the shoulder as the check engine light started to illuminate. The engine was turned off and on, but was…
Electrical System 14 Read
I was driving the vehicle today and the car started to stall. Several lights came on like service, engine light, break light. Then total shutdown. I took it to local mechanic and he suspects that there's a problem with ignition and key tumbler. This sounds a lot like the gm problem with weak key tumblers and causing…
The contact owns a 2004 infiniti i35. While driving 80 mph, the lights on the instrument panel illuminated and the vehicle lost power and stalled. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the computer…
Engine stopped running without warning. Lost all power while driving on the road. Service engine light soon came on along with several other warning lights, engine would not restart readily and then stalled again without warning. Had to have the car towed from the road for repair. The cam shaft sensor and crankshaft…
Vehicle Speed Control 9 Read
First incident occurred april 29th,2005. Tempted to accelerate onto the highway and car lost all power. Ould go no faster than 15miles per hour.contacted infiniti dealer and told to have car towed in.accelerator pedal replaced.told problem was resolved. On august 8th,2005, was attempting to park car in space at…
Our 2002 infiniti I-35 has accelerated on its own 3 times. The first time we were turning around in our friend's driveway and it took off in reverse. The second time we were first in line at a stop light. The third time, I was moving the car in our driveway and it went through our neighbor's fence causing $8,000…
Driving at 10 mph, the accelerator no longer revs up the engine. The engine stays at idle speed only. No lights on dashboard. I put it in neutral, and engine revs up. I turn it off and let it sit for 15 - 30 minutes and it drives fine
Steering 8 Read
Steering wheel dangerously pulls to one side or another cause losing control. Front end play freely, shakes, rattles, and has very rough ride(cause losing control). Nlm
While driving on 3 separate occasions my vehicle just stopped. First incident while drive on highway, my vehicle shut off, I was unable to steer or control the vehicle. While stopped, I restarted the vehicle. The second occasion , I was traveling 30 mph and the vehicle just stopped. I restarted it. On the most recent…
While driving down the street, the vehicle shut completely off. I could not steer or anything. It was not the battery, alternator. It just stop right in the middle of the street; which is very dangerous. I called the used car dealer whom had just sold me the vehicle less than 6 month whom had the vehicle towed. They…
Power Train 8 Read
I own a 2002 infiniti i35. While I was driving at approximately 35 miles per hour, making a left turn, I was hit on the rear driver's side (t-boned). Non of my air bags deployed and I was severely injured. I sustained injuries to my neck, both shoulders and my back. The driver of the other vehicle illegally ran a stop…
Driving on highway @55mph when engine stopped functioning. Lost power steering and power brakes and careened off the road almost hitting a house. When I went to start the engine it had great difficulty ( took about 30 seconds ) when it finally started the service engine soon, tcs and slip lights were on. Took car to…
The contact owns a 2003 infiniti i35. While driving between 35-40 mph, the vehicle decelerated without warning. The contact placed the transmission into neutral, restarted the engine, and the drove away safely. An independent mechanic came to the contact's home to diagnose the vehicle, but the test could not be read.…
Suspension 7 Read
When pressing gfas pedal front end pulls strongly and dagerously to one side or another. Front end palys freely, shaes, vibrate, woble and steps with a very rough and uncontrolable drive. Brakes in speed higher that 30 doesn't stop car. Sometimes when I prees gas pedal nothing happen and car die on me
Front end pulls dangerously & powerful to one side or another, front end play freely and uncontrollable. Door locks automatically with my keys in car, front dash electrical jumps around, when I press the gas pedal nothing happens. *ak ***dimsii ivoq entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis****760753
I have an infinity i35-2003 with 77,644 miles; the front struts failed. The dealer said that they have never heard of such failure before. The consequences would have been disastrous had it happened on the highway. It seems the struts were inherently defective and replacement cost was over $ 1000.00
I35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 11 | 2 |
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 | 35 |
| Average complaints per series | 5.1 |
| Worst single series | 22 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 10.1 years |
A model average of 5.1 hides a worst series at 22. 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 I35?
By complaint volume, 2003, 2002, 2004 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 I35 years are the cleanest?
2004, 2002, 2003 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Infiniti I35 have?
178 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2002–2004. Of those, 12 describe a crash and 2 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.