Owners have filed 16 complaints on the Infiniti M56, covering 2011–2013. The system named most often is Power Train (7 reports). Worst years by volume: 2011, 2012, 2013; cleanest: 2013, 2012, 2011. On average the car was 6.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Infiniti M56
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 16 M56 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 7 Read
Scheduled an appointment with infiniti service 8140 burnet rd. Austin tx, 78757 on feb. 17 brought my car for repair, they refused to take the car in saying they don't have parts available to fix this issue
Infiniti service on 8140 burnet rd. Austin, tx 78753 refused to accept my car on march 26th because they said parts and procedure was unavailable for them to address: recall #: r20b8 description: infiniti has determined the propeller shaft design lacks sufficient fatigue strength
Driving this car is very fun and I have enjoyed the car very much but just last week I noticed a smell like burning rubber or oil, come to find out the next day I was dripping oil only not a steady drip but a drip only from driving, once I stop and the car cools the drip stops. I have research and found that there…
Electrical System 3 Read
My 2012 infiniti m56 is having the same issues as the recall number 11V592000 my car is currently at an infiniti dealership. It was noted that it was low on oil and the fusible link was destroyed to prevent the engine from seizing up. My life was put endanger as my car shut off at the red light intersection. I…
The contact owns a 2011 infiniti m56x. The contact stated the vehicle failed to start. The contact was able to start the vehicle. However, shortly after the battery died, the lights failed and the vehicle automatically locked, leaving the contact trapped in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The…
Issue: passenger seat belt light continues to remain on after the passenger is no longer sitting on the seat. Root cause from dealer: defective passenger occupancy sensor. Only way to turn off the seat belt light is to either put the passenger seat belt on or turn on and off the car. I noticed when I purchased the…
Steering 2 Read
The contact owns a 2012 infiniti m56. When the steering wheel was lowered to be adjusted at a certain degree, it seized or became difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that there was no recall for the failure. The dealer was not contacted. The…
4was and stability control warning lights come on when driving over rough asphalt, or turning right or left and road is rough. The rear of the car feels unstable and steering wheel is off-center. The lights are on until the car is turned off. When the car is turned on again and before the warning symbols come back on,…
Service Brakes 1 Read
When you go to apply the brake it often locks up and stops immediately. This is an issue that comes and goes. It also at the same time it is stopping abruptly without applying the brake completely it will do the opposite and the brake will deflate all the way to the floor before stopping. While stop it will lose…
Air Bags 1 Read
Front passenger airbag occupancy sensor fails leading to inactivation of front passenger airbag. Dealership says that a repair solution is not available
M56 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Power Train,fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2012 | Electrical System,engine,fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | — | — |
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 | 13 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.2 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 6.9 years |
A model average of 1.2 hides a worst series at 2. 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
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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 M56?
By complaint volume, 2011, 2012, 2013 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 M56 years are the cleanest?
2013, 2012, 2011 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Infiniti M56 have?
16 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2011–2013. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 0 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.