Owners have filed 453 complaints on the Infiniti Q50, covering 2014–2023. The system named most often is Steering (113 reports). Worst years by volume: 2014, 2015, 2017; cleanest: 2022, 2020, 2021. 35 reports describe a crash, 5 a fire, 2 a death. On average the car was 4.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Infiniti Q50
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 453 Q50 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Steering 113 Read
Lack of steering control, responsiveness resulting in delayed turning. I was driving on a residential street, and had a delayed turn resulting in an accident
When I bought my 2014 infiniti q50 I put it on the road and then I started receiving recalls. I also had several lights on. I brought it back to dealership they did something like clearing the lights without even looking at it. 45 days after I bought this vehicle I was in a serious motor vehicle accident. I almost…
I was driving and tried to turn but had lost complete control of the steering and hit the curb infront. Luckily i was only going 5-10 MPH so the impact was not terrible. My biggest concern is a lot of times my mother drives that car who is permanently disabled in one hand so I can only fear what might happen if she…
Power Train 66 Read
Vehicle was parked in my driveway with the engine running for about 5-10 minutes while I was going into the house to turn off my alarm, then return to take out 2 of my elderly dogs; & finally to take out my other dogs. I then returned to the car, opened the driver's side front door & reached in to push the "stop"…
Unintended acceleration. Pulling into a parking space in a shopping center parking lot, after going over a speed bump and making a left hand turn into the spot the car accelerated and would not stop. Pushing on the brakes did not work. Car has a system to prevent crashing in to an object in front of the car but that…
This is an AWD car purchased used 2 weeks prior to this incident. The car has only 11, 000 miles on it when this occurred. I was driving in bumper to bumper traffic in heavy snow conditions on an overpass bridge that merges onto a busy freeway. The vehicle's front wheels pulled the car to left 2-3 times at a speed of…
Electrical System 51 Read
Rm collision forged my signature to cash out 20'000$ and did not fix my car. My car was stolen june 15, 2019
Tail light on the car caught on fire in the middle of the night in the off position outside my residence
The top of my drivers side heated seat got so hot it melted the leather without the heated button even being pushed in the on position
Air Bags 50 Read
The car was involved in an accident, after the shop checked the vehicle it was brought to our attention that the air bags got stuck and did not deploy because of a malfunction. I was not aware of this which it could put my son in really dangerous situation. I checked for recalls and none has been open for this…
The contact owns a 2017 Infiniti Q50. The contact stated that while his son was driving at approximately 45 mph, the vehicle shut off without warning. Due to the failure, his son lost complete control of the vehicle and drove into a ditch. The air bags did not deploy. The contact's son was not injured as a result of…
Takata recall tge airbags left my pasenger and I with hurt chests n was painful instead of protective
Engine 33 Read
The car caught fire under the hood and completely burned up in the parking lot as I was exiting the vehicle updated 12/4/18
Recently, the turbochargers on my vehicle failed prematurely and had to be replaced. Shortly after this repair, and with the vehicle still under 60,000 miles, the engine exploded and failed while driving. This incident posed a severe safety hazard not only to me but to other drivers and pedestrians as I lost…
Catastrophic engine failure. Metal debris in the oil. Manufacturer defect
Vehicle Speed Control 20 Read
I purchased a new 2021 Infiniti Q50 from Infiniti of Cool Springs on September 28, 2020. There was an incident on January 13, 2022 due to a manufacturer defect that caused my car to accelerate on it’s own. I was parked at a car wash to vacuum my vehicle. I had my foot on the brake to move the gear shift into park when…
The contact owns a 2017 infiniti q50. While making a left turn at 10 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle failed to stop. As a result, the contact's vehicle rear ended another vehicle. The air bags did not deploy. The contact sustained neck injuries that required…
Forward emergency braking (feb) activating when not needed. January 11th 2020 first day of owning infniti q50 luxe 3.0t no packages, only feb (which is standard on all q50 now) driving home from kelly infiniti of denvers, ma dealership. Allen rd extention - speed limit 30mph, slightly windy road, wet, possibility of…
Service Brakes 15 Read
I was driving 2015 infinity q50 (purchased on 02/28/2015) on lee road, shaker heights, ohio 44120, which had a first scheduled maintenance on 09/14/2015 at the beachwood infinity dealer. I stopped at the intersection of lee road and chagrin blvd. Behind a black jeep for waiting traffic. I had my car in drive and my…
I was driving on the fwy traffic was slow; my speed was between 20-25 miles ph brakes didn't respond when I applied the brakes I end up hitting the vehicle in front of me luckily nothing happens to the vehicle in front of me I have to leave went to small mechanic shop they said the brake peddle is bend because when I…
First initial incident: around sept/oct of 2015, I was driving in a freeway where there was a heavy traffic. Cars were running at a speed of 10-20 mph. I was slowly approaching to a stop by stepping on my brake. That was when my brake would lock on me and the car would not stop to move forward. Luckily since I wasnt…
Wheels 12 Read
While driving my vehicle on 12/06/2025, a wheel separated from the vehicle at the knuckle/ball joint area. This resulted in an immediate loss of safe operation and required the vehicle to be taken out of service. The failure involved the wheel/suspension/steering assembly. This event created a serious safety risk, as…
The contact owns a 2021 Infinity Q50. The contact stated that the vehicle was recently purchased from a dealer. When the vehicle was purchased, the tires were replaced. The vehicle was later taken to the dealer for maintenance, and while at the dealer, the contact was informed that there were nails in the tires and…
While I was driving my infiniti on the highway my serpentine belt snapped 4 different times while in motion. All within one year. Including me getting my car back from the dealer and them letting me have it back that way. Also, the tires are horrendous, from day one, they pulled the car left or right on the car. All…
Q50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Power Train,service Brakes,forward Collision Avoidance | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | Unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2020 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 14 | 2 | |
| 2014 | 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 | 173 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.6 |
| Worst single series | 13 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.9 years |
A model average of 2.6 hides a worst series at 13. 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 Q50?
By complaint volume, 2014, 2015, 2017 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 Q50 years are the cleanest?
2022, 2020, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Infiniti Q50 have?
453 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2014–2023. Of those, 35 describe a crash and 5 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.