Owners have filed 476 complaints on the Infiniti QX56, covering 2004–2013. The system named most often is Service Brakes (155 reports). Worst years by volume: 2004, 2005, 2011; cleanest: 2009, 2007, 2010. 14 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 7.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Infiniti QX56
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 476 QX56 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 155 Read
4/14/15 vehicle purchased from carmax. Problem: brakes do not work when pushed all the way to the floor first brake failure (4/15/15) two days after purchase, brakes failed at approx. 6pm under clear weather/good road conditions, while traveling north on vermont ave. In gardena, ca at approx. 10 mph. The qx56 hit a…
The contact owns a 2008 infiniti qx56. While attempting to make a left turn at speeds of 7 mph, a vehicle crashed into the rear passenger side wheel of his vehicle. He depressed the brake pedal but the brakes would not engage. The contact sustained a minor injury to his wrist. A police report was filed. A local…
The contact owns a 2008 infiniti qx56. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph and depressing the brake pedal, she noticed a vibration in the pedal and the vehicle would not stop. The brake light, vdc and the ABS warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure recurred six times…
Engine 66 Read
Hear abnormal noises from the engine sound like rattle or ticking
The vehicle was completely dead and would not start when battery was jumped. Battery was replaced once it was discovered that the original battery was completely dead. Once the vehicle started , the engine light was visible on the dash. The vehicle was making a very loud humming sound coming from under the hood. The…
Timing chain was loosened and was rubbing against another part make a loud noise while sitting and driving. Thankfully I stopped in to have it checked out. The service department said it was ready to break at anytime. Thankfully nothing happen to me, kids, and husband on the highway. Frightening to think of losing…
Electrical System 37 Read
There was car that pulled up behind me while I was idle in the driveway and as I pulled out no warning beep..and now the vehicle. Was not cranking for several hours and nothing is wrong with battery and remote is fully charged & have been stranded seval times because if of it...this has to be a recall
While driving at approximately 45 mph under clear driving conditions and towing a travel trailer, infiniti qx-56 had an extensive electrical fire in front, interior console, which caused major/extensive damage to vehicle. If not extinguished with a fire extinguisher, it would have caused major injury or death to the…
Dead battery. Replaced alternator and battery, vehicle is dead every 2-3 days. Many others report the same issue. Infiniti has an "infotainment software update" to fix this problem but have no fix for older vehicles
Suspension 31 Read
Timing chain started rattling @ 125,000 miles.. However, my VIN shows no recall for my car. Cats went bad, had to be replaced and now need to be replaced again. Yet no recall on my car. The battery constantly goes dead in the car. I bought a new infinity battery in the car the same thing happened. You can reproduce…
I have a 2005 infiniti qx56. On april 5, 2007 I got on the ramp to the highway and at the entrance of highway suddenly the car's driver size front suspension broke. This sudden mechanical defect caused the car spun out of control at 6:30 pm in afternoon traffic than it was rear-ended by the car behind which caused 4…
The contact owns a 2013 infiniti qx56. While driving 30 mph, the contact heard a loud noise and the vehicle shook. The following day, the contact noticed that the rear of the vehicle was sagging. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the suspension air bag on the rear driver's side of the…
Fuel System 28 Read
The contact owns a 2011 infiniti qx56. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to respond with the accelerator pedal depressed. The contact stated that there was an abnormal fuel odor coming from under the hood of the vehicle. Upon investigation, the contact became aware of a…
The contact owns a 2011 Infiniti QX56. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle began to shake and inadvertently stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with needing the high-pressure fuel tank replaced. The…
The contact owns a 2009 Infiniti QX56. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the fuel gauge indicated that there was no fuel remaining, and the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The contact was able to pull over on the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and the mechanic stated…
Fuel/propulsion System 27 Read
The fuel rail pressure center malfunction is not working. Car stalls when driving - check engine light is on
There's a strong odor of gasoline once we park the vehicle. I did some searches online and noticed there was a recall for nissan/infinit 2012 vehicles due to 'the fuel pressure sensors may not have been sufficiently tightened during production. As a result, the fuel pressure sensor may loosen with vehicle usage and…
The fuel gauge may be slow to register, fail to read full when the gas tank is actually full, or read inaccurately. When filling gas tank to full, after 30 miles the gauge is reading 2/3 of a tank or less while the miles to empty reading is still high
Air Bags 23 Read
Air bag did not deploy
The contact owns a 2010 infiniti qx56. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, another vehicle crashed into the contact's vehicle and the air bags deployed. As a result, the contact sustained cuts by glass fragments from the air bag. A police report was filed and the contact required medical…
I was involved in an auto rollover accident on January2, 2023 when a driver "t-boned" me in my 2008 Infiniti Qx56 striking the middle of the passenger side of my Qx56 after running a stop sign and failing to yield to my right of way causing my Qx56 to roll over 3 times. My driver's steering wheel airbag did NOT…
Power Train 20 Read
Vehicle was parked and consumer was outside of the vehicle when it started rolling backwards, knocking the consumer to the ground. It continued to roll down the driveway and struck a tree. Dealer could find no defects. The same thing happened a second time. *ak
The contact owns a 2013 infiniti qx56. The contact heard a squeaking noise when she depressed the accelerator pedal. Also, the vehicle shook when stopping and hesitated when attempting to accelerate to highway speeds. An independent mechanic checked the vehicle, after multiple incident happen the noise got louder and…
Timing chain replacement needed after 80000 miles
QX56 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 | Electrical System | 3 | — | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2011 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2009 | Electrical System,exterior Lighting,electronic Stability Control (esc) | — | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2006 | Air Bags,unknown Or Other | — | — | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 |
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 | 202 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.4 |
| Worst single series | 9 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.3 years |
A model average of 2.4 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
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- 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 QX56?
By complaint volume, 2004, 2005, 2011 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 QX56 years are the cleanest?
2009, 2007, 2010 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Infiniti QX56 have?
476 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2004–2013. Of those, 14 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.