QX reliability (potential new users thread)

[Kcrebel]

Thanks for clarifying Richard. Sorry that happened! I recently got some nice beauty marks on the right side of my roof rack crossbars, front and back due to a low hanging sprinkler system pipe in an underground parking garage downtown that was probably 50 years old. Height is an issue I sometimes forget about on this vehicle.

 

[bbleous]

Prospective New QX owner

Hi Guys,

Looking at buying a certified pre-owned 2011 QX56 with about 40K miles on it. As a former Q45 owner I assumed the quality of these vehicles would be extremely high. As I did a little research on the vehicle it does not appears that JD Power and associates were less than impressed by the quality of this vehicle.

I've seen one thread on an issue with the timing chain guides. What other issues are people experiencing with the vehicle?

 

[Fly'n Family]

Any need to know info for a Q56 buyer?

Just joined as it appears I'll be replacing my wife's FX with a 11' or 12' Q56. Will buy one with about 30k miles on it, and would like to know if there's anything particular to be watching for, or negotiating for?

Noticed a couple of threads on timing chains. Serious concern with these?

I post on a Vette forum and a Sea Ray forum, all have been very informative. Looking forward to the same here.

Thanks

FF

 

[roughyear]

The QX is probably as thirsty as your Sea Ray

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[Rsanders24]

The QX is probably as thirsty as your Sea Ray

LOL!!! So true!

Timing chain issues seem to be the biggest scare...then possibly catalytic converters...

But just make sure it was well maintained...and you should be good to go...

 

[Fly'n Family]

The QX is probably as thirsty as your Sea Ray

At 20,000#'s with twin 385 Horizon Big Blocks getting .85mpg - I sure as heck hope not.


Any significant changes between an 11' and 12'?

Has this timing chain been addressed by Nissan in later models?

The more I read, the less inclined I am to go buy one of these for my wife.

- clearly a timing chain issue - not being properly addressed by Infiniti
- fighting dealerships/Nissan to get the work done
- parts on back order because there's so many issues
- downtime of having the unit in the shop
- stress and waste of time having to deal with all of the above, and more

Paying the kind of money they get for these, you expect a level of excellence from the unit itself. I'm not remotely seeing that as I check the internet for information on these units.

Thanks,

FF

 

[roughyear]

Its a GREAT truck.. it really is... just make certain you get a nice warranty with it!! On these boards you'll get mainly people with legitimate complaints/issues... you don't really see people on here to praise their cars/trucks.. mainly to get answers to their questions about maintenance issues/defects. ... I'm at over 80k on my 2011.. no major issues (KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on wood)

 

[Sjyokel]

If you're on all of those forums, you know you hear the complaints about 20x more than the praise for any vehicle. As quiet as this forum is most of the time, it seems to be 90% complaints / people looking for advice with problems. That alone is a testament to how solid these QXs are.

My wife and I were talking this weekend about how we couldn't find a better balance of comfort, capacity, sportiness (for something this size), towing ability, and class. We get new vehicles a lot in our family, but I honestly can't find anything else I'd rather be driving now. Once the kids are gone, it will be different, but there's nothing else that does everything for us with that level of luxury and comfort.

My dealer experience has been second to none. We always get a loaner if the QX is in for anything more than an oil change. The communication is excellent and they've always gone above and beyond to keep the QX running and my pocketbook happy.

Good luck in your search.

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[lbitman]

slow down there horsey

i use the ICC aka adaptive cruise all the time. i just sit back and relax. even in stop and go traffic, i have the nanny functions on (IBA, etc) so i just hover my foot over the accelerator and let the car brake for me.

what I like about the iba and those features is when it senses you car not going to slow down and you have your foot on the accelerator, it will "bump" the pedal back to alert you and if you dont respond it will slow down--the chicks love seeing the car do these things on its own!

I love the ICC... but for some reason, when the truck slows down for traffic and then gets open area to accelerate, she takes off like an old horse going back to the stable...

Is there any way to adjust the acceleration rate ? It is uncomfortable acceleration for the car to almost floor itself to accelerate to set speed at full throttle ....

 

[marctronixx]

thee is no user serviceable option to do this. its in the firmware.

if you can, test drive a QX80 2015 with this package and check out the behavior on that model.

 

[Rsanders24]

I love the ICC... but for some reason, when the truck slows down for traffic and then gets open area to accelerate, she takes off like an old horse going back to the stable...

Is there any way to adjust the acceleration rate ? It is uncomfortable acceleration for the car to almost floor itself to accelerate to set speed at full throttle ....

LOL!!! Mine does the same thing...

I was thinking it might be due to the speed I set it at but it's not. I'm going to ask the dealer about it when I go in for my next oil change.

 

[marctronixx]

all years do it. im curious if the 2013+/qx80 models do it. It just needs a softer power curve baked into the firmware.

if you set your distance to the second click instead of the shortest distance betwixt you and the car ahead, this may lessen this phenomenon a bit, however it also depends on the road condition (hill, grade, traffic, etc).

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[Sjyokel]

Most of you have probably figured out the same thing, but here's what I do when the QX slows for traffic to avoid the whiplash acceleration: the gas pedal overrides the cruise without messing up the current settings or requiring you to push any buttons to resume the speed. If traffic suddenly clears, I slightly depress the gas until I get within about 5 mph of the speed selected and then take my foot off the gas and let the QX finish accelerating. It's a lot more gentle than the auto-resume though I miss the fun of launching the kids against the tailgate. While it's not as automatic as it should be, it's a minor inconvenience.

On a side note, I took my daughter's Acura on a trip this past weekend. It has "old-fashioned" dumb cruise control. I about hit two different cars who pulled in front of me. It made me realize how spoiled I've become with the QX. We may not quite be ready for robot-cars yet, but I see the potential in the next 15 years.

 

[Kcrebel]

I personally think the timing chain issue is overblown as well. Percentage wise. Is it a problem? Sure if you don't change oil at the recommended intervals. Is warranty coverage an issue with Nissan? If you don't have the documentation proving you have done as they recommend probably so. I had the GM of the dealership where I get my service done tell me they have only had one returned to their dealership ever for this issue and it was an owner that had the vehicle oil changed three times over 30k and it crapped out. Can't fix stupid and sometimes we have to accept ownership for our failures.
Like running less than 93 octane fuel when it clearly recommends 93.
I will never understand an owner paying 80k for a new vehicle and then trying to cheap on the gas and save what? $5 per tank at the most?
Then not changing the oil on the recommended intervals. It's a pain at 3700 for sure but I know I won't ever have any issues if my timing chain does break even if its out of warranty.
Why is that? Because I will have had all of the service work done at Infiniti and can prove that I have done as they recommended. Case closed.
April 2015 will be 3 years with our QX. I will have to upgrade no later than 4 years for work purposes and I can't see getting anything else available as of today.
Nothing on the market combines all of the features that this vehicle does for me and my wife. Nothing even close. I would own it if it did.

 

[Rsanders24]

I personally think the timing chain issue is overblown as well. Percentage wise. Is it a problem? Sure if you don't change oil at the recommended intervals. Is warranty coverage an issue with Nissan? If you don't have the documentation proving you have done as they recommend probably so. I had the GM of the dealership where I get my service done tell me they have only had one returned to their dealership ever for this issue and it was an owner that had the vehicle oil changed three times over 30k and it crapped out. Can't fix stupid and sometimes we have to accept ownership for our failures.
Like running less than 93 octane fuel when it clearly recommends 93.
I will never understand an owner paying 80k for a new vehicle and then trying to cheap on the gas and save what? $5 per tank at the most?
Then not changing the oil on the recommended intervals. It's a pain at 3700 for sure but I know I won't ever have any issues if my timing chain does break even if its out of warranty.
Why is that? Because I will have had all of the service work done at Infiniti and can prove that I have done as they recommended. Case closed.
April 2015 will be 3 years with our QX. I will have to upgrade no later than 4 years for work purposes and I can't see getting anything else available as of today.
Nothing on the market combines all of the features that this vehicle does for me and my wife. Nothing even close. I would own it if it did.

I agree with you 110%...now my dealer has done a few of them, my service advisor also said the same thing about the oil changes. They recommend that no matter how you do most of your driving, that you follow the severe maintenance schedule.

All the ones they have done have had OCIs of 7,500 or more....so that makes me feel a little better.

The fuel issue drives me too...like why? it's says premium for a reason.

 

[Fly'n Family]

If you're on all of those forums, you know you hear the complaints about 20x more than the praise for any vehicle. As quiet as this forum is most of the time, it seems to be 90% complaints / people looking for advice with problems. That alone is a testament to how solid these QXs are.

My wife and I were talking this weekend about how we couldn't find a better balance of comfort, capacity, sportiness (for something this size), towing ability, and class. We get new vehicles a lot in our family, but I honestly can't find anything else I'd rather be driving now. Once the kids are gone, it will be different, but there's nothing else that does everything for us with that level of luxury and comfort.

My dealer experience has been second to none. We always get a loaner if the QX is in for anything more than an oil change. The communication is excellent and they've always gone above and beyond to keep the QX running and my pocketbook happy.

Good luck in your search.

I can see that to some extent. I spoke with two dealers, and both said they've not heard of this issue.

Extended warranty for sound sleeping is clearly a good option. We'll be looking at them when I return home from overseas in a couple of weeks.

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[CarbonZ]

My timing chains needed replaced at 50,000 miles. They paid for it but not without a fight. My dealer told me there are quite a few that need replaced. Needless to say I wasn't happy about having major motor work on a relatively new vehicle but since the repair it's been fine.

Other than that plus a few little things like the drivers window needed to have a new motor installed, its been a reliable vehicle. It never left me stranded. I love all of the features such as the cameras, adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance. I feel like I have a force field around me.

However I do have a suggestion for Infiniti to install a spray nozzle to clean off the radar sensor. Using it in PA on our salted roads disables it quite frequently. Sometimes you don't know its not sensing anything until you notice you are not slowing up when approaching a slower car. That part I don't like. It happened yesterday on the PA Turnpike.

 

[DrkRaven]

If you're on all of those forums, you know you hear the complaints about 20x more than the praise for any vehicle. As quiet as this forum is most of the time, it seems to be 90% complaints / people looking for advice with problems. That alone is a testament to how solid these QXs are.

My wife and I were talking this weekend about how we couldn't find a better balance of comfort, capacity, sportiness (for something this size), towing ability, and class. We get new vehicles a lot in our family, but I honestly can't find anything else I'd rather be driving now. Once the kids are gone, it will be different, but there's nothing else that does everything for us with that level of luxury and comfort.

My dealer experience has been second to none. We always get a loaner if the QX is in for anything more than an oil change. The communication is excellent and they've always gone above and beyond to keep the QX running and my pocketbook happy.

Good luck in your search.

+1 When my wife stopped working we looked at possibly downsizing or getting something else to ease the budget. However, just as Sjyokel said, we couldn't find anything that had the space, towing capacity (for the boat and possibly a future camper), amenities, etc. And... since we had both preowned, and traded in her 2005 MDX, we couldn't get what we needed and wanted without losing money. Long story short we are keeping Sumo (QX's name) for the same reasons we chose this truck in the first place. It's really thirsty but feels like a private plane. Looking into the Bully Dog tuner to help with mpg.

 

[garypope]

I am looking for a used 2011 QX56 with bench seat and the 22" wheels without the deluxe touring package.

 

[pjdavep]

I am looking for a used 2011 QX56 with bench seat and the 22" wheels without the deluxe touring package.

That's going to be very difficult for you to find. I'm pretty sure that in 2011, the only way you could get the 22" wheels was with the Deluxe Touring Package, or at least that's how the invoice reads for my 2011. I think starting in 2012, they allowed the 22" wheel as a stand-alone option. You'd have a much easier time finding a a great deal on a 2011 and swapping wheels after the fact, or finding a 2012 in that config.

Later,
pjdavep