2022, 2023 QX60 Experience past 12,000 Miles of Ownership

Having owned an Infiniti 2006 M35, 2013 JX35 and 2023 QX60, I feel Infiniti’s focus shifted over time from quality/performance to mainstream, and it’s most noticeable between my M35 and JX35. My M35 was extremely well built (in Japan), fast, felt very solid and was nearly issue free over 17 years (sold it this year at 150k miles). I’m sure your I-30 was the same.


My JX35 fortunately has been generally reliable, but it never felt solid. Doors don’t close with a deep-thump, loud interior, cheap plastics on dash/center console and aged quickly (looks very old now). At 10 years/155k parts are starting to wear out (recently replaced motor mounts, AC compressor, radiator fan, and struts/arms need to be replaced), while the same parts on my 17 year old M35 are still running strong.


My 2023 QX60 is new so it feels light years ahead of my 2013 JX35, but I still don’t think Infiniti advanced this generation ahead of its competitors. The infotainment system is cluttered and random with poor graphics. ProPilot is disappointing, and fuel saving auto start/stop is clunky. From a quality perspective, my QX60 is at the dealer getting a new fuel pump and battery (has only 3k miles). The dealer was quick to diagnose and I don’t doubt it’ll be resolved quickly.


I choose the QX60 over competitors so in general it’s better than Buick, Acura, Caddy, however I think the performance-oriented cars built in the 90’s/2000’s are gone.

yeller said:

Having owned an Infiniti 2006 M35, 2013 JX35 and 2023 QX60, I feel Infiniti’s focus shifted over time from quality/performance to mainstream, and it’s most noticeable between my M35 and JX35. My M35 was extremely well built (in Japan), fast, felt very solid and was nearly issue free over 17 years (sold it this year at 150k miles). I’m sure your I-30 was the same.


My JX35 fortunately has been generally reliable, but it never felt solid. Doors don’t close with a deep-thump, loud interior, cheap plastics on dash/center console and aged quickly (looks very old now). At 10 years/155k parts are starting to wear out (recently replaced motor mounts, AC compressor, radiator fan, and struts/arms need to be replaced), while the same parts on my 17 year old M35 are still running strong.


My 2023 QX60 is new so it feels light years ahead of my 2013 JX35, but I still don’t think Infiniti advanced this generation ahead of its competitors. The infotainment system is cluttered and random with poor graphics. ProPilot is disappointing, and fuel saving auto start/stop is clunky. From a quality perspective, my QX60 is at the dealer getting a new fuel pump and battery (has only 3k miles). The dealer was quick to diagnose and I don’t doubt it’ll be resolved quickly.


I choose the QX60 over competitors so in general it’s better than Buick, Acura, Caddy, however I think the performance-oriented cars built in the 90’s/2000’s are gone.

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Great explanation! I am sorry to hear that your car is currently at dealership. Why would a battery fail at 3K miles? Maybe something wrong with the alternator, other electrical issues leading to battery failure. A battery would not fail by itself at 3K miles!. As for the fuel pump, do you put premium gas all the time? I kind of disagree with the MDX comparison, I looked at the MDX forums and I see some people reporting issues with the new MDX as well. However, If you lookup any other car you will find some people complaining online! In general Honda/Acura quality control and standard, fit and finish are higher than Nissan. I went with the QX60 since I could not secure a good deal on the MDX. Door closing felt like a BMW on the MDX, with my QX60 it feels like any other car, nothing special( No top notch craftsmanship feel). I got 10% off MSRP discount on the QX60 and ended up leasing $200 a month less than similarly equipped MDX.

The Infiniti Tech is better than the MDX if it works, MDX has no touch screen and quirky touchpad. Also the screen resolution, color and brightness is better, however the safety tech is better in the MDX especially the lane centering. As for steering, handling and suspension the MDX wins big time, no body role due to active suspension and SH AWD super handling. In the other hand the Infinite drives little smoother over bumps since it has softer suspension, but it comes at a price(Little body role). If I get the same deal for both its a tough choice since I really like the tech and touch screen in the QX60, but all is ruined due to the quality control issues, lack of dealership tech knowledge and supply chain issues.

I just crossed the 11k mark, with 10 months of ownership, and so far (mostly) so good.

Ours is a 2022 Autograph, with a few unwanted add ons (roof rack, cargo package, etc). The car is the family hauler, and is used mostly for driving kids around and a daily highway and city commute (20 miles each way). We’ve taken it on two or three 8 hour road trips so far.

Maintenance Wise, we haven’t had to do more than an oil change, which our car pinged us to change at roughly 7300 miles. I appreciate the fact that it’s actually monitoring the oil life, otherwise I probably would have waited till 10k miles like the owners Manuel says. I changed it myself and it was relatively straight forward, although they wayy over tightened the oil filter from the factory.

Warranty wise, there are a few things i plan on taking it in for the is summer. There is an electronic clicking sound (almost like a capacitor clicking on/off) when the rear windshield wiper is engaged, the digital driver display occasionally glitches (it consistently doesn’t show seatbelts as bucked, and has frozen once or twice) and the center infotainment center occasionally glitches (various glitches - sometimes the parking sensors goes nuts when pulling up to a light, glitches while using car play, wireless car play sometimes not syncing, screen going blank, Parking cameras not turning on). The infotainment issues are the biggest annoyance; some issues have only happened once, others happen occasionally. None of them happen consistently. Other than that, no observed mechanical issues.

Net-net, we’re happy with the car. I’ve had another Nissan product I purchased the first
Model year and had similar infotainment issues that eventually went away. (Shrugs). And the interior and exterior is super sharp. Everyone who rides in it is impressed at the interior. Speaker system is nice, pano roof is nice, and the exterior is reminiscent of a Range Rover sport. It’s a handsome car. The wheels could look cooler, but supposedly they’re eneki’s, which is cool.

We use only 91 octane premium gas, but the car really sucks on gas mileage (my other Nissan has the similar 3.5L VQ engine but more horsepower, and easy gets 6 miles per gallon better gas mileage. But it also weighs 1k lbs less and doesn’t have the aerodynamics of a brick).

Gripes about missing features - a drive mode dial selector (like the pathfinder), the ability to manually engage AWD (like the pallisade), lack of auto power folding mirrors on lock, lack of a more sophisticated suspension (like the Jeep grand Cherokee L), lack of digital driver display customization, lack of full screen car play, lack of digital rear view mirror customization (like the highlander), and lack of extra info / customization in the HUD (like the pallisade and highlander). And I’m seriously thinking about popping out the chrome from and rear pieces and either getting them wrapped or replacing them with the black or grey colored ones from the 2023 model line up.

Would buy again (we had initially cross shopped against a similar fully loaded MDX and Jeep grand Cherokee L summit), although quite frankly, If you could get a fully loaded pallasade without Dealer mark up (and can live with the ugly front fascia) it’s a better value. Basically the same features for 18k less.

Thank you very much for your detailed feedback. I heard that the infotainment head unit is not the same for the 2023 which means Nissan changed the Hardware to rectify some of the random glitches and issues. Not everything can be fixed via software update unfortunately.

I agree with all the missing features and lack of customization. The capacitor sound do exist on my car as well and I dont think it can be fixed since its a design issue. The sound come from the fuse box which is located on the driver side. This is really old school design since the front wipers doesnt do that! They should have done the same for the rear wipers. The updated infotainment head unit is much better and has less glitches but still sometimes on short trips it suffers from massive resolution loss, I have to restart it in order to get back the crystal clear and crisp picture. Rear climate is inconsistent especially in winter, it keeps blowing strong and noisy air on Auto mode (temp set to 73F on Auto) and it never manages to lower the fan after the car warms up! I have to lower the rear fan manually and switch to manual mode! Dealer said its normal, then said thier manager have the same issue with his car and need to wait for Infiniti to come up with a fix. The 2022 loaner I got did not have any rear climate issues!!

The digital rear view mirror on my 2023 has customization similar to the Highlander(move pic up and down, left and right, tilt pic, brightness, and auto dimming in/off) the only missing feature is the zoom in and out. I recall having a headache from test driving the Highlander with digital rear view mirror, had to turn it off before finishing my test drive, it did not feel natural. I don't have this issue with the QX60. I do agree though, I wish I could zoom out little bit since picture is zoomed in and objects appear very close.

I think you wont be able to resolve any of the issues you mentioned, they will tell you all is normal and they are unable to replicate! The best of it would be they will open a case for you with Infiniti for the infotainment and it will stay open without a resolution(they will tell you wait for a software update).

Probably I would by again as well since there is no better affordable option in the market. This car is $200 a month cheaper than the best MDX deal I could find.

My Wishlist for 2023 QX60:

1. Better resolution cameras, cameras are mediocre and have the worst picture quality at night.
2. Better 360 cameras options - currently there is only standard basic 360 view, there should be other views, should be able to see the video feed of each camera individually just like the Volvo XC90 and other premium offerings.
3. Need to have an option to auto fold side mirrors when locking the car.
4. Need proximity locking option, other lock/unlock options. Currently options are limited.
5. Need to have the ability to adjust the auto day/nigh lighting sensitivity, car switches to night mode very early.
6. Need better traffic sign recognition, currently it only recognizes the speed limit. My Mazda CX-9 used to recognize stop signs and no entry signs, Volvo XC90 recognizes other signs like School Zone, Wrong Way, Blocked Road, etc
7. Need better and smoother Auto Start/Stop, also the ability to disable it permanently.
8. Need full screen car play, current setup seems to be copy and paste from other Nissan cars with smaller screens( Rouge and Pathfinder).
9. Need to update infotainment maps, it doesnt show traffic signals, stop signs and others. My Mazda CX-9 used to show traffic signals and other useful information.
10. Rear Climate doesn't work well in Winter - Not sure if this is isolated to my car or all 2023 models.
11. Suspension could be better, nice and smooth but the swing at full stop is a shame at this price point. Maybe Nissan can use adaptive suspension and double wishbone at the front just like the Acura MDX!
12. Braking distance is ok for me, however from what I have see on the reviews it's the worst in class and should be improved.
13. Have better tires, Hankook is a mid grade brand. Car should come with Michelins or any other premium brand tires to improve handling and stopping distance.
14. Phone App is ok, but doesnt offer any extra features like unlocked car alerts/reminders, climate, Heated seats, other options remote on/off.
15. Fuel filler door lock - My car doesn't lock the fuel filler door which is a safety issue. Car is prone to vandalism and gas theft, people could steal gas or put anything on the gas tank to ruin your car. This is the first car I have ever seen without a fuel filler door lock.
16. Improved MPG - Have a mild hybrid electric assist engine like the new Mazda CX-90 and Volvo XC90 to improve the MPG and smoothen the auto start/ stop dramatically!
17. Transmission is slow at shifting between Drive, Reverse and Park. I know this is the ZF transmission and by design but it's really annoying when I get out of my driveway and try to shift from reverse to Drive since my house is on a busy main road.

When I reset the trip meter and drive mostly highway the MPG come out fine 18- 21 depending on trip, however when I add my local drive in town, dropping and picking up kids from school plus fast food drive through including some remote starts on hot days it goes down to 15.5. I have not reset Trip 1 since I bought the car and it shows 15.5 MPG for 1700 miles, auto Fuel refill trip meter shows 16.5 MPG for 280 miles of mixed driving. Trip 2 could show 20 MPG if I reset it and go into the highway and drive with minimal city and in town driving. Once I go back and use the car in town it quickly strat dripping and after couple of days it levels to 15.6. Sometimes I drive the car with heavy foot and in town and when I turn it off it says current trip summary is 19.5 or 20 MPG! Go figure. I dont think anything wrong with the car since the MDX with similar weight and engine return worse MPG.

Do you keep the auto start/stop on? Maybe it makes a difference? I turn it off since its rough and annoying. Also do you drive on echo? All my driving is on Auto/dynamic mode. I never use sport or echo or snow modes. Maybe echo mode will make a difference but its boring and I want to enjoy the car.

yeller said:

You both mentioned poor MPG. I’m seeing around 21mpg, about as expected from advertised and a tiny bit better than my 2013-JX35. What are you seeing?

Great feedback for Infiniti, thanks for adding this information.

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Adding a new bug I just found, sometimes when I get into the car and depress the brakes and hit the "Start" button the car doesn't turn on, only instrument cluster lights comes on and the steering wheel and seat move to the pre set position and that's it, the car doesn't turn on( just like if I pushed the start button without hitting the brakes)! It happened to me so many times during the past 3 weeks. First I thought maybe I did not press the brakes enough, or I should press it harder. But after it happened so many times now I can confirm that this is a new bug I just found. It's not the end of the world, I just need to press the start button again while depressing the brakes. However, it's worth mentioning that this is the first time I face such defect/issue in a car. I change cars every 3 years(lease a different brand, I am loyal to the best lease deal vs a specific brand . In general this car is not very consistent! you could face any issue any time during your ownership! So be ready! Also some cars will have issues others don't and vice versa. I would call this unpredictable reliability, I believe most of the reported issues will appear in all cars at some point in time! I love the car and given the deal I got I might still buy it again, but I am still surprised that Nissan/Inifiniti have all those issues which doesnt exist in any other Japanese manufacturers(all Japanese Manufacturers do great when it coms to electrical, computer, and other tech).