Infiniti Q50: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Infiniti Q50: 11 model years scored from 482 NHTSA owner complaints and 23 recall campaigns. Worst year 2014, best year 2021.
Infiniti Q50: which years to avoid
Across 10 scored model years the Infiniti Q50 ranges from 37/100 in 2014 to 94/100 in 2020 — a 57-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a Q50 at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Steering (78 of them).
Avoid: 2014, 2015 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
Editor's note
Avoid the 2014 Q50, which has 169 owner complaints and a score of 37, and the 2015 car, with 125 complaints and a score of 44. Buy a 2016 or newer car: complaints fall to 39, then 62, 42, 30 and 3 through 2020, with scores of 79, 66, 79, 87 and 94. The 2014 car's problem is steering, with Steering at 78 complaints, more than the next three components together, and two safety-critical campaigns name it: 13V588000 for Direct Adaptive Steering software and 16V430000 for the same system on 2014 to 2016 cars. The 2015 car shifts to Power Train at 39 with Steering second at 28. A later campaign, 24V470000, covers a driveshaft that can fatigue and break on 2014 to 2018 two-wheel-drive cars. The 2017 car is CAUTION at 66, with 17V476000 for fuel pump control module software on 2016 to 2018 2.0-litre cars. From 2016 Engine is the top component, at 10 to 17 a year, and Steering leaves the top five after 2016.
Read the guide
Used Infiniti Q50, QX60 and QX50: the years to avoid — written and signed by Adir Trabelsi, 2026-09-16.
How the Q50 changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2014–2015
Mean score 40/100, about 13 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Steering more than anything else (106 complaints). 6 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2016–2023
Mean score 85/100, about 3 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Engine more than anything else (55 complaints). The record improves by 45 points against the years before it. 7 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2021 (score 91). Worst: 2014 (score 37, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | — | DATA PENDING | $3,970 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 92 | BUY | $4,154 | 7 | 0 |
| 2022 | 93 | BUY | $4,254 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 91 | BUY | $4,404 | 4 | 3 |
| 2020 | 94 | BUY | $4,540 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | 87 | BUY | $4,751 | 30 | 1 |
| 2018 | 79 | BUY | $4,910 | 42 | 3 |
| 2017 | 66 | CAUTION | $5,080 | 62 | 4 |
| 2016 | 79 | BUY | $4,764 | 39 | 4 |
| 2015 | 44 | AVOID | $5,446 | 125 | 3 |
| 2014 | 37 | AVOID | $5,638 | 169 | 5 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the Q50, through the years →
Q50 sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the Q50 on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Infiniti Q50
Across every Q50 model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Steering119 complaints across all Q50 years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
- Electrical System86 complaints across all Q50 years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Power Train69 complaints across all Q50 years · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair$1,290–$4,040
- Air Bags60 complaints across all Q50 years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
- Unknown Or Other55 complaints across all Q50 years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
- Engine55 complaints across all Q50 years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Infiniti Q50 years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2014, 2015 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2014 is the weakest at 37/100, with its complaints concentrated in Steering.
What are the best Infiniti Q50 years to buy?
2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2020 at 94/100, on 3 complaints and 0 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Infiniti Q50 problem?
119 of the complaints filed against the Q50 across all its model years sit in the Steering group — more than any other component.
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Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04