Tires and brake issues among the top complaints received by the NHTSA from vehicle owners
Luxury sedans aren’t hard to find, but the 2020 Infiniti Q50 surely stands out in a crowd. The automaker claims that it provides “luxury that thrills,” but the thrilling aspect isn’t always good. This model seems to struggle with the service brakes and tires, which both leave occupants in danger on the road.
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The service brakes work in conjunction with sophisticated software to ensure that occupants are more protected than ever from collisions. However, this Infinity model has some glaring defects that must be dealt with.
Here is one NHTSA review illustrating the troubles. “Forward Emergency Braking (FEB) activating when not needed. January 11th, 2020, first day of owning Infiniti Q50 Luxe 3.0T, no packages, only FEB (which is standard on all Q50s now), driving home from [dealership], speed limit 30 mph, slightly windy road, wet, possibility of black ice. All of a sudden, with not a single car ahead of me and no cars going toward me – car starts to brake like collision to some imaginary object is unavoidable. Was able to stay on the road. Few days after that – driving from Nashua, NH to my house at 55 mph. Driving in the middle lane, switching into the left lane to pass slow moving car in middle lane. There are two cars in the left lane and plenty of space in between them. Distance to the car ahead of me in left lane is about 10-12 yards. To the car behind, 15-20 yards. All of a sudden when I already moved into the left lane, car starts to brake like there is no tomorrow, car behind me almost rear ended me. What was worse – the person in that car though I did that on purpose and crazy person starts to chase me sitting dangerously close to my rear bumper. Then he/she passes me and hits the brakes in front of me – I barely avoided rear ending that car at highway speed. Friday, January 24th 2020 driving on Rt 3 (speed limit 55 mph). Driving in the right lane, slow moving truck in front of me, changing lane to the left (middle lane), in the process of passing the truck – already driving by the truck’s side – all of a sudden car starts to brake so hard that car starts to sway and I see in the right rear view mirror that trunk of my car is under the truck. Miraculously I was able to manage to escape this situation. This car with this technology is unsafe to drive, it will cause more accidents than prevent.”
These situations are downright scary – it’s remarkable that owners aren’t peeing their pants in the process. This sounds like some sort of electrical system malfunction, which isn’t surprising considering the other troubles occurring with the Q50. Service Bulletin #ITB19-041a talks about defects that are causing both center display screens to go blank. Not only do owners no longer have control over the brakes, but they can’t use their display systems either. Apparently, customers are expected to have a “thrill” without having any say over what’s happening – sort of like riding a roller coaster.
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Service Brakes | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Vehicle Speed Control |
Luxury vehicles should be sitting on top of premium tires. Otherwise, what are customers paying for? While this Infiniti claims to offer premium parts, there seem to be some issues with the tires.
One KBB review states, “OEM Dunlop Sport all season tires which are have too much road noise and poor reviews. Will get rid of them in due time.”
It turns out that the tires are producing more than just road noise. In fact, Service Bulletin #ITB20-003 talks about how the defective valve stem is causing tires to lose air. In some cases, the TPMS warning lamp doesn’t even recognize that there’s a problem. To repair this situation, the dealer must replace the valve stem washer, seal and valve nut to stop the leakage. Well, this sure does explain a lot. After all, what could be more thrilling (and terrifying) than suddenly losing air pressure while driving down the highway.
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Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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