Used 2017 INFINITI QX50 Consumer Reviews
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Almost the perfect all-around vehicle
Doobster6, 12/29/2020
updated 01/03/2023
2017 INFINITI QX50 4dr SUV AWD (3.7L 6cyl 7A)
21 of 21 people found this review helpful
I had suffered for years with the exceedingly high annual operating costs of off-warranty European cars, especially BMWs, which are the worst. Being newly retired I wanted a vehicle that was satisfying to drive but wouldn’t cost arms and legs to keep on the road. With one glaring exception, this specific model-year compact SUV is that car. THE BAD: Gas mileage is mediocre at best. I see 18 in non-highway driving and no better than 29 highway, and these figures are achieved only under a somewhat sedate driving style. Anyone pressing the right pedal hard enough to enjoy the awesome 325 hp V6 engine will see that drop, and by a lot! These days mid-sized SUVs get better mileage than that, although they can’t boast the power this car has. Mixed Tech. While its NAV system is still useful (it was WAY ahead of its time when first introduced in 2007) it is not WAZE, which I still use. But it lacks Apple car-play or Android integration, so you’re stuck having to use the smartphone when modern cars would display WAZE on the car’s own screen. THE GOOD: This is a much longer list!! First of all, this was the last year for this model built on its original RWD architecture and the car’s handling match my 2008 BMW 335xi. This is abetted in my specific car which is a ‘fully loaded’ model that has the optional 19” wheels. But unlike that BMW, ride quality is also superb, matching the larger BMW 530xi I also once owned. I’m not sure how Infiniti blended both handling and ride into one car but they did. I prize chassis dynamics above all else and this car does it all! The engine is awesome!! No turbo-lag in this naturally aspirated engine! It does have variable valve timing and lift and so it can re-tune itself to be anything you need it to be. It produces 325 relentless horsepower that pull like a freight train, falling just a smidgen behind that aforementioned 335xi. It’s fierce acceleration is surprising and almost frightening as it seems to accelerate harder the higher the revs rise. And it has no turbocharger(s) that will eventually fail and be very expensive to later replace. This VQ series of engine produced by Nissan have won awards for many years owing to their stout horsepower and reliability. Interior space is more than adequate. A 4” chassis stretch in 2016 added rear seat leg room that allows 6+ footers to ride comfortably in this car. The seats are well formed and comfortable. A keen eye will notice that the bottom seat bolsters are smaller near the center console, so that a hand can fit between them to retrieve the wallet or sunglasses that just dropped there. This is a small but thoughtful detail that you may come to appreciate many times! Behind the back seats you have 18 cu ft of space; as much as any full-sized sedan’s trunk but fold the seats down and now you have 50 cu ft. This increases the utility of this vehicle way beyond any sedan you might choose to replace with it. Real buttons!!! Modern cars have one or even two touch screens that bury common functions under several layers of screen menus. This car has ‘old fashioned’ radio volume and tuning rotary knobs, as well as six station buttons that I frankly prefer. Many other screens can also be instantly accessed via hard buttons conveniently placed in front of the display. Modern safety tech! Being fully loaded, my car has the tech package which includes adaptive headlights, Bird’s-eye view surround camera, BLIS, LDW, LDA, FCA, FCA, Rear traffic cross alert and adaptive cruise. While some of these can sometimes be annoying, they are always a safety advantage. Great interior look and materials! You will know you are not in a Honda or Toyota. It is a premium car and looks and feels that way. Chrome trim on the outside completes the effect. AWD. Infiniti has improved their intelligent AWD over the years and it nearly matches Audi’s Quattro in responsiveness. Yet the car remains a RWD vehicle when AWD is not needed, improving handling and cornering. In short, this is the best all-around vehicle I have ever owned. It combines the best features of many of the European cars I’ve owned with better utility and adequate technology. I love driving it as much as any car I’ve ever owned (well maybe not the stick-shift CTS-V!). Only the relatively poor gas mileage keeps me from giving the car a full five-star rating. Nevertheless, it looks like something I’m going to want to keep for many years to come. It does it all, does it all well enough for my needs! Update 7-29-22 Still holding firm on all of the above. That said, gasoline prices have me side-eyeing SUV hybrids, although limited supply and high prices will likely keep me in the Infiniti for years to come, especially since I drive so much less now that I’m retired. December 30, 2022 No real changes to opinions or future plans. Still love driving it every day, and now that gas prices are back down (and dropping) my interest in hybrid SUVs has dropped in concert. I’m only at 46k miles at the moment, relatively nothing for modern cars and so have many more years of high-satisfaction driving ahead. My wife’s car, the 2019 QX50, while an entirely different car based on a FWD platform, might be the only model I might wish to replace it with. What Infiniti really needs to do is appropriate some of the hybrid/electric technology from its parent company Nissan to offer a more gas-efficient model that’s still an Infiniti!
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Love it, BUT...won't buy it again
Kim N, 07/31/2017
2017 INFINITI QX50 4dr SUV (3.7L 6cyl 7A)
117 of 124 people found this review helpful
This SUV offers a great smooth ride and accelerates better than any car I've owned, including other luxury cars. I had hoped to own it for many years but I am highly disappointed in some things that are important to me that will prevent me from keeping the car. The fuel economy does not exist, the SUV is a gas guzzler and in a time of fuel efficiency, it's really poor. The navigation system is the absolute worse. You can't see the current traffic status unless you set/enter a destination, that's so 90's. Just to simply drive to work/home you cannot observe current traffic, so I'm stuck using Google Maps or Waze on my phone after spending nearly $2k for navigation. You can't get Bluetooth without the navigation pkg., and you must have a Sirius XM package for the system to work, again this is archaic. Only 1 USB port, and all information is in a list which is incredibly unsafe & a huge distraction so you can't use it while driving. The directional compass is a tiny arrow, you never know what direction is N,W, S or E without searching while driving for the arrow. There is no power button for the trunk, there are no cup/bottle holders in the doors and the duel cup holders in the center console are too small for more than one cup at a time and it blocks the gear shift!
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Fun, Quality, Drivers Car, - "Yugo" cupholder!
Owen Carter, 04/17/2018
2017 INFINITI QX50 4dr SUV AWD (3.7L 6cyl 7A)
18 of 18 people found this review helpful
For a smaller car, pleasing in most every way. Great pep, roadhandling, and reasonable comfort, but has a cupholder designed by a two year old!
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More SSUH Than SUV
In-fan-iti, 11/30/2017
updated 06/01/2018
2017 INFINITI QX50 4dr SUV AWD (3.7L 6cyl 7A)
49 of 52 people found this review helpful
I consider this a good point as it gives me lots of flexibility, and i don't need a large vehicle with massive cargo. It is still an unusual vehicle, and knowing the gas consumption, you are silly to buy it if that is a primary concern. I know in the past I have gotten better than rated mileage on this particular engine/setup (3.7L, 7 speed auto) as it has been very responsive with a feather touch on the gas, and I have a lead foot. I call it more a Sport Sedan Utility Hatchback, than a full fledged SUV. Remember hatchbacks? They had a higher cargo area you could expand if you needed to haul things around that were odd sizes, like a bicycle. the cargo area is a really good size by my standards, but smaller than some I have seen, but you could still carry quite a bit. As far as the packages, which were mentioned in the Edmunds review, they come pretty well loaded for a $35,000 SUV (the base, RWD model). I added the premium and premium plus packages for the upgraded radio, navigation, and several other features. The premium Pkg is $500, the Premium Plus is $1,000, but requires the Premium Package. I also got, just because it was closest to what I wanted, the 19" wheel package for $800. Pretty cheap as far as packages go. The babysitting tools and other things I had no interest in are in the Technology Package, which has an awful lot of stuff in it for $2,000, including all the babysitting tools. That covers ALL the packages offered. The only other things are little accessories (most you won't need), and of course I wanted AWD. As far as the engine, I would gladly take the V-6 over many of the turbocharged competitors, and it happens to be a very reliable V-6 at that. I will be extremely sad to see it go from most infiniti vehicles in place of turbocharging, and the totally new engine for 2019 for this car. I sat in the back seat to try it out, and pushed the front seat farther back than I usually use it (I am 5'9") and found the rear seat not a bad place to be for two adults (I would not ever put an adult in the middle because of the hump in the floor for the drivetrain), but the back seat has it own heat vents (under the seat) and a/c vents that can be turned off and adjusted (back of the center console). I actually found the navigation really easy to use and input addresses, as well as to control other settings for the car. And I LOVE that the Radio and climate controls are separate (though you can also use the unit for the radio or the steering wheel. As far as bluetooth, yes, it does work for voice and for audio media, you just need to make sure it is set for both, otherwise it will only search for voice bluetooth systems. As far as driving, as I said before, there is tons of power, a sport driving mode, and manual shift on the stick, not on the wheel. Personally, considering how little I shift an automatic manually, they are more a hindrance than help on the wheel. I don't think it matters for everyday driving, but I have AWD. I have taken corners faster than I probably should have given it is a slightly higher center of gravity, and it drives very well on curvy roads as well as the highway. Since it is not the fastest selling of Infiniti's vehicles, you can often get a great deal on them, and unless you need more room than a compact vehicle will provide (again, remember it is compact) will provide or fuel economy is a huge priority for you, I say definitely test it and buy it if it suits your needs. Infiniti dealers are giving darned good discounts. I would say, depending on level of equipment (they max out around $45,000 MSRP), you can save $5,000 to $8,000 off sticker without much haggling. I saved $7,000, plus got an infiniti Loyalty Rebate good for another (I think) $1,000, and i really did not haggle.... I picked a car, and the saleswoman went and came back with the best price, then added the rebate, and I said great. So keep that in mind when comparing "sticker prices"... they will come down on them quite a bit especially now while they still have 2017 on lot and know 2018 is last year before major changes.
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My Infiniti
john, 05/10/2017
2017 INFINITI QX50 4dr SUV AWD (3.7L 6cyl 7A)
46 of 49 people found this review helpful
Our family needed a SUV, I searched from internet got a lot of quotes but none of them really reached my attention. Then I saw the QX50, I looked at the car reviews and they said they were pretty good. So I went to the Infiniti dealer and test drove it. It was amazing, It was fast, smooth and drives excellent! The dealer gave me a excellent cheap price that was below my budget so I bought it. My wife and kids love it and so do I. I put 7k miles and it's been a year and so far so good with no problems. I would recommend this for families that are looking for a cheap luxe crossover.
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