2005 Infiniti QX56
Complaints about this year name brake light far more often than the model's other years — 23% of them, about 56× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 80 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 32 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 14 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- shut — 16.3% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the model's other years (4.2×). Owners wrote it as: shut, shut off, abs light, couldn.
- mentioned — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.3% across the model's other years (6.9×).
- reset — 8.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the model's other years (4.6×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- grinding — 20% of complaints, 50× usual
- fuel gauge — 23% of complaints, 27× usual
- off — 36% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
WHEN DRIVING, THE BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON FOR NO REASON AND CAUSES THE BRAKES TO WORK INAPPROPRIATELY. IT BECOMES VERY HARD TO BRAKE. THE BRAKES SEEM TO FALL THROUGH AND THERE IS A GRINDING SOUND FROM THE BRAKES. IF I TURN THE VEHICLE OFF, AND THEN BACK ON IT WOR…
AFTER DRIVING IN STOP AND GO TRAFFIC, SLOW SPEED WITH MANY STOPS, THE BRAKE PEDAL LOSES POWER AND BEGINS TO PULSATE. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THE EMERGENCY BRAKE LIGHT ILLUMINATES ON THE DASHBOARD. TURMING THE VEHICLE ON/OFF SEEMS TO RESET THE CAR AND THE ISSUE IS R…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 10E019000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 08V284000 EQUIPMENT
- 10V517000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 10V074000 FUEL SYSTEM, OTHER Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Infiniti QX56 was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Infiniti QX56? What happened to yours?
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