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Introduction

This is the story of an elegant, yet practical three row luxury crossover – the Infiniti QX60, that came into the family in Nov-2014 in the UAE. The next few posts include shortlisting, purchase and ownership experiences with the car.





Disclaimer : I was not present when the car was being evaluated as an option and would therefore beg your pardon if some fine details on the car have been omitted or erroneously reported.

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The itch to upgrade

Circa end-2014: A family member, M, was looking to upgrade from his Mazda CX-9 that had rendered flawless service over four and a half years and approx. 1,15,000km. There was no pressing need to change from this car except the itch to move ahead with something else.

Options considered

1. Mazda CX-9 – rejected as the 2015 model was not hugely different from the car he was currently holding
2. Lexus RX350 – not much of a change over the earlier avatar, ridiculously priced, no warranty and service package beyond standard, a general casual approach and poor focus to new customers
3. VW Touareg – rejected because of M's sub-par experience with his 2006 VW Passat
4. Nissan Pathfinder – Full options variant priced at AED1,76,000 with standard warranty of 3 years/60,000km; M shortlisted this for the novelty on the 2015 model as some updates of the 2014 QX60 were featured on the Pathfinder. However the overall experience at the showroom was lacklusture – typical disinterested approach of salespersons since the Pathfinder was anyways a popular model

Nissan Pathfinder - sample image


Dealership - sample image

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Enter the Infiniti QX60

After M had just finished seeing the 2015 Pathfinder, he walked around the partition into the adjacent Infiniti showroom to take a look at the new QX60 crossover, which was hitherto being offered as the JX35. He experienced a 180 deg. shift in experience from the Nissan side to the Infiniti side. The model on sale was the 2014 one. I understand while Nissan’s and most other manufacturers' new year models get on sale towards the end of the previous year (like the 2015 model came on sale in end-2014), Infiniti’s year model would typically come on sale in the same year.

Here are some bits of information that the dealership gave on the QX60

1. Options – Base, Mid, Luxury
2. Shades – as listed in the attached brochure
3. Leather upholstery – Beige, Java and Graphite leather unlike the only beige leather-leatherette combo on the Pathfinder

M took a test drive of the JX35 (that was the test drive car but was basically the same car as the QX60).

Shade options

1. Exterior shade options - Moonlight White, Liquid Platinum, Glacial Silver, Midnight Garnet, Diamond Slate, Emerald Graphite, Black Obsidian
Interior Leather – Wheat, Java, Graphite
2. Interior trim options – Kasane Washi, Maple Accents

There was this interesting story around the Glacial Silver shade, which was like a greenish silver. M was initially keen on this shade, but the salesperson recommended that this shade not be selected (not one car in that shade had been sold until then). The salesperson went on to mention that although he would get an award for selling the first car in that shade then, he added that from the customer’s perspective, this shade could even fetch a lower resale in the future.

Shade trims with two alloy options based on variant


Option packages

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Decision taken and car delivered!

M finally chose the AWD car with the following options

• Liquid Platinum shade with Java leather interiors
• Premium Plus + Theatre + Maple Accents + Deluxe Touring options
• Did not opt for Driver Assistance and Technology Package

The car with these options was priced at AED 1,92,000 which included
• Five year unlimited km warranty
• Three years/60,000km service package
• Complimentary window tint
• Complimentary paint protection package and interior trim protection package for 3 years
• First year’s insurance part of the deal
• Acceptance of credit card payment as down payment that provided M a lot of air-miles that was subsequently used to purchase an air-ticket for an India trip

For this money and the add-ons offered, the 2014 QX60 thus turned out to be a better deal than the 2015 Pathfinder. A car was in ready inventory with the exact same options, and it thus turned out to be a case of no waiting. The car, made in the United States with GCC specs, was delivered in 2 days and thus the search for the new car culminated in a good all-round package.

Front View


View from the rear right


View from the rear


Side view


Inside view from the rear right door

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About the Infiniti QX60

The Infiniti QX60 is a three row mid size luxury crossover made by Infiniti, the luxury brand of Nissan . The car is underpinned by an elongated Nissan Murano platform also used by the Nissan Pathfinder. As per Infiniti's new naming convention in 2014, cars began with Q and SUVs began with QX. The JX35 crossover thus became the QX60, sporting the 3.5L V6 VQ35DE engine putting out 265 hp and 336 Nm of torque. Transmission was a CVT. This engine is the bigger sibing of the VQ25DE engine featured in the 2009 and later Nissan Teana in India.

VQ35DE engine - sample pic


VQ25DE engine that featured on the Teana, other Nissans, and the Renault Latitude


My first impressions on the QX60

I got an opportunity to ride in the QX60 in end-2014 on a visit to the UAE. I ended up comparing my ride in the earlier Mazda CX-9 with this one

The Great

• Extremely classy on the inside – the perfect blend of old world charm eg. Maple inserts with a modern looking dash
• Super luxurious front seats with the leather being absolutely rich
• Noiseless cabin – the engine growl is felt when revving but then at cruising speeds of 120kmph, it runs absolutely silent
• Three zone air-conditioning viz. individual temperature settings for driver, co-driver, and rear zone
• Around View Monitor – one camera in the front, two below the ORVMs, and one rear facing camera would provide a bird’s eye view of the area surrounding the car. Greatest benefit of this is saving the co-driver side from the inadvertent brush against the kerb/adjacent vehicle when reversing out
• Back Up collision intervention system – the car auto-brakes if an obstacle is detected at the reat when backing up
• Heated ORVMs
• Independent sun/moon roofs for front and rear
• Headrest monitors – part of the Theater option. Both monitors are independent and have their separate headphone jacks so that both rear-seat passengers can watch videos to their individual taste
• Two Bose wireless headphones provided to hook up to the headrest monitors
• Motorised third row seatback folding with extra long headrests
• Large utility box below floor at the rear - to store valuables, and any other material that might soil the carpet
• Good fuel efficiency for a car of this size
• Extremely great looking alloy wheels

What could have been better

• The CVT wasn’t the right transmission on a car with such an engine
• High floor pan meant average seating comfort for rear seat passengers
• Crescent cut D-Pillar – some would like it, I didn’t
• Resembles a large fish on the outside, with a lot of rounded edges – again looks can be liked/disliked based on personal taste
• Bose sound system didn't sound audiophile grade

The 20" alloy wheel in the Deluxe Touring package


Crescent cut D-Pillar


Cockpit


Dash views




Display jog dial


Drive mode selector and seats heat/cool selector


Gear lever - just about longer than the ring finger


Instrument Cluster


Default view on screen


Around View display when all cameras are in action


Screen views




View from front right door


View from rear right door




View from second row


Headrest monitor

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My first impressions on the QX60 (Contd.)

Sun/Moon roof at the rear


Rear AC and audio controls - note the independent volume knobs for the right and left audio jacks (sample pic from an American spec car)


Under - floor storage to store valuables, liquids etc.


Bose subwoofer


Third row headrests




Electric up-down for the third row seatback

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Edge-of-the-seat ride in the QX60

Circa Dec-2017 : We took a flight to Dubai, landing there at approx. midnight, and M came to pick us up. After we exited Dubai, luck turned out that the highway to Abu Dhabi was showing poor visibility, with speeds having to be dropped to as low as 40kmph. In my close to 17 years of travel, I have never ever encountered such low speed driving on a smooth highway anywhere. More than us maintaining the right speeds, we would see an occasional car zip past in the mid and fast lanes at 100kmph plus, leaving us wondering if those drivers were guided by some ILS like how pilots are.

A drive that should have taken us 90-100 minutes in normal visibility took us three hours, but we were glad we made it in one piece. M mentioned that although he has experienced sandstorms now and then near Dubai and Sharjah, this fog was arguably his worst experience ever.

Ownership Experience

In the five years that M held the car , he did not experience even one mechanical, electrical or electronic fault ever. The only issue he faced was of the driver side sun-visor falling off its mount, and the dealership not willing to replace it under warranty. M escalated this to the principals in Japan, and the replacement was done by the dealership in a jiffy.

One Change of Tyres

M changed tyres from the original Bridgestone to a brand called Nexen at around the 60,000km mark. The size was stock – 235/55R20. Nexen was surprisingly good and came reasonable at just AED600 a tyre, way lower than what was being quoted at Mussafah.



Departure

Like his earlier Mazda CX-9, M used the Infiniti QX60 for five years and 1,05,000km, facing no issues except the sun visor. When he put the car up for sale, he got his usual share of low ballers, before a very responsible private buyer showed up. M eventually parted with the car for AED61,000; which means he got 33% of his purchase price after five years. M keeps his cars impeccably good and when the car was handed over to the new owner in late-2019, the following were the highlights:

1. headrest monitors still had the protective plastic on them
2. sun visors plastic was intact
3. Bose headphones provided by Infinity were handed over with the packet sealed
4. a file containing all invoices for all expenses was handed over to the buyer

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Summing it up

When M decided on the Infiniti QX60, I was not sure about how reliable a "modern" Nissan would be. However, the Infiniti QX60 proved to be a really good and peace loving car, giving M no troubles.

This was the condition of the QX60 at five years and 1,05,000km when she left for her new home. How I wish I encounter a seller like M who maintains his cars so impeccably well.







My purchase experiences in India this far have always been full of drama/action, and I have always had my share of work to perform. No complaints though, because such experiences have raised the bar w.r.t ability to solve issues.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Rajjay]

It's a beautiful and reliable car. I owned an Infiniti FX35 while working in the UAE ant it was totally trouble-free. I wonder why Nissan is hesitant to introduce the Infiniti series in India.