We all know the usual objects of automotive luxury lust: Ferrari and Porsche, BMW and Benz. Genesis has made some inroads, and is Lincoln back in the game?
But Infiniti?
For years–decades, even–Infinitis seems to be bought on price. Not quite the status of a Lexus but way nicer than a…
No.
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Looks like a Lexus knock-off and not in a good way.
Last Infiniti I thought might be something for me was the G35 coupe. If they had sold a G35 wagon I would have been *all over that* but this isn't a thing that exists. I don't know why I would pay money for a new Infiniti at this point because I don't care about their products at all and assume they're all kind of cut-rate Lexus & BMW copies.
I'm kind of a cheap ass though so grain of salt with all of that.
It looks like someone really wanted the Cadillac "I am the Hoover Dam" nose, and someone else wanted the Lexus "Predator mouth" nose, and they both thought they won, but really we all lost.
Nice to see Infinity really leaning into the "historically ugliest SUVs" title they have held since the introduction of the beluga whale looking QX series.
I'm always taken aback when I see a review of a new Infinity model... "Wait... Infinity is still in business?"
I don't know who their target market is, but it's not me.
I have limited interest in large SUV's at this price point, but if I were shopping, I'd be at the Genesis dealer purchasing a GV 80. That is what a beautiful exterior and interior looks like in that price point and even higher.
Car and Driver has a lot of photos in their review.
https://www.caranddriver.com/photos/g60775455/2025-genesis-gv80-suv-drive-gallery/
Until this thread, it wouldn't have crossed my mind to even look at Infinity. There's nothing aspirational in their lineup to me. Maybe they're ok and reliable, but not aspirational.
Infiniti used to make some interesting vehicles, like the old M45, the G35/37/Q60 Coupe, the Q50 Red Sport, and even that M56 with the weird "Japanese Forest Simulator" HVAC. I never aspired to own one, but they seemed to be the "real" Nissan products while the actual Nissan was cranking out Big Altima Energy and ugly weird Maximas that looked like they were designed by Homer Simpson.
I'm honestly surprised they still exist in today's world where Nissan is hemorrhaging funds, but here we are. As ugly as it is, it still can't hold a candle to the old QX56, AKA Peyton Manning in automobile form.
Small addition: I wrote the piece, including the title, before realizing it was a six-figure vehicle.
David S. Wallens said:Small addition: I wrote the piece, including the title, before realizing it was a six-figure vehicle.
Six figures? Just "JFC/SMDH" from me. Sorry if those abbreviations break a forum norm/rule, but that sums up my general thoughts on how far Nissan/Infinity have fallen and/or how out of touch they are.
Funny, but these seats almost look like they are cloth! Could have fooled me in this $100K+ price category. 
Looks like they are possibly perforated leather, OK, but what's with the funky color? The seats are just not, well, appealing to me. Does Nissan actually use a Western group to determine how to style their cars for North America? Nissan seems to keep shooting themselves in the foot, while Lexus seems like they can't do anything wrong. It's sad, because I truly still love the Datsun product, but it all went wrong somewhere along the line.
Thank God I wasn't drinking coffee when I read the $115,020.00 price tag or my screen would be covered in it.
No. Just No.
How little people actually care about or notice or even remember Infiniti is clearly expressed by how many people spell the brand name with a "y" at the end instead of an "i", even when it is clearly written in front of them or on the car that they own.
The buyers are the same as buy Nissans, just with a little more money or better credit. Like when you think your Altima is a good car, but you just got a settlement on your workers comp claim that you want to blow.
Another thought: The Genesis GV80 eats this thing's lunch in every way, and the range tops out at around $80k. Looks a lot nicer, too. Then again, it's a two-row, and that's what probably keeps the cost down compared to the Infiniti. Kind of an apples to oranges thing, unless you can squeeze into one, and in that case, it's a no-brainer. It also starts at $55k as well.
I like it, but not anywhere near that price. I think everything is overpriced though.
Indy - Guy said:Thank God I wasn't drinking coffee when I read the $115,020.00 price tag or my screen would be covered in it.
No. Just No.
I bought a lake front house in Bradenton for that, just 20 years ago.
Sonic said:How little people actually care about or notice or even remember Infiniti is clearly expressed by how many people spell the brand name with a "y" at the end instead of an "i", even when it is clearly written in front of them or on the car that they own.
Guilty on all counts.
I think I was autocorrected, but as you say, I didn't care enough about the brand to go back and correct autocorrect.
Not a good sign for Infiniti.
Aspire to own? No.
I have owned one (G35) but it was because it was the cheapest 300 hp RWD 6-speed car I could find.
I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. It was fun while it lasted.
When it blew up, I didn't rush out to buy another one.
I wouldn't pay $25k for the one pictured, much less $100k.
I think I'd still like a G35 but a lot of their 2nd and 3rd owners weren't too nice to them.
In high school my friend would drive his mom's I30 which I thought was cool for its power rear window shade. Very handy in the summer.
I thought harder than I expected to about buying a last gen QX80 to replace my truck. They're horrendously ugly, but depreciation has hit like a train, and for the price there's a lot of positives I was considering. BOF construction, off road pedigree (essentially a Nissan Patrol underneath, can fit 35s without a lift I think), lots of power, plenty of towing capacity. The thing that killed the idea for me was that they run on premium fuel. No way I'm putting expensive gas in something that thirsty. Maybe someday I'll buy an Armada for a family vehicle, since they have the same advantages but none of the downsides. Just a few more years for the depreciation to get them reeeally cheap...
450hp is a lot, but still not enough to outrun its own depreciation. It looks like a nice enough truck, but this thing has "wallet inspector" levels of bad financial decision written all over it.
For six figures no thanks wow thats a lot...But for some reason I keep checking marketplace for a manual G20.
aw614 said:For six figures no thanks wow thats a lot...But for some reason I keep checking marketplace for a manual G20.
I knew a young engineer who bought one new. We talked about his car, and another employees Sentra SE-R...two of the more interesting cars in the parking lot. The G20 was a noticeable upgrade in the interior, but the engineer-kid kept talking about how well-built the Infiniti was.
A few years later when I was reading a "new car" issue of Consumer Reports, I noticed that the G20 was by far and a away rated as having the least number of issues reported by owners. Second place, whatever it was, wasn't even close...as in not even in the same ballpark. And I recall that trend in the magazine for several years. It must have been quite a solid car.
Sure, Consumer Reports isn't the final word of automotive information, but it was an interesting datapoint to me, nonetheless.
It would be interesting to see what's left of those cars. Were they all treated as disposable transportation, with the third and fourth owners selling them for scrap after years of boasting how well it ran without oil and filter changes, etc.?
Or, as we have seen with some recent auction activity posted on this site regarding CRX's and such, did some original owners value the cars and lock them away for the better part of 30 years?
Maybe we'll find out. But yeah, it was a nice little car.
For me what made a luxury brand was the ride, interior noise and the quality of materials.
The first time I sat in and drove a 911 it a felt like no other car; to me that justified the price,.
My son is on his second Lexus; I can see what all the fuss is about almost immediately upon driving the car.
An Infiniti, while nice, doesn't seem to do that for me or not at least the ones I've driven.
As for 115K price; that's nearly as much as my annual salary and so I'm not going to be buying one anytime soon.
Q: Who aspires to an Infiniti?
A: Nissan owners
...and that should tell you something.
I guess I have aspired to an Infiniti three times having owned 3 Infiniti Q45s but having paid less than $2k for each!
I looked up the 2025 Armada. It starts at $56k and you can tart up the Premium trim level to $85k by picking all the options. That is still $30k less than the QX80!
I guess in similar argument a Chevy Tahoe starts at $61k and a non-V, non-stretch Cadillac Escalade can be optioned up to $120k. The V-Cadillac Escalade in long, Suburban size length can be taken past $160k
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