MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Infiniti Q50 — MOT statistics 2024

The Infiniti Q50 failed 21.73% of 2,480 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 89.8 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 10% less often than expected for its age. Small sample — treat with care.

MOT risk index 89.8, 95% CI 83.3–96.7 (100 = national average) 100 89.8 0 200
Index
89.8
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
21.73%
n = 2,480
Dangerous /100
15
national ≈11
Rank
345 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Smart EQ Forfour (index 89.8) — the two published results are 0.0 index points apart.

Infiniti Q50 common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Brakes stand out at 12.3 per 100 tests, against 5.5 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Infiniti Q50 common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone, and 1 of these is already inside an interval that includes 1.00×.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Brakes12.31,8065.52.26×2.15–2.35
Tyres9.81,4457.61.29×1.22–1.36
Visibility5.68285.70.98×0.92–1.05 · not distinguishable
Lamps & electrical4.87146.30.77×0.72–0.83
Suspension4.36335.40.80×0.74–0.87
Emissions & leaks0.91331.30.69×0.58–0.82
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 14,740 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm5.922.152.75×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged2.551.631.56×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements4.203.591.17×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously wornBrake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn0.940.731.29×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective1.381.261.10×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen1.772.220.80×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view1.892.360.80×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged1.972.540.78×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources1.062.830.37×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn2.834.870.58×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Infiniti Q50 MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Brakes are highest at 38.1 per 100 tests; Identification is lowest at 0.7 per 100 tests — the gap is 37.4 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Infiniti Q50 MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Brakes38.1
Tyres38
Suspension20.1
Non-component advisories5.6
Emissions & leaks1.6
Identification0.7

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Infiniti Q50 against cars of the same age

AgePartInfiniti Q50Same age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres5.014.170.84
3 yearsBrakes6.141.774.37
3 yearsSuspension0.270.63-0.36
4 yearsTyres6.394.541.85
4 yearsBrakes7.072.434.64
4 yearsSuspension1.091.21-0.12
5 yearsTyres7.335.062.27
5 yearsBrakes7.63.094.51
5 yearsSuspension1.612.19-0.58
6 yearsTyres6.395.540.85
6 yearsBrakes8.463.814.65
6 yearsSuspension2.63.72-1.12
7 yearsTyres6.545.950.59
7 yearsBrakes6.934.552.38
7 yearsSuspension4.235.68-1.45
8 yearsTyres7.296.310.98
8 yearsBrakes8.045.382.66
8 yearsSuspension4.797.78-2.99

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed18.2%560
It passed18.6%9,222

A failed test does not clearly change next year's odds here (18.2% against 18.6%): the difference is within the margin of error. The failure most likely to come back is brakes — 17.5% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 14,634 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only95.5fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage88.3fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year1.7%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 7.2 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Infiniti Q50 compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeInfiniti Q50Same class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years13.08%10.77%+2.31 pp1,498
4 years17.36%12.33%+5.03 pp2,206
5 years19.46%14.15%+5.3 pp2,606
6 years19.22%16.08%+3.14 pp2,612
7 years19.84%18.24%+1.6 pp2,293
8 years22.1%20.54%+1.56 pp1,878
9 years24.76%23.09%+1.67 pp1,167
10 years25.95%25.6%+0.36 pp420

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Infiniti Q50 perform as it gets older?

The Q50 at age 10 is well below the reference at 26.6%, against 30.1% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Infiniti Q50 perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–36%.

Takeaway: solid line: this family; dashed: all cars.

Data table
AgeInfiniti Q50All vehiclesGap
618.0%17.5%+0.5 pp
718.1%20.2%-2.0 pp
821.0%23.3%-2.3 pp
923.7%26.5%-2.8 pp
1026.6%30.1%-3.6 pp

Is an Infiniti Q50 ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Infiniti Q50 MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 69.6%.

Based on 2,474 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
3–5 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 23
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 679
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 632
9 years42.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 722
10–14 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 418
15–17 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
18 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
19 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
20+ yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0

How dangerous are Infiniti Q50 MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 19.1 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Infiniti Q50 MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor5.5114.220.39×
Major19.1252.750.36×
Dangerous15.0011.151.35×

Chart values: Minor 5.5 · Major 19.1 · Dangerous 15.0.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of an Infiniti Q50 MOT matter?

Jul is highest at 21.1%; Dec is lowest at 17.7% — the gap is 3.4 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of an Infiniti Q50 MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 16%–33%.

bars: Infiniti Q50 · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthInfiniti Q50All vehiclesGap
Jan19.58%31.12%-11.5 pp
Feb17.89%29.99%-12.1 pp
Mar19.12%28.26%-9.1 pp
Apr20.05%29.78%-9.7 pp
May19.47%28.79%-9.3 pp
Jun17.91%28.15%-10.2 pp
Jul21.12%29.33%-8.2 pp
Aug20.85%29.2%-8.3 pp
Sep19%28.19%-9.2 pp
Oct20.76%30.34%-9.6 pp
Nov19.35%30.58%-11.2 pp
Dec17.74%29.33%-11.6 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.4 percentage points — noticeable seasonality. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Infiniti Q50 average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Q50s runs from 54,455 miles to 92,652 miles, against 72,306 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Infiniti Q50 · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–113k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Infiniti Q50 MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 6–9, 15.6% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 25.8% of those with over 140,000 miles.No clear mileage gap inside this age group, among cars still being tested.

Does high mileage mean more Infiniti Q50 MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Infiniti Q50: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
6–9<40k miles15.6%11.4–21%218 (rough estimate)
6–940-70k miles19.7%17.1–22.6%807
6–970-100k miles20.7%17.9–23.9%695
6–9100-140k miles29.2%23.9–35.1%250 (rough estimate)
6–9140k+ miles25.8%16.6–37.9%62 (rough estimate)
10–1440-70k miles21.3%14.6–29.9%108 (rough estimate)
10–1470-100k miles28.9%22.4–36.4%159 (rough estimate)
10–14100-140k miles27.3%19.8–36.3%110 (rough estimate)

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
639,55453,92467,640272
747,67864,92780,883408
854,45572,30692,652632
962,08078,33096,345722
1068,10885,255107,143403

A typical 8-year-old Q50 has ~72,306 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Infiniti Q50 fails its MOT most

Kilmarnock area is highest at 29.2%; London N area is lowest at 7.3% — the gap is 21.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Infiniti Q50 line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75) — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Kilmarnock (KA)29.17%+9.7 pp
Bolton (BL)27.54%+8.1 pp
Preston (PR)24.67%+5.2 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
London N (N)7.26%-12.2 pp
Romford (RM)11.61%-7.8 pp
Ilford (IG)11.93%-7.5 pp
Wakefield (WF)13.08%-6.4 pp
Nottingham (NG)14.57%-4.9 pp

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 13%–29% failing.

Infiniti Q50 survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 10 is well below the reference at 17.0%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Infiniti Q50 survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
31,49860.5%13.08%
42,20689.1%17.36%
52,606100%19.46%
62,612100%19.22%
72,29392.7%19.84%
81,87875.9%22.1%
91,16747.2%24.76%
1042017%25.95%

By age 9, only about 47% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈2,474); survivors still fail at 24.8% vs 17.4% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does an Infiniti Q50 last?

100,000+ miles stands out at 8.6%.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles1,2528.56%

Of 14,634 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 8.6% had reached 100k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is an Infiniti Q50 likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 3.7 years; Bought at age 8 is lowest at 1.1 years — the gap is 2.6 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—at least 3.7
8—at least 1.1

estimateObserved only until age 9. The curve does not run five years past the stated age with the share still tested under 50%, so no 'years left' number is given.

Infiniti Q50 faults that come together

Body & structure + Lamps & electrical stand out at 6.40×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment256.4× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks224.48× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension694.23× (rough estimate)
BrakesSuspension1434.22× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureTyres294.12× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureBrakes293.58× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility223.57× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres293.28× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks333.24× (rough estimate)
BrakesTyres2353.08× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility793.08× (rough estimate)
SuspensionTyres862.92× (rough estimate)
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1232.91× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres942.56× (rough estimate)
SuspensionVisibility492.39× (rough estimate)
BrakesVisibility1192.24× (rough estimate)
TyresVisibility1012.19× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension19too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSuspension18too few (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels17too few (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSuspension16too few (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres14too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureVisibility12too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels11too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleTyres10too few (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension7too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks7too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems5too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSteering5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Body, chassis, structure» and «Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment» appear together 6.40× more often than chance (25 co-occurrences in the same test; 55 pairs compared).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for an Infiniti Q50?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 12.7%, against 20.5% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year12.72%912
8–12k miles/year20.54%4,499
Gap (low − normal)-7.83 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
511.6317219.6857-7.98 pp
610.9116519.61923-8.7 pp
714.0814220.82879-6.73 pp
813.3310524.53689-11.19 pp
99.846125.17433-15.34 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
55.263814.8181-9.55 pp
617.07419.8881+7.2 pp
712.93120.2969-7.39 pp
821.21335.7170+15.5 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 12.7% vs 20.5% for 8–12k miles/year — 7.8 pp lower (n_low=912, n_normal=4,499). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 12.1% low-use vs 21.2% normal (-9.1 pp).

Which Infiniti Q50 engine is best?

diesel over 2.0 is highest at 103.7; petrol over 2.0 is lowest at 61.3 — the gap is 42.4 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrolover 2.0 litre61.312.55%821 (rough estimate)
petrol1.8–2.0 litre78.615.79%551 (rough estimate)
dieselover 2.0 litre103.720.4%12,566

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel over 2.0 runs at 103.7 against this model's own age norm while the petrol over 2.0 runs at 61.3 — a spread of 42.4 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for an Infiniti Q50, and the years to avoid

Build year 2018 is highest at 106.7; Build year 2017 is lowest at 85.0 — the gap is 21.7 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Infiniti Q50 build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Infiniti Q50 by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
2018106.791.7–121.717.91%1,083no different
20178575.6–94.314.65%2,170better
2016103.896.4–111.219.04%3,960no different
2015100.794.4–107.120.49%4,733no different
2014106.597.9–11523.26%2,579no different

The best build year here is 2017 and the weakest is 2017. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 1 of 5 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Infiniti Q50 MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £43.53 to £82.71, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£44–83
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Brakes12.3 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£18.45
Tyres9.8 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£8.82
Suspension4.3 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£7.74
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4.8 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£6.72
Noise, emissions and leaks0.9 (nat. 3.67)Exhaust rear silencer£200£1.80

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £44 to £83, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Infiniti Q50 running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 27.0%, against 18.0% at age 6, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 6
18
vehicles needing work (rough estimate: 272 tests)
At age 10
27
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024 (rough estimate: 403 tests)
Repairs per 100
£4,353
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 38.95% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
618.01%53,924272—
718.14%64,927408—
821.04%72,306632—
923.68%78,330722—
1026.55%85,255403—

No single year stands out as the point where this model starts costing more: the year-to-year steps in its failure rate are too small or rest on too few tests to name one (D1 rule: a step is named only with at least 2,000 tests on both sides and a jump above 3 percentage points).

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Infiniti Q50 rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility stands out at 1.07×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
1.07×
0.82% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
86th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 1 postcode areas

This Infiniti Q50 fails on corrosion at about the average rate once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are saltier than most for the models we publish.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does an Infiniti Q50 advisory become a failure?

Brakes are highest at 11.6%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 11.6 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Infiniti Q50 chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Infiniti Q50, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Brakes 11.6% · Tyres 10% · Suspension 8.2% · Non-component 0%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Brakes11.6%12 months7,4842,664
Tyres10.0%12 months7,3082,506
Suspension8.2%11.9 months7,3381,311
Non-component advisories0.0%——610

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 12 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 7,484 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on an Infiniti Q50?

Brakes after a failure at age 9-11 are highest at 16.2%; Visibility after a passed at age <3 is lowest at 3.9% — the gap is 12.3 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedBrakes 5.6% · Tyres 5.0% · Visibility 3.9%694
<3advisoryBrakes 8.0% · Visibility 5.4% · Tyres 4.0%224 (rough estimate)
<3failureBrakes 8.3% · Visibility 8.3% · Tyres 6.8%132 (rough estimate)
3-5passedBrakes 5.8% · Tyres 5.3% · Visibility 4.3%3,375
3-5advisoryBrakes 9.1% · Tyres 8.0% · Visibility 5.7%1,863
3-5failureBrakes 9.7% · Tyres 8.2% · Visibility 4.9%1,145
6-8passedBrakes 6.5% · Tyres 5.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.1%1,960
6-8advisoryBrakes 9.8% · Tyres 8.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.1%1,533
6-8failureBrakes 9.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 9.1% · Tyres 8.9%959
9-11passedBrakes 9.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.9% · Tyres 6.6%76 (rough estimate)
9-11advisoryBrakes 7.9% · Suspension 7.9% · Tyres 7.9%76 (rough estimate)
9-11failureBrakes 16.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.5% · Suspension 12.2%74 (rough estimate)

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Infiniti Q50 ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 56.6%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 4.5% — the gap is 52.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
38.95%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.235
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
42.69%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
1.885%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 2,185 failures followed through to their re-test, 38.95% were repaired and passed the same day and 56.57% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 4,319 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.235 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 7,401 miles a year across 2,652 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 42.69% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 27.33% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 1.885% of 2,652 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 23,358 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Infiniti Q50 safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 7.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Infiniti Q50 recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Infiniti Q50. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2014: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 0 · 2018: 1 · 2019: 0 · 2020: 0 · 2021: 0 · 2022: 0 · 2023: 0 · 2024: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Infiniti Q50
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2024/26111/07/20242,211Q50 (V37) M30/Q70 (Y51) Propeller Shaft
R/2017/30502/01/201838AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION MAY AFFECT VEHICLE EMISSIONS
R/2016/12303/08/20161,160STEERING / DIRECTIONAL CONTROL MAY BE AFFECTED
R/2015/02712/03/2015370OIL MAY LEAK ENGINE MAY STALL
R/2014/12015/12/2014100VEHICLE MAY CUT OUT
All 7 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2024/26111/07/202415/10/2009 – 19/05/20222,211Q50 (V37) M30/Q70 (Y51) Propeller Shaft
R/2017/30502/01/201808/05/2015 – 07/09/201738AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION MAY AFFECT VEHICLE EMISSIONS
R/2016/12303/08/201613/12/2012 – 18/12/20151,160STEERING / DIRECTIONAL CONTROL MAY BE AFFECTED
R/2015/02712/03/201515/04/2014 – 22/12/2014370OIL MAY LEAK ENGINE MAY STALL
R/2014/12015/12/201410/12/2012 – 27/06/2014100VEHICLE MAY CUT OUT
R/2014/12215/12/201410/12/2012 – 28/07/20141,511UNINTENDED ACCELERATION
R/2014/12115/12/201416/10/2013 – 30/01/201411UNDER EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES TRANSMISSION MAY DETACH

DVSA lists 7 safety recall campaigns for the Infiniti Q50, covering roughly 5,401 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Infiniti Q50 technical service bulletins: what dealers are told

US market, Infiniti Q50, model years 2015–2022 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.

NHTSA manufacturer communications are 382.

bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults

These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.

United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications

US technical service bulletins by communication year; leading subjects cover the full file
Communication yearBulletinsLeading subjects across all years
20146
  • Electrical system (170)
  • Equipment (126)
  • Engine and cooling (44)
  • Adaptive and mobility equipment (20)
  • Engine (19)
  • Powertrain (14)
  • Air Bags (13)
  • Visibility (13)
201535
201642
201736
201841
201937
202024
202166
202234
202334
202420
20255
20262

Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.

Infiniti Q50 owner complaints: what goes wrong

US market, Infiniti Q50, model years 2015–2022 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.

Engine (not MOT-tested) is highest at 71; Brakes are lowest at 26 — the gap is 45.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

Owner complaints (US) against actual MOT failures (UK) for the same component groups
ComponentComplaintsShareMOT fail items per 100MOT rankAgreement
Engine (not MOT-tested)7122.9%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Transmission (not MOT-tested)5919.0%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Restraints5618.1%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Lamps & electrical4915.8%4.8#4complained about, fails occasionally
Steering4213.5%not in top 6—complained about, rarely an MOT failure
Brakes268.4%12.3#1complained about and fails often

Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.

What the reports actually say
I was parked in my garage getting ready to start my car and the glass in my moonroof spontaneously shattered. There was no object that hit it because I was in my garage. It sounded like a gunshot. The glass flew upward and the glass looks like it shattered into a little volcano on the edges.
NHTSA complaint, filed 09/14/2026 · VISIBILITY
The transmission speed sensor has failed needs a new valve body. It seems like a very common problem with this car and it’s a $3000 fix according to my mechanic. I think there needs to be a recall issued considering everybody on this website is reporting the same problems.
NHTSA complaint, filed 04/15/2026 · POWER TRAIN

US owners have filed 310 complaints about the equivalent Infiniti Q50 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 25 that mention a crash, 3 a fire and 12 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.

Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.

Infiniti Q50 MOT: quick answers

Infiniti Q50 MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 89.8, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Infiniti Q50 first-time MOT pass rate?
78.27% of first attempts passed in 2024 (2,480 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 21.73% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 2,480 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 89.8 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Infiniti Q50 with other cars

Toyota Yaris is highest at 89.8; Land Rover Freelander is lowest at 89.7 — the gap is 0.1 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Similar risk

Smart EQ Forfour (index 89.8)Toyota Yaris (index 89.8)Land Rover Freelander (index 89.7)

Same size class

how Aston Martin DB11 compareshow Isuzu Trooper compareshow Volkswagen LT compares

By build year

Infiniti Q50 2014Infiniti Q50 2015Infiniti Q50 2016Infiniti Q50 2017Infiniti Q50 2018

By area

Infiniti Q50 MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Infiniti Q50 body, chassis and structure failuresInfiniti Q50 brakes failuresInfiniti Q50 vehicle identification failuresInfiniti Q50 lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresInfiniti Q50 noise, emissions and leaks failuresInfiniti Q50 road wheels failuresInfiniti Q50 suspension failuresInfiniti Q50 tyres failuresInfiniti Q50 visibility failures


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:infiniti-q50:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Infiniti Q50 MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/infiniti-q50/ · Published 2026-07-30.