Good day MDX-ers!

I'm a current owner of a '15 TLX Tech purchased in July of this year. In past, I've also owned a '09 TL Tech and '04 TSX.

Earlier this year, in May, I traded my wife's '10 Pathfinder SE for a '14 Infiniti QX60 with every available option package. She loves the vehicle and options, however, of the 163 days I've owned it, it has been at one of two dealerships 5 times for a collective 36 days...22% of the time! (as I write this, I am going on to day 6 of the current dealership experience) It has 42k miles on it and has bumper to bumper warranty through 60k, plus an Infiniti Elite Care warranty to 100k. I owe more than trade value as I've only had it for 5 months.

The issues have been related to the Lane Departure System and Front Collision System, a couple of rattles (easily addressed) and of course the well known continuous CVT issues. After the last visit, the CVT seems to be resolved...for now, although it would appear from the Infiniti forums that this will likely rear its ugly head again. With the safety systems, I've had to turn off the intervention feature, leaving on the warning systems on as they are so erratic, I don't trust the system not to pull the car into the ditch when its actually travelling straight down the road between the lines, or at times, I can drift across 2 or 3 lanes and it doesn't even recognize it.
For this, they've replaced and aligned the camera several times and as of yesterday, they've come back advising that while they've made tweaks, both the dealership and now the Infiniti regional guy are scratching their heads. In short, we'll have to deal with the annoyance of the warning, leave the intervention turned off, or disable it all together (all of which can be done in their version of iMid). I'm dating myself here, but I feel like there's a Gremlin in this thing.

So, all of this told, I asked the service consultant to have their sales guys take a look at taking it in on trade and leasing a brand new QX60 (my wife loves the car, just hates the issues). The sales guys are willing to buy out my current QX60 for what I owe (huge win). However, the same dealership also has a '14 MDX Tech on the lot with 22k miles and clean Carfax. I'm trying to lead my wife towards it, and just get away from the Nissan/Infiniti brand. The price is right and while I haven't asked, I feel I can get the sales guy to still get me out of the current QX60 for what I owe. Infiniti will also refund $2,000 of the $2,500 I paid for the Elite Care warranty extension.

My wife drove it and loved the ride and feel, however, she is stuck on the "fancy" stuff the QX60 has. I've played the reliability card, the real transmission vs. CVT card, etc., etc.

Looking to this community for any other thoughts or angles on this. I know this has been long winded, but need advice.

 

If she wants luxury, there's no way you can sell an Acura. I would try to make it sound like a really good deal in terms of price. Ladies like bargains.

 

Yes try to show her Lexus GX, Mercedes GLE / GLS, X5, all fully loaded with stratospheric prices and then get her back to Infiniti and then Acura.
Value and reliability is the only virtue here my friend, and many ladies may not want any of those.

 

Maybe you can find her an advanced model? That would have all the things she likes on the Infiniti.

 

My wife had a 2013 JX35, which was renamed to the QX60 in 2014. It too had every option available and she really loved that SUV. The vehicle didn't give us any trouble until it came out of warranty. That is when the CVT transmission began to show signs it was going to fail. I pushed her to get a new vehicle quickly, before the CVT totally failed. She doesn't like shopping for vehicles, so I steered her towards MDX or a Lexus RX350. She drove a 2016 MDX Advanced and decided it would work for her.

Over the next few weeks, she kept pointing out things her '13 Infiniti had that this '16 MDX Advanced didn't. She finally settled down and now loves the MDX, but I would be careful about going from a QX60 to a MDX. They are very different SUVs. Since I drove an '08 Acura TL for years, I pushed her towards the Acura reliability. In hindsight, I should have "suggested" a new QX60 that would be under warranty.

You and I may think the MDX is superior to the QX60, but vehicles are a very personal thing! I would not suggest you ask her to go from a '14 QX60 to a '15 MDX Tech. You won't hear the end of it!!

 

Mind to share wehat was in the 2014 QX60 that isn't in the 2016 MDX Adv? It may help OP

 

It isn't as much of what the '13 Infiniti had that the '16 MDX Advanced doesn't, but more of what the QX60 did better. Two biggies that come to mind are the cameras and transmission. The QX60 has more cameras than our 16 MDX, and they were higher resolution, especially at night. The '13 Infiniti had "birds eye view", which my wife used regularly to park. The 16 MDX doesn't have this, but I do think the '17 MDX ADV does.

The engines for both the QX60 and the MDX list as the same size, but the Infiniti felt much quicker than the MDX. While I don't really like a CVT, it does keep the vehicle in the sweet spot for power. The CVT is, of course, buttery smooth. The MDX, with the ZF9 transmission, is fairly smooth when accelerating to get on the highway, but the first 2 or 3 gears on the ZF9 are somewhat harsh when driving through the neighborhood at slows speeds. It seems to have gotten somewhat smoother, so I don't know if the transmission in the MDX has learned how we drive or if we have learned how to drive this ZF9.

The MDX is a sportier and practical SUV, while the Infiniti has a very soft ride and I think the interior is more luxurious. Both are good vehicles, just different.

 

I think both cars are very good vehicles. But the qx60 is defintely more premium than the mdx. Neither is true luxury, but they are aimed and designed with somewhat different markets in mind.

If she likes a really soft ride, smooth operation, and overall more premium feeling vehicle, the Infiniti is for her (if you are getting a 2017 model they did some nice updates to the qx60 by the way, more power and higher quality interior). However if she likes a sportier feeling car, more solid, and agile, the MDX is her car.

Something tells me that she really wants the infiniti and won't "settle" for an MDX. Keep in mind that the 2014 mdx was the first year for that body style and some people have had quite a few issues that were ironed out for 2015 so you might be trading from bad to worse. Oh and I don't know about you, but I always have an issue with buying a uses car that has very low mileage, it signifies that the previous owner wanted to get out of it asap (at least to me it does).

 

I definitely agree with the camera, and I wish there's a 3rd party that can come up with a better one that we can replace on the MDX. My 14 RDX Tech had a better rear cam than my 17 MDX Adv. The diff is that the 17 MDX cam is in colour at night while the 14 RDX changes it to B/W at night.

I think the car learns about your driving behaviour. In my previous 14 RDX, if I use a different remote (i.e. driver 2) then the car doesn't response the same way that it usually does. And I remember that when I first got my RDX, the transmission felt weird too. That's why I think it learns.

With the MDX, the learning curve seems to be less to me, so i am not sure if it truly learns, or i just get adjusted to how Acura drives.

Back to topic, when are you going to make the call? Why not try a newer MDX to see if it feels any different?