New QX55 owner checking in

[Hamsquatch]

Hey folks, long time lurker here, and general fellow auto nut. We were blessed to recently add a QX55 to the garage, and in short I have NEVER been so pleasantly shocked over a car. It's my wife's car - she picked it specifically because it checked the most boxes for her personally - it's what she liked the most after having test driven many. Much to my surprise and amazement, I absolutely LOVE driving her car. I'm old school and prefer displacement and slick transmissions like the ZF 8, so I was admittedly expecting a small displacement turbo with a CVT to be absolutely awful. Boy was I ever wrong LOL.

Also, I sure don't get the rabid CVT hate now. I dunno, but maybe it's just parroted/echoed sentiment from earlier attempts that were not successful? Honest to God I personally find it pretty amazing, in how it stays in the "sweet spot" pretty much all the time. Sure, it's not a racer or red light challenger, but man, IMHO it's so pleasant to drive around town and on the highway at speed.

Anyone else a QX50 or QX55 owner, and if so, how are you liking it?

[VStar650CL]

Just keep that CVT fluid fresh, there are plenty of posts in here about why and how. Glad to hear you're pleased!

[Hamsquatch]

After having continued to drive my wife's QX to where I think she's wondering who it is actually for LOL, I can say my only complaint so far is that it's too effortless to accelerate on the highway, when already at speed. I've never experienced a CVT before, and for me, once I got a taste of that sweet almost magical "never ending" linear acceleration, it's hard to not to want to experience it all the time. Sure, she's not one that gonna win a race at a red light with the CVT, but man o man at highway speed it's pretty amazing.

Also if any other QX50/55 owners are not feeling my enthusiasm, I would invite ya to try putting the very best Top Tier certified premium in it. IMHO I suspect the VC-Turbo is so sophisticated that it probably compensates significantly for differing octanes. Once I started to putting TT premiums in her, the smoothness of the power changed significantly, for me.

ETA, this may sound like heresy, but I'd dare say, outside of the redlight launches, I enjoy driving the QX55 MORE than I enjoyed driving my G37xS, and that's a pretty high personal bar to reach for me. Just say'n, if I am being completely honest, and not swayed by nostalgia.

[Hamsquatch]

I see I'm the only one here replying in this one LOL. So I continue to really enjoy driving my wife's QX55. I thought I'd hate it - I was sure of it, with its tiny turbocharged engine and its supposedly dreaded CVT - but no, I just continue to grin every single time I get behind the wheel.

I am a car nut though. I'm been blessed to have owned way more than my fair share of autos over the years. I'm not wealthy enough to have kept them all LOL, but I did get to experience them all, for which I'm very, very thankful. I'm also thankful to God to have a modern MOPAR muscle vehicle in the garage right now. Being an auto bro, and having "driving on the brain", when I zip around in my wife's QX55, I try to imagine a way to really accurately describe it and its driving experience to others that might have "auto" in their DNA.

The other day we were zipping along on the highway in it, and it hit me that it's probably best described, in my mind, in the following way. If you could somehow cross-breed, 50/50, a Honda CRX Si and a VW GTI, and then lift it ever so slightly, make it AWD, and then give it all the advanced tech and OE sound you could imagine, you'd get the QX55, as far as its driving dynamics and the whole experience goes.

[Hamsquatch]

So I just had the dreaded 2.0 VC Turbo recall inspection done by the dealer, and THANK GOD no metal at all in the oil pan (that is part of their litmus test), so no need for a new engine for us. I realize some folks might actually want a new engine, but I'm not in that crowd. I love how our VC performs right now, and I kinda cringe at the thought of the dealership techs trying to remove the current and shoehorn a new one in. Anyhoo, I'm doing the happy dance today LOL.

Also as an update, we (mostly me!) are still loving the QX55. I'm very blessed to have an SRT in the garage for my muscle/sports fixes, and I still absolutely LOVE driving the QX55 for all other duties. IMHO it's an awesome vehicle.

[Hamsquatch]

ETA depending on what source I'm reading, I've seen that Nissan supposedly predicted anywhere from 1.2% - 5/0% of those inspected to actually need replacement, due to issues with bearings.

[VStar650CL]

I was actually a little surprised to see the KR20's being recalled at all. We've seen very few problems with them, and I can't recall any showing up here with a blown bottom end (unlike the KR15's, which are frankly looking very problematic).