Q45- The three gens compared

[MovieMaestro10]

Posted this as a comment in another thread, curious what everyone else thinks...

My two cents on the three Q45 generations, as someone whose dad owned a 1st gen, who recently bought a 2nd gen, and who test drove several 3rd gens (gonna use "gen" instead of numeral designations for anyone reading this who is not familiar).

1st Gen- The enthusiast special.
I remember this car being much faster than my 2nd gen (my dad had a '91, so it still had variable valve timing). Avant-garde looks inside and out, less of a traditional luxury feel. It felt special, from the hefty key to the font on the instruments. I do recall it having a "tinny" feel though, door slams rang hollow and lots of cheap plastic inside (as was typical of cars of the era). Best visibility from inside the car of the three generations.

Hard to find a good one for a good price anymore, parts seem to be getting dear, you have to deal with OBD1 in most years. I remember my dad eventually sold it for how difficult it was to keep up even then. Timing chain guides on the earlier/faster cars are a big issue.
Music style: Alternative rock

2nd Gen- The "traditional luxury on a budget" special.
Emphasis shifted from performance to greater comfort...More leather, softer materials, chrome, wood, and rear seat space. I find its the most pleasant Q45 to sit in...Immediately feels familiar, if generic. I think the styling has aged the best, maybe because it was the most conservative. It was nicely sharp edged and crisp, like a well tailored suit, when other cars of the era were round soap bars. Best door handles of ANY car!

Feels much more substantial than 1st gen in every way, doors close with a solid thump, but also slower, but still no slouch. The simplest of all the Q's, supposedly the most reliable (though coil packs and steering system issues are common). Parts are plentiful, and these cars sold well and are not hard to find plenty of good ones still out there.
Music style: Smooth jazz

3rd Gen- The boys with toys special.
So many gadgets, esp in the Premium packaged cars! Ovoid styling isn't for everyone. Those headlights are neat but are known to have constant ballast issues. I test drove three cars of this gen...All of them seemed to have a dozen electronics that weren't working. The interior controls and gadgets take some time to figure out, but when sorted they're pretty neat.

Much faster car...Terrific engine sound. The safest in a crash too. They didn't sell many of these, so hard to find a well-sorted example, and parts are still pretty dear.
Music style: Techno/EDM


They each have their pluses and minuses. I'm on a budget, and prefer driving my car to working on it, and considering I can't go too fast in LA traffic anyways, the second gen was an easy choice for me.

I also drove an LS400 of the same vintage- In many ways a better car, but bland styling inside and out. An equivalent LS400 cost 2k more than a Q45 when I was looking. And trying to find one that didn't need a timing belt change was impossible (Q45 has good old timing chain!)

What do you all think? Is this a fair assessment?

[AZhitman]

Pretty good stuff, Maestro - Welcome aboard!

I've only owned the G50 Q, but I've driven all three a few times. I'll add my 2 cents / differences of opinion:

1st Gen - "Wolf in sheep's clothing." Amazing leather throughout, cashmere pillar covers and headliner, and some of the best ergonomics of any luxury sport sedan ever. Disagree on the cheap plastic... in fact, I can't recall any plastic in the interior that was "cheap"-feeling (or looking). 1st Gen is the hot rod of the bunch, with many cars being well over 300hp despite their *snicker* 'rating.' VH45 is pure art - overbuilt, but somewhat complex for its time. A phenomenal powerplant if kept in good order. A simple external trans cooler and metal chain guides would have kept them on the road another decade. Metallica playing along with the New York Philharmonic.

2nd Gen - "Japanese Buick." Gorgeous, unique styling, inoffensive in every way. A tick slower, and more docile, without the underlying anger issues of the 1G. Great (but unsupportive) seats. Best bang for the buck of the three, for sure. Totally smooth jazz.

3rd Gen - "The technological tour de force that no one asked for." The M45 of 03-04 SHOULD have been the successor to the Q name, but instead, we got an overdone basket of Infiniti's best wizardry. Unfortunately, that came with a price, and killed the Q45 name for consumers who could buy an LS400 and get a better (if more boring) car. Michael Buble with auto-tune and too much production.

Glad to have you aboard - I enjoyed your post!

[MovieMaestro10]

"Japanese Buick"- Not too far off what I consider the second gen to be- "The best modern Lincoln Continental that Lincoln never made."

I think it's a misunderstood car in the enthusiast community, judged too harshly by those who want the Q45 to be a performance machine first and a luxury car second. It just wasn't the mission and it's a terrific car for what it is.

For the first gen, with "Cheap plastic" my memory was of the hard plastic on the dash, hard plastic on the doors, and especially the hard black plastic that surround the HVAC controls/shift lever where wood trim usually goes on a luxury car. Unless my memory is foggy and some of that was plush like it is in the second gen...Been awhile since I've actually sat in a first gen.

[dnudelman]

quote " The M45 of 03-04 SHOULD have been the successor to the Q name,"

Couldn't agree more. I saw one in the flesh for the first time a few months ago and I had to go over an take a look. It would make a great replacement for my 1st Gen but I bet parts are real tough to find. Didn't sell many.

[my12by60]

Looks wise, I think the M45 of 03-04 has the sharpest exterior. I rate the Gen 2 as second place. The M45 just has a bit more of a sporty look which I prefer slightly over the Gen 2, which has more of a classy, luxury look. Next is the Gen 1 (but only with some upgraded wheels), then Gen 3 in last place. Gen 3 is just too rounded for my taste and has nothing distinctive about it looks. I could mistake a Gen 3 for any number of other cars. A Gen 1 with some cool wheels, however, is very distinctive and strikes a nice balance between sportiness and luxury with its exterior. So for me, the space between the M45, Gen 2 and Gen 1 is very small and mainly about personal preferences. All three are cool cars. The Gen 3, however, is quite a distance behind the other three models and is just bland to my eyes.

Performance wise, I have not driven anything other than my Gen 2 so I can't comment on that aspect of the cars. I know that I am very happy with the handling and performance of the Gen 2. The interior is high end and spacious for the driver and front passenger. My teen kids gripe a bit about rear seat room, but I am taller and have the driver seat almost all the way back on its track.

[AZhitman]

^ Pretty good assessment!

[Q45-02]

I would hve to completely disagree with most of the statements

Having owned a 1st gen driven my buddies 2nd gen and now owning a 3rd gen I have some pretty good insight to how ea feels ..... at least to me

Lets start with the looks,

I personally love the 1st gen it was different loved the no grill, had a nice interior not all that impressive for a top end vehicle but decent, nice rims as well and good lines

2nd gen while it is a nice looking sedan its the one that too me could be any number of cars looks identical to the same year model hyundais or mercedes. But the interior was much better than in the 1st gen looked refined and classy

3rd gen well personally I love the looks the interior is a bit weird agreed but once figured out its actually quite nice but the interior is beautifully done. An i saw a few guys say the 3rd gen is mistaken for any number of cars ..... HUH??? I will challenge u to find a car the looks similar. Those beautiful gatling gun headlights, curves in the right areas, big 18 in rims, it looks like nothing else out there. I am constantly getting asked what it is cus noone knows. I think its a nice looking sedan

Now looks aside cus that is all on the opinion of the person lets look at reliability seems like all 3 gens are pretty reliable with just a few differing things that popped up on ea gen. Id have to give this a tie

Power definitely goes to the 3rd gen no questions on that the VH is a great great powerhouse and very dependable but it is quite a bit down on power n torque compared to the VK which is also a very dependable motor. Only thing that plagued the VK and every other VK series and most any euro and japan car for some reason was oil consumption. An personally have not lost more than a quart in the old 225k motor every 4000 miles but the new motor with my custom pistons and rings doesnt seem to be suffering hardly any at all.

After market is definitely the 1st gen the 2nd and 3rd both dont have much at all and personally i like that cus I am from what I knwo one of the first to rebuild the VK with better pistons, rings, higher CR, better cams, and ported upper end. I am still working on getting someone to tune it and I have figured a few other things as well but its a fun experience

So for me I love the 3rd gen best at the moment maybe cus I own one but i owned my 1st as well but it just doesnt give me the sound and power and comfort that the 3rd does.

[PetersQs]

I've been driving a 1st gen since 1991. I have owned six of them (still own three) and now I am thinking of repainting the daily driver (she has 147,000 on the OD and the paint is failing), the other two are minty Black on Blacks, one with Active sway bar and Tokicos and new engine and transmission mounts and a new driveshaft and all new tie rods. She is the garage queen and gets driven three times a year. I bought her in 2007 with 66K on the OD, she has 72K now.

The new Black on Black is a "T" and would like a set of Tokicos but she rides sooooo smooth on original shocks. After reading the post of the guy who had his machine shop drill out the front 90-93 blues, I ordered a set and will do the same. I found B on B #2 last year she sees a good amount of drive time. She has the 15" BB wheels but I scoured up a set of Exalto 235, 45, 17s (very hard to find brand new) and I found some after market wheels that look like the BBs. I'll wait to next year to do the 17s and the Tokicos and just enjoy the smoooooth ride for now.

I drove a mint 2nd gen years ago and thought it a little boring. I drive the Gen 3 and hated it... drive by wire, totally disconnected from the road.

During my Q adventures I've owned Porsches, BMWs and Mustang Cobras, but I always had a Q and always preferred the Q to the others. The new B on B just got new rear speakers and amps and a sub woofer. I use the original head unit for looks to match the interior.

My second Q, a 93, made it to 320K before moving on to another buyer, a city dweller who lived in a mixed neighborhood. He thought the old gal would not get broken into as much as a newer car.

Repainting a 94 Q T takes fortitude. The one body shop told me I would be better off at Maaco (they wanted 10K). In fact, I found a high end Maaco franchise about 60 miles away average cost $3,000 vs. the cheap crap $800 Maaco jobs. The car is the dark green with the standard brown/tan interior. I think she would look great in a soft slightly off white, not the pearl of years ago. She still need a drivers side rear window motor and regulator. I check ebay every so often

I've been on this board from early on as PeterofDevon, there are not many of us left.

Thanks Wes and everyone for keeping it alive.

[marksport]

Hey everyone, I haven't been on here for a long time. My brother owned a first gen Q, I currently own a second and third gen Q and a M45 and I gotta agree with most of these posts. I took this pic years ago, so no second gen and the right Q was a write off crash nearly a year ago.

[elwesso]

0-60 the second gen Q was actually a touch faster than first gen, but definitely the car didn't feel as fast. above 60 MPH is where the 1st gen did it's best, and above 60 MPH the 2nd gen is a slug.

The 97-01 Q was an incredibly comfortable car to drive and be in. Also fixed a lot of the gripes from the 1st gen, including trunk space, rear seat space, etc. I think the mushy suspension and more numb steering tended to make it be perceived as a lesser handling car, even though on paper I think they were pretty similar.

The 1st gen Q would have been a completely different ball-game if it had been offered with a 5MT to compete with the BMW 540i. Honestly I think the lack of 5MT is the reason why it wasn't viewed as a competitor to the BMW 540i. It was trying to be part BMW 5 series and part Mercedes S-class, and that's a pretty tough combination to pull off.

The VH with my ECU and VK are pretty much on equal playing fields in terms of HP and torque, I think it was the 5AT that made the difference a lot more noticeable. The 02+ Q was less than 0.5 seconds slower 0-60.

[BadQ45t]

I think the 1st Gen car missed in that it was really closer to a BMW in performance and farther from a Mercedes or other luxury cars of the day. The LS400 knew exactly what it was from day one, I lower cost luxury car that didn't try to be a BMW, just a soft riding V8 powered luxury car that looked the part. The styling of the LS400 and LS430 were very understated and said "I am a boring luxury car" while the Q45 was way off that mark. In LA in those early years LS400's were a dime a dozen, all my dad's buddies(he's 80 now) bought LS400's, none bought Q45's. Afterall in 1990 a 38-45k car was not for a 25 year old, it was 45+ year olds to afford

For me back in those days (yes I totally remember the Q and LS coming out) I loved the Q45 way more from day one. I was a Nissan person by then so maybe I was jaded. In 1994 my dad bought a 1991 LS400 coming off lease and he LOVED it. I remember driving it and thinking this thing is soooo boring. He then sold that in 1996 because he got a great deal on a 1992 Q45. He grew to love the Q45 much more and realized that it was a much more substantial car, but it had gremlins galore. I was given the car for 3 months for my wife to think about driving it but between the gremlins (many were pretty easy fixes from help on this board) and the poor gas mileage (if I drove it more gently maybe I would get more than 15 MPG) we decided to pass on it. He sold it to another person who within 3 days fried the timing guides and my dad gave him his money back. I think back if I had only had garage space and did a guide kit what a cool car that would be now...


When I was buying my 1997 in 2000 I had a choice between a 1996 base and the 1997 Touring and the wife and I drove them back to back. Power wise they were very similar, the 1996 didn't have Beast Mode like the 1992, and ultimately went with the newer looking body style which I don't regret.

The 3rd Generation car I remember very well coming out as my high school buddy was a GM at Infiniti of Ventura....he was trying to convince me to wait for the 2002 model in 2000 or buy a 2000 AE which had a sticker of 55k and I could have rolled out the door for 45k (they couldn't sell those)...the Infiniti management were saying "this is the no excuses Q45, everything in place, power, looks, luxury etc.). Of course it missed the mark, albeit it is a pretty darn cool car still.

[golomeen]

I've owned several luxury Toyotas (V8 Majesta VIP '91, LS400 '96, still own a bit crashed LS430 '01 UL)
I found Q45 3rd gen as much more a car than any of Toyota. But LS430 has much more comfort features Q45 lacks, developer oriented menus with joystick are too dumb compared to Toyota's touch screen, any cargo aspect in Q is much worse than in LS. Community, used spare parts market is much larger for LS.

Selling the LS today I will miss it, but Q45 quiet and fast riding with five times more intelligent cruise control is what I enjoy everyday and can't wait to get more. Still passed no maintenance or repair but feels like I shound take care of my Q, not like I used to do with LS - Toyota often forgives you mistakes and careless overruns, I guess Nissan does not so.

[Q45-V8]

I've been fortunate enough to find myself owner of both a first-gen and a 3rd gen. See picture for my fleet as of this week: all four cars.

http://i1285.photobucket.com/albums/a59 ... ougk3k.jpg

[BadQ45t]

Nice stable, I need to take a pic like that with my 4 Nissans....I agree the LS430 had nice Luxo features, not that fun of a car but solid as hell and bullet proof like no other. My dad's LS430 he sold to a friend after having it for 2 years and he still regrets parting with it for the LS460 he only drove for 1 year and turned the lease over to his partner.

[sheikhnbake]

I just love everything about my '03 Q45 Premium version. Love the quasi-Maserati-looking front end, the smooth but robust power, great torque from any speed, interior features, beautiful interior, and road feel. Bought it 19 months ago with 65,000 mi., now has 79,000 mi., only problem so far has been replacing the tire pressure sensors. I can't help but have a lead foot in an open straightaway or on the interstate.

[HansCC]

Hey everyone, I haven't been on here for a long time. My brother owned a first gen Q, I currently own a second and third gen Q and a M45 and I gotta agree with most of these posts. I took this pic years ago, so no second gen and the right Q was a write off crash nearly a year ago.

Nice Line Up -

[HansCC]

I like the Buick reference on the 2nd gen - and am looking for a 2003/4 q45 with low miles - I know - impossible to find but I found my 99 q45 in 2016 with 40k on it - so I will keep looking - nice to see the round up here of all 3 generations -