2023 Infiniti QX60

The 2023 QX60 carries a single powertrain across all four grades: the naturally aspirated 3.5-liter VQ-series V6 rated at 295 hp, unchanged from the 2022 second-generation launch.

Peak torque of 270 lb-ft arrives high in the rev range at 4,800 rpm — typical of a naturally aspirated V6 and short of the turbocharged mid-size luxury three-rows it competes with.

Instrumented testing of the 2022–2023 QX60 puts 0–60 mph at roughly 7.4 seconds — adequate for a 4,500-lb three-row but unremarkable against the segment.

The naturally aspirated V6 has no turbo lag and no hybrid handoffs to manage, and Infiniti's Active Torque Mount keeps engine vibration out of the cabin, so delivery is smooth and quiet; the demerit is that meaningful thrust requires revs, and the engine gets vocal when asked for it.

The ZF-developed 9-speed automatic that replaced the previous generation's CVT shifts almost imperceptibly in normal driving, but reviewers consistently flag slow, indecisive downshifts when more power is requested. Manual-mode paddle shifters are standard on every grade.

Properly equipped with the Tow Package, the AWD QX60 tows 6,000 lbs — strong for a unibody three-row crossover, though the rating is gated behind AWD and the upper two grades.

INFINITI Intelligent All-Wheel Drive is optional on all four grades (PURE, LUXE, SENSORY, AUTOGRAPH) rather than standard on any, and it is a front-biased on-demand system sending up to 50% of power rearward — capable and paired with a Snow drive mode, but without low range, locking differentials or a terrain-mode suite.

A unibody, front-drive-based luxury three-row with about 6.7 inches of ground clearance, 20-inch all-season tires on most grades, no low range, no lockers, no skid plates and no off-road trim — Snow mode and light-duty AWD traction are the extent of it.

One powertrain, take it or leave it: the 3.5-liter V6 with the 9-speed automatic is the only engine in the 2023 range, with no turbo four, no hybrid, no plug-in and no EV variant — a notable gap against rivals that offer electrified options.

EPA rates the AWD QX60 — the representative configuration for this luxury three-row — at 22 MPG combined on premium fuel, mid-pack among gas mid-size SUVs and unhelped by the absence of any electrified option.

20 MPG in the city reflects a 4,500-lb three-row with a naturally aspirated V6 and no stop-start-plus-electric assistance to lean on in traffic.

The 9-speed's wide ratio spread keeps highway revs low for a 25 MPG rating, but that is still short of the turbo-four and hybrid three-rows that dominate the highway figures in this class.

An 18.5-gallon tank at the EPA combined rating works out to roughly 407 miles between fills for the AWD model — modest for a three-row family SUV, where a smaller tank offsets the otherwise reasonable economy.

EPA's annual estimate is high on two counts at once — 22 MPG combined and a premium-fuel price basis — placing the QX60 near the expensive end of the gas SUV field to run.

Premium 91 AKI is recommended and is what EPA prices the vehicle's running costs against, but it is not required — the owner's manual permits 87 octane with a noted decrease in performance, so owners have an escape valve that a premium-required vehicle does not.

NHTSA assigned the AWD 2023 QX60 a 5-star overall rating, built on 4 stars frontal and 5 stars side; the FWD version was tested to the same frontal/side results but never received a composite overall because rollover was not run.

A clean sweep of Good crashworthiness ratings — driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints — earned the 2023 QX60 Top Safety Pick+, the top award. Held just below the 90s only by Marginal driver pelvis protection within the otherwise Good side result.

Every grade including base PURE gets Forward Emergency Braking with pedestrian detection, Predictive Forward Collision Warning, Blind Spot Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Automatic Braking — an unusually complete standard set. It falls short of the top band because adaptive cruise and lane centering (ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link) plus Lane Departure Warning and Around View are not on PURE; the volume LUXE grade has the full suite standard.

IIHS rated front crash prevention Superior in all three evaluations — vehicle-to-vehicle, daytime pedestrian and the harder nighttime pedestrian test — which is the top result in each and a prerequisite for the 2023 TSP+ award.

Blind Spot Warning and Rear Cross Traffic Alert are standard on every grade, and the volume LUXE adds Blind Spot Intervention — active steering correction rather than alert-only — along with Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection. No trailer-aware coverage, and PURE is alert-only.

From LUXE up, Lane Departure Warning with haptic steering-wheel feedback pairs with ProPILOT Assist lane centering that reviewers describe as competent and steady in its lane without being a standout; it demands hands on the wheel throughout. PURE goes without either, and the press kit's Lane Departure Prevention row is unmarked across the range.

ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link is a full-speed-range adaptive cruise with stop-and-hold that reads navigation data to ease off ahead of curves and freeway exits — a genuinely well-integrated highway assist rather than bolt-on ACC. Docked from higher because it is absent on the PURE grade entirely.

No hands-free highway system is offered on the 2023 QX60 at any grade. ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link is hands-on by design, and the hands-free ProPILOT Assist 2.0 that Nissan fields elsewhere was never extended to this model.

IIHS rated the headlights Good in both configurations it tested, so there is no weak-headlight volume trim — a common failing in this segment. Full LED low/high beams with auto-leveling headlamps and High Beam Assist are standard on every grade; the Adaptive Front lighting System is the only trim-gated piece.

Upright glass and a fairly low cowl give decent forward and quarter sightlines for a three-row crossover, but thick rear pillars and a shallow third-row window leave real over-the-shoulder blind zones. Camera compensation is good on the volume trim and above — Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection plus front and rear sonar, and an available Smart Rear View Mirror — while PURE relies on the rear-view monitor and rear sonar alone.

IIHS rated the child-seat anchor hardware Good, with three seating positions carrying complete LATCH hardware — both second-row outboard seats plus the second-row center — and top tethers at five positions including the third row. The signature advantage is that the second-row seats tilt and slide for third-row access without needing the child seat removed, which is exactly the manoeuvre that frustrates families in this class.

The volume LUXE trim carries a 60/40-split sliding second-row bench for seven-passenger seating; only AUTOGRAPH drops to six with captain's chairs.

Generous front headroom for the segment despite the panoramic moonroof being standard equipment rather than a headroom-costing option.

Front legroom sits mid-pack for a mid-size three-row SUV — adequate but not a standout given the QX60's 114.2-inch wheelbase is partly spent on the third row.

Second-row headroom is modest for the class, the standard panoramic moonroof housing eating into an already low roofline.

The sliding second row gives a healthy 37.7 inches at its rearmost position, though sliding it forward for third-row access trades that away.

A genuine kid-and-teen third row with unusually good access — the second row tilts and slides with a child seat still installed — but 28 inches of legroom and 35.7 inches of headroom keep adults to short hops.

Cargo room behind the second row trails the class leaders, and the 14.5 cu ft available with all three rows up is the QX60's sharpest packaging limitation.

Maximum cargo volume is mid-pack for a mid-size three-row — usable, but well short of boxier rivals that clear 85 cu ft.

Well above average everyday storage — ten cupholders, four bottle holders, a deep underfloor cargo trunk and a 120V outlet from LUXE up — but nothing that reinvents the category the way a giga-console or frunk does.

Infiniti's Zero Gravity-inspired front seats draw consistent praise for long-haul fatigue resistance, but reviewers split on bolstering and agree the second row lacks the front seats' support.

Compliant and absorbent on ordinary pavement thanks to the multilink rear and dual-flow-path dampers, but every instrumented outlet notes firm impacts over sharp-edged potholes and expansion joints — the ride is good, not the segment benchmark a luxury badge implies.

Acoustic-laminated glass and thorough sound deadening deliver a genuinely hushed cabin by most accounts, though at least one tester found highway noise less impressive than the price suggests.

Tri-zone automatic climate, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel are standard on every grade, with headliner-mounted vents for both rear rows — a richer standard comfort set than most rivals at this price.

The entry PURE front-drive grade opens at $49,200 plus Infiniti's $1,195 destination and handling charge — the cheapest way into a three-row luxury crossover in 2023 and a genuine undercut of the Acura MDX, Lexus RX/TX and the German mid-sizers.

LUXE is the volume grade and the step that makes the QX60 feel like the luxury SUV it is priced as — it adds ProPILOT Assist, the 360-degree camera, front parking sensors, navigation, the 12.3-inch digital cluster, ventilated front seats and a power steering column; scored with Intelligent AWD to match the drivetrain used in the rest of this scorecard.

The QX60 is a Nissan Pathfinder underneath — VQ35 V6, 9-speed automatic, Nissan parts and labor rates — so it services far more cheaply than the German or even the Cadillac competition, and on a 2023 the first three years of scheduled work are covered by Premium Care; the estimate carries a repair allowance for years four and five, when a 15,000-mile-a-year owner is past the 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper cap.

This is the item that sinks the category, and it is not a modelling artifact — the QX60 depreciates roughly ten points harder than the luxury mid-size SUV average, and the 2023 car's real three-year-old market value bears it out. Weak Infiniti brand equity and heavy fleet/lease volume both feed it.

Infiniti's new-vehicle limited warranty runs four years or 60,000 miles — the luxury-brand convention on term, and 10,000 miles more generous on distance than the 4/50,000 that Acura, Cadillac, BMW, Audi and Lexus all offer.

Six years or 70,000 miles on the 3.5-liter V6, the nine-speed automatic and the drive components — a step beyond the German 4/50,000 norm, but well short of the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain coverage Genesis, Hyundai and Kia bring to the same showroom-floor conversation.

2023 is the model year INFINITI Premium Care arrived, and the QX60 press release led with it — three years of covered scheduled service is among the longest complimentary-maintenance terms in the luxury three-row class, and the 2023–2025 version of the program is materially richer than the pared-back 2026–2027 one (which covers only three oil changes and three rotations). Paired with four years of unlimited-mileage roadside assistance, it is a real ownership benefit rather than a token first-visit coupon.

$58,445 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (39% retained, or about $22,794) leaves about $35,651 in depreciation. Add the projected $4,200 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $39,851 in total.

The 2023 QX60 now has real three-year dependability data rather than a prediction, and it is below the premium-brand average — J.D. Power's own predicted-reliability score of 75/100 sat only in the 'Average' band to begin with, and Consumer Reports docked the redesigned L51's overall score for below-average predicted reliability. RepairPal's low major-issue likelihood is the counterweight that keeps this out of the failing band.

Infiniti is the weaker half of a split record: it finishes below the premium average in the dependability study that covers this exact model year, and Consumer Reports cannot rank the brand at all because too few of its members own one. The offsetting evidence — a 15-place jump to 4th among premium brands in the 2024 Initial Quality Study — measures the first 90 days, not the three-year horizon this item is about.

Three NHTSA recalls for the 2023 model year is ordinary second-year-of-a-redesign activity, and none touch the powertrain, brakes or fire risk; two of the three are fixed by reconfiguring a module rather than replacing hardware. The driver's-seat weld recall is the one with real injury potential, and the 9-speed drew a shift-calibration TSB on top.

The 2022 redesign traded the JATCO CVT — the previous QX60's signature long-term liability — for a nine-speed torque-converter automatic, and kept the 3.5L VQ35DD V6, a member of the VQ family with a well-established high-mileage record. The deduction is for teething on the new transmission: jerky low-speed shifts, hesitation from a standstill and a cold-start 1–2 thunk that Infiniti treated as calibration rather than hardware.

The L51 cabin is the strongest part of the car and unusually rich for its price — the QX60 opens below every mid-size luxury three-row rival yet fits open-pore wood, textured aluminum, stainless trim and quilted leather, with semi-aniline hides on AUTOGRAPH. Reviewers routinely place it alongside the Acura MDX A-Spec and Lexus RX rather than below them.

Assembly is generally tight and reviewers call the fit and finish very good for the class, with Infiniti's sharp climb in initial quality supporting that. It falls short of the top band because the 2023 car carries a genuine assembly-defect recall — seat frame welds failing to hold — which is exactly what this item measures.

Roughly 200 US stores is a materially thinner footprint than Lexus, Acura, BMW or Mercedes-Benz, and thin coverage is a real ownership cost for a luxury vehicle whose warranty work is dealer-only — buyers outside metro areas can be an hour or more from the nearest franchise. Service reputation itself is adequate rather than poor, with Infiniti recognized for dealer responsiveness.

This is where sharing the Nissan Pathfinder's platform, VQ35DD V6 and nine-speed automatic pays off: mechanical parts are high-volume Nissan pieces rather than low-volume luxury ones, and running costs come in near the all-vehicle average instead of the luxury-SUV average. Infiniti-specific trim, the semi-aniline interior pieces and the electronics still carry luxury pricing and dealer-only sourcing, which keeps it out of the top band.

A 12.3-inch InTouch display is standard across the entire lineup rather than being reserved for upper trims, though it is also the maximum available.

Reviewers consistently rate the InTouch system fast, logically laid out and easy to use, with real physical and haptic controls retained — held back only by capacitive touch panels that demand precise fingers.

Wireless Apple CarPlay is standard on all four grades, but Android Auto is USB-tethered only at any price — half the segment's buyers still need a cable in 2023.

Native navigation with real-time traffic and 3D building graphics is standard from LUXE up and feeds ProPILOT Assist's Navi-link, but voice recognition is command-based rather than natural-language, and base PURE gets no built-in nav at all.

A well-regarded Bose Performance 17-speaker system is a $900 option on the volume LUXE trim and standard on SENSORY and AUTOGRAPH, above a competent 9-speaker base with HD Radio.

The volume LUXE trim and above get a full 12.3-inch configurable Dynamic Meter Display; only the base PURE falls back to electroluminescent gauges flanking a 7-inch info screen.

InTouch supports over-the-air infotainment updates — firmware, maps and in-vehicle apps delivered over the vehicle's Wi-Fi connection — but nothing approaching whole-vehicle OTA that adds driving or powertrain features.

The MyINFINITI app covers the core remote set — start, climate, lock/unlock, locate, vehicle status — with three years of InTouch Premium included, but there is no phone-as-key on the 2023 QX60 and remote start is absent from the base grade.

Six USB ports reach all three rows (seven on AUTOGRAPH) and Qi wireless charging became standard on every grade for 2023, with a 120V household outlet from LUXE up — though the third row is Type-A only.

Proximity entry works at all four doors and the liftgate with capacitive touch sensors and push-button start standard, plus a standard power liftgate that goes motion-activated from LUXE up — the only gap is the absence of any phone-as-key.

Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection plus front and rear sonar are standard from the volume LUXE trim up, and a Smart Rear View Mirror is optional — but there is no automated parking system.

A large 10.8-inch color head-up display is orderable on the volume LUXE trim as part of the $1,500 Vision Package and standard on AUTOGRAPH — available below the top of the range, but still a paid option where buyers actually shop.

The QX60's signature family feature is a second row that tilts and slides for third-row access with a child seat still installed — a genuine segment differentiator — backed by a top IIHS LATCH rating and a standard power liftgate; the 14.5 cu ft behind the third row is the one real compromise.

Top-tier crash credentials — IIHS Top Safety Pick+ and a 5-star NHTSA overall — paired with automatic emergency braking, rear automatic braking, blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert standard on every grade including the entry trim.

Tri-zone climate with headliner vents for both rear rows, USB ports in all three rows, second-row sunshades and a quiet cabin make long hauls easy for the first two rows — but there is no rear-seat entertainment and only 14.5 cu ft of luggage space when all seven seats are occupied.

ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link is standard from the volume trim up and the naturally aspirated V6 is easy to modulate, but reviewers report lazy downshifts and jerky tip-in from the 9-speed in normal mode, and firm impacts over broken city pavement.

22 MPG combined from a naturally aspirated V6 that requires premium unleaded makes this one of the more expensive ways to commute in the class, with no hybrid or four-cylinder option to escape to.

A 38.1-foot turning circle is genuinely tidy for a 198-inch three-row and Around View Monitor with front and rear sonar is standard on the volume trim, but the vehicle is 86 inches wide across the mirrors and reviewers flag a curving hoodline and shoulder blind spots.

A unibody luxury crossover with no bed and a 6,000-lb tow rating that is locked to a single configuration — SENSORY AWD with the $900 Tow Package — so the volume LUXE trim cannot be factory-equipped to tow at all.

The VQ35DD V6 is a long-serving, well-understood Nissan engine and the 9-speed automatic is a conventional torque-converter unit rather than the outgoing CVT, but the QX60 is a leather-lined luxury vehicle with no fleet presence and no wear-friendly interior option.

A 120V household outlet, cargo tie-downs, roof rails with accessory crossbars and an underfloor cargo trunk cover light hauling, but there is no washable interior, no meaningful onboard power and no upfit ecosystem.

A quiet cabin, Zero Gravity front seats and standard ProPILOT Assist with Navi-link make it a capable interstate cruiser with roughly 400+ miles between fills, but the premium-fuel requirement, firm impacts over expansion joints and an unsupportive second row keep it short of the class benchmark.

Intelligent AWD sending up to 50% of torque rearward plus a Snow drive mode make it genuinely competent on gravel and winter roads, but 6.7 inches of ground clearance, a 15-degree approach angle and trim-gated towing keep it firmly in the graded-road-and-bike-rack tier.

Flexible folding — a sliding 60/40 second row and 60/40 third row with power return on upper trims — plus an underfloor trunk and roof rails handle bulky gear well once the third row is down, but 41.6 cu ft behind the second row trails the roomiest rivals.

Sharper than the outgoing QX60 thanks to quick initial turn-in, and secure at normal speeds, but body roll builds noticeably when pressed and at least one tester found it short of sure-footed in the wet.

Speed-variable electric assist is accurate enough to place the car confidently but transmits little of what the front tires are doing, and Edmunds finds it slow and heavy on top of that.

Large ventilated discs with dual-piston front calipers resist fade and hold up under repeated hard use, but Consumer Reports' instrumented panic stops came in unimpressive — notably on wet pavement.

Swapping the previous generation's CVT for a 9-speed torque-converter automatic was a decisive improvement in feel, but calibration still shows through as lagging tip-in and reluctant downshifts outside Sport mode.

The naturally aspirated V6 is smooth and pleasantly voiced under load with none of the drone the outgoing CVT produced, and it is well isolated from the controls at cruise.

A 38.1-foot turning circle is respectable in absolute terms for a 198-inch, 114.2-inch-wheelbase three-row, though it lands mid-pack against the SUV field as a whole.

Wide adjustment range — 8-way power with 4-way lumbar standard, power tilt/telescoping column and memory from LUXE up — and a commanding seating height, undercut by a curving hoodline that hides the front corners and thick pillars that hurt shoulder visibility.

Paddle shifters, a Sport mode and a willing V6 give it more character than the CVT car it replaced, but numb steering, noticeable roll and a 7.4-second 0–60 leave it a competent cruiser rather than a vehicle anyone seeks out a detour in.

The $50,395 PURE is unusually well equipped for a base luxury three-row: genuine leather on the first two rows where most rivals fit synthetic at this price, a panoramic moonroof, LED headlights, power liftgate, tri-zone climate, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay, newly standard wireless charging for 2023, and the full standard driver-assist set. What keeps it out of the top band is that the items buyers most associate with a luxury badge — ProPILOT Assist, the 360-degree camera, ventilated seats, navigation — all wait until LUXE, $6,050 up the range.

Content-for-price is the QX60's clearest argument: it opens below the MDX and tens of thousands under an X5 or GLE, and a loaded AUTOGRAPH AWD at $66,695 delivered buys semi-aniline leather, open-pore wood, a 17-speaker Bose system, a head-up display and captain's chairs for less than a mid-spec German. The 295-hp naturally aspirated V6 and nine-speed automatic are the ceiling on the score — rivals deliver more capability per dollar on the powertrain side, with turbo and hybrid options the QX60 simply does not offer.

Four evenly spaced grades — PURE, LUXE, SENSORY, AUTOGRAPH — each available with Intelligent AWD gives eight configurations across a $16,300 span, which covers the budget range sensibly. The gap is depth rather than breadth: one engine, one transmission, no hybrid or performance variant, and a thin factory options sheet (a Bose package, a Vision package, a tow package restricted to SENSORY AWD, and paint) means there is little room to configure around a grade.

The second-generation QX60 is a genuine success story in relative terms — US volume climbed from 16,574 in 2022 to 21,827 in 2023 and on to 27,808 in 2024, making it comfortably Infiniti's best-selling model and the engine of the brand's 2023 recovery. In absolute segment terms it is still a mid-pack player: the Acura MDX outsold it roughly two to one in 2023, and the Lexus and German entries sit further ahead again.

Infiniti sits in the second rank of US luxury brands — a shrinking lineup and roughly 46,000–65,000 annual deliveries against Lexus's several hundred thousand — and the QX60's own five-year retention of about 39% is the market pricing that reputation directly. The offsetting evidence is real but narrower: the QX60 topped its segment in J.D. Power's APEAL study, which measures how much owners like the car once they have it.

Scored on buyer benefit, the QX60 does well: Infiniti supports it with cash rebates and subvented lease programs, and documented 2023 transactions ran roughly 8–9% under sticker before rebates. It is not a fire sale — through the tight-inventory stretch of 2023 many dealers held closer to MSRP — which is why it lands short of the top band rather than in it.

2023 is the second year of the L51 second generation that arrived for 2022 as a ground-up replacement for the nine-year-old L50, so a 2023 buyer faced essentially no redesign risk. It is a light content year rather than a refresh — standard wireless charging on every grade, a frameless rearview mirror, revised lower-bumper accent colors, and Premium Care.

The consistent reviewer verdict is 'pleasant, well-made, not the one to buy': U.S. News ranked it 11th among 2023 luxury midsize SUVs at 7.6/10, Edmunds concluded there were 'too many small shortcomings' to make it fully competitive, and The Drive titled its review 'There Are Better Choices'. The awards that do exist are real but narrow — an IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+ earned against the toughened 2023 criteria, and the prior year's APEAL segment win — with no comparison-test victories or 10Best/NACTOY recognition.