1999 Q45: Oppo Review & First Pictures

"Noah - Now with more boost." (antriebverliebt)
08/31/2015 at 13:25 • Filed to: q45, oppo review

With a $49,900 MSRP, the Q45 was the most expensive Infiniti you could buy in 1999. That’s $70,000 in 2015 dollars. I paid $4,400 for it. Depreciation is a beautiful thing; this car has 116,000 miles on it, and it’s in fantastic condition. Everything works. The A/C is instant, and it’s so cold that I have to ratchet the climate control up by a few degrees every so often if the system has been on for a while. The sunshade still slides up and down on its ludicrous scissor arms, and when I press the “sport” button, the magnetic ride control adjusts the dampers.

Value: 10/10

Aesthetics: 7/10

The nineties were a tough time for car design. Bulbous organic shapes were the status quo, so many cars from that time period (I’m looking at you, Ford Taurus) have not aged very well. I refer to the nineties as the “Seed Pod Era.” Some cars, however, escaped that trend through the utilization of minimalism and carefully-chosen body lines. 90s BMWs and Audis are prime examples of this phenomenon. This car too. I am of course a little biased, but I think the 1999 Q45 looks pretty damn good given how old it is. The simple styling masks the car’s size very well (nearly 17 feet long) and I love the buttress-like curvature of the rear window.

I replaced the stock grille (nasty black plastic) with a genuine OEM Nissan grille, which is what the car was actually designed around. Which makes me a JDM bro, I guess? The black grille did not suit the lines as well, and it made the car look exactly like a Hyundai XG350. I’m glad I replaced it! That was an expensive piece of shiny plastic, but I think it was worth it. I smile every time I look at it.

Driving Dynamics: 6/10

It’s a 4100 pound boat! With 266 horsepower and 278 lb/ft of torque from a 4.1 liter V8. It’s quick, but certainly not fast. And the body roll! It’s immense. That said, it’s definitely faster than my old E24, which was just as heavy and far less powerful. Furthermore, the magnetic ride takes the edge off of the body roll when you turn it on, and if you turn the O/D off at the same time, you’re now driving a sports boat. First and second gear are a lot of fun, especially if you turn the traction control off.

Ride Quality: 8/10

Not bad! But it needs new rear springs. However, the soft suspension, the tall sidewalls, and the long wheelbase iron out most bumps. At highway speeds, I feel like I’m driving a cloud. It’s silent, smooth, and outrageously comfortable. Passing is a lot of fun too. On slower roads though, the tired rear springs make the rear of the car float like a 50s Cadillac.

Features: 10/10

It’s a luxo-barge! That’s the point. The trunk closes itself if you don’t get it right the first time, and the power antenna lives in its own chrome-plated holster. What else do you want? How about a power rear sunshade, heated memory seats that remember the steering wheel position too, and a 6-disk CD changer in the trunk. Not enough for you? Then you order the touring package, which comes with magnetic ride, 17” alloys, and a silly oversized boot spoiler. I’m sure the car’s designer was not pleased when he saw the misshapen lump of a spoiler the marketing gurus taped onto the back of the trunk. I’m into clean, uninterrupted lines, so I took it off. Pro tip: the nastiest thing under your rear deck spoiler is probably not the paint. Its the ancient industrial-strength double-sided tape! Which you have to remove with an ivory scraper (your nails) because anything else will scratch the paint. After I took care of that, there were four bolt holes in my trunk. The solution? I happened to have 4 rubber plugs that fit into those holes so tight, I had to pull them in from the other side. They’re the perfect temporary solution while I await my order of body filler + Nissan KR4 touch-up paint (Titanium Metallic):

Interior: 8/10

The interior is very nineties. The climate control buttons are massive and randomly arranged, and the gear selector is that awful 90s ergonomic shape the Japanese were into during that decade. Also, I think the amusingly ostentatious Infiniti clock looks very cheap. But those are my only complaints. The seats are wonderful and the interior is silent. The leather has held up incredibly well. I don’t think the other owners had friends, wives, or dogs. There are no tears or blemishes. The interior looks exactly like it did in 1999. I love the way my wood-flavored plastic wraps around the entire cabin, from the door cards, to the dash, and back again:

The hides are so soft you’d think they were redone at some point. And I’m a little obsessive, so I conditioned the leather as soon as I got the car. It’s SO fresh now:

The back seat is a very nice place to be. The leather-covered center arm rest folds down, and the lid opens up to reveal cup holders and more storage:

Audio: 7/10

I’m an audiophile and this thing has Bose sound system, so that’s good. The bass is impressive (there must be a sub) but the speakers are old, and the tape deck MP3 adapter sounds like garbage. It hisses and crackles like a phonograph. AND it does the strangest thing: the tape deck picks up a whining noise from the engine at higher RPMs, and I can modulate the noise with the volume knob!? WTF? I need a CD case ASAP. And a double-DIN nav screen… but that can wait! I don’t want to interrupt the 90s OEM vibe just yet.

Efficiency: 6/10

It supposedly gets 22 highway /17 city, which I’m sure I could achieve if I drove like I wasn’t a car enthusiast. Which never happens. I don’t hoon this thing, as I’m already very attached to it. But I do take advantage of the torque. This car is all about wafting. Rolling onto the throttle from a stop results in the smoothest accelleration I’ve ever experienced. This V8 feels like it’s a big, silky-smooth straight six. So I get around 15 MPG. Do I care? Yes, I feel a little guilty about buring up all that juice, but hey – it’s my hobby. And the Q has a 20 gallon gas tank.

Exhaust Note: 9/10

Oh no! Someone hacked off my rear silencer and welded in two meticulously bent “test pipes” that hang from the original exhaust mounts. The horror! Now my car sounds like an old Audi S8. I can’t hear anything with the windows up, but when they’re down, I’m grinning like an idiot. I love the low-rpm burble the little V8 makes under normal driving circumstances.

Quirks: 6/10

This car wishes it was German. But it has Nissan badges all over the place! Which will remind you of rice beer, if you’re into that sort of thing (Asahi). Also, the door cards are ruched, and I’m not Richard Hammond, so they just look wrinkled and poorly assembled to me. The engine also gets a little hot if you push it beyond 100 MPH at full throttle. Whoops! I won’t do that again, that’s for sure.

Recap:

Value: 10/10

Aesthetics: 7/10

Driving Dynamics: 6/10

Ride Quality: 8/10

Features: 10/10

Interior: 8/10

Audio: 7/10

Efficiency: 6/10

Exhaust Note: 9/10

Quirks: 6/10

Total: 77/100.

DISCUSSION (16)

jjhats > Noah - Now with more boost.
08/31/2015 at 13:39

looks like a nicer ls400. nice car, enjoy

Noah - Now with more boost. > jjhats
08/31/2015 at 13:43

Thanks! That was the idea; the 1UZFE in an LS400 needs a timing belt every 60k.

Party-vi > Noah - Now with more boost.
08/31/2015 at 13:45

Kinja'd!!!

Missing a part here, specifically the whole bottom of your fascia.

spanfucker retire bitch > Noah - Now with more boost.
08/31/2015 at 14:11

Kinja'd!!!

That’s a nice Merc you’ve got there.

Noah - Now with more boost. > Party-vi
08/31/2015 at 14:13

Yep! It was registered in NYC, so I like to imagine that something exciting ate it, like a raised man hole cover. I bet it was broken in the middle. Someone lopped it off on both ends with a sawzall. Fortunately, that piece of the fascia is recessed and normally not visible.

Noah - Now with more boost. > spanfucker retire bitch
08/31/2015 at 14:16

Thanks! This old Datsun is pretty fancy, that’s for sure

jariten1781 > Noah - Now with more boost.
08/31/2015 at 14:48

“the tape deck picks up a whining noise from the engine at higher RPMs”

You got a ground loop. PITA to fix, stick with the new deck plan.

The Q45 holds a special place for me. Everyone praises the LS as the car that made them say: “Hey, maybe the Japanese can build something I’d want to be in”; I was not impressed. To me, it felt more like what Buick would have become if not constrained by the 70s cuts and GM inertia more than a rival for the Europeans. One of the other kids on the soccer teams father bought one of the early (weird belt buckle in place of grill) Q45s. That car did it for me. It was so quirky (the early active suspension was so weird) and charming.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Noah - Now with more boost.
08/31/2015 at 14:49

Old luxobarges, unite!

Noah - Now with more boost. > jariten1781
08/31/2015 at 14:55

The first gen is so strange! In a great way. And way faster than this one, amusingly. More powahhhh because the V8 is actually a 4.5 not a 4.1

Noah - Now with more boost. > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
08/31/2015 at 14:59

Land Yachts FTW!

Joe F > Noah - Now with more boost.
08/31/2015 at 15:16

thank you for this! I love this era of Japanese cars (say, starting around ‘88 and through the 90’s). They were hungry and had something to prove. The Q45 was a well respected car back then but in retrospect gets overshadowed by the bigger (probably earlier as well) impact that Lexus made.

I often wonder how these have held up - thanks for the detailed write up and enjoy this thing.

Noah - Now with more boost. > Joe F
08/31/2015 at 15:18

Thanks for the kind words Joe! And “hungry and had something to prove” is a great way to think about it, I like that.

POC360 > Noah - Now with more boost.
09/02/2015 at 00:41

Nice car and writeup!

Good to see other Q’s in the wild and in super condition.

I’m a proud owner of a 98 Q45t. It’s on an original 61k and getting better with age. The car is so refreshing to drive and the V8 is silky smooth - oh and that torque! like buttah. Coil Packs only maintenance item in 3 years.

I love my Qship

Noah - Now with more boost. > POC360
09/02/2015 at 17:33

61k?! NICE that’s epic mileage. Any tips? Things I should replace/check on? I’m going to find a q45 forum and ask the same question haha

POC360 > Noah - Now with more boost.
09/24/2015 at 19:23

Hey - check out NICO - it’s all about preventative maintenance on these and there’s an active community with some real guru’s still helping us.

Yeah the car is sweet - in fact - I received two compliments on my car just today (granted one was at Infiniti dealer for my oil change / check up) one was a random at a stop light.

After 4 years of ownership I can’t really think of anything to watch. I do oil changes ever 3 months (jiffy lube) went to dealer today because they run a special and it includes a real multi point inspection.

Whatever you do always stick to oem parts. I put a k&m filter and the MAS didn’t like it.

Keep up on the fluids and Also make sure you download and read the field service manual for your year of Q. If you stick to it’s maintenance schedule you’ll enjoy your ride for years to come.

Cheers!

Noah - Now with more boost. > POC360
09/24/2015 at 22:41

Thanks!