Review;
I am going to finally Gather all of the photos and videos I took during the process and talk over them for a youtube video. It wont be the best youtuber format but due to life situations I rather just get the video out there to help people and then redo it like a influencer later lol.
I have been driving the vehicle for a while now and I love it. Everything works as it should save for a few things that I have mentioned previously as well as some I forgot to mention. Since I havent worked much on the vehicle since my initial completion I will leave this as a review/overview until I get back to work, In the time being I may make a few posts to trouble shoot a issue here or there. I am very familiar with this platform, coming from various G's, Q's, and Z's, I know how Infiniti's feel and given that this vehicle is misaligned and has a wheel issue it is no different in experience. I honestly love how smooth it feels. I cant really attest to the engine and trans currently as it has that issue but even with it driving is pretty smooth, cruises when I want it to, power when I need it, all around very nice especially for a SUV where even with similar engines feel lackluster in performance and pick up. Its not a sports car as we all know but I dont feel like im in a heavy large car.
Interior:
The ride interior is comfortable, I do have a bunch of stuff on the seat but besides that its comfortable, im still dialing in the drive position that I want to have as since it sits different with the ride height im used to I cant be in my regular position. Infiniti seats are notorious for being noisy when moving and prone to tears and cuts and all around fading and looking bad etc. Thats why I always put seat covers so find some that you like and are comfortable and maybe have some back support and you should be good. The material for the dashboard is super sensitive, Ive never put a cover on it but my previous vehicle had a cover that was not put on by me and honestly didnt bother me, I might do it just to make it last longer so we shall see.
Infotainment:
I have to sit down one day and play with every option in the radio, There is a LOT of stuff you can do in there and also theres developer menus that you shouldnt mess with etc. I specifically want to take a look at the audio settings it has and whats up with the whole music box feature lol, Whoever previously had the vehicle has a lot of songs on there so Im going to see about clearing it out to see if it runs better with more free memory, not that its running bad now but rather keep it open if im not using it. Besides that I like the backup camera its cooler than my other vehicles since it has that 360 feature and I can switch to the front camera when needed, gotta test if I can do so while in motion and I wish that I could switch to the backup camera when I want but that only kicks on in reverse. The camera quality however sucks so im going to see if theres any settings I can play around with in there. Also going to look to see if theres any way I can bring up the reverse camera when not in reverse as there was a trick to do so with the Q50 in motion and this would purely be for if I get a flame tune lol (This is a VQ). Besides that its the same infotainment thats been around since like 2007 or so, yea we got more features but its the exact same setup so not much to talk about. Again going to see if the Q infotainment fits, It should im more so concerned with the wiring but yea. The navigation I havent tried yet but just the map itself is very ugly, the color way sucks in both modes and is different than the updated versions so kind of a eyesore, I usually leave it on the music screen. With that I dont know why they dont make the background etc black instead of the silver grey color they have throughout the menu. All of it makes it feel old like a old windows vista PC. Theres also the map update that you have to pay for. I thought it was stupid initially and that I wouldnt need it but since my area is being developed fairly quickly a lot of the roads and neighborhoods I go to dont exist on the map that it currently has so going to look for a solution. Im pretty sure anyone with the updated map system could upload the info online so I can download it to the sd. Regardless the update is not available via infiniti anymore and its not worth the hassle of going anywhere beyond that since android replacement screens exist and are infinitely better. I however have had my heart set on a tesla screen upgrade for the longest time so may do that before bothering with anything else.
Dislikes:
Unfortunately I do have a lot of things I dont like about the vehicle. As much as I love how the car looks that and the VQ is the only things I really love, everything else left much to be desired. Ignoring things that can be easily changed such as the infotainment and headliner color I still have decent issues. The reason why I got the qx70 was because it was the engine I wanted, a platform I was familiar with, and it was bigger than the sedans I was used to. The QX70 Almost hit the head on the nail with being a great SUV, it comes with roof rails, has a SUV esque trunk, the vehicle looks bigger than a sedan, but thats when it stops being a suv. The trunk space leaves much to be desired. It has the same space in the trunk as my Q50 or G37 length wise, possibly even less with the way the rear seats are setup. There definitely is vertical room but your not taking advantage of it without stacking stuff or having that second rack so not ideal on both fronts. If the rear was just a bit longer like 6 more inches then it would have been perfect. Were also losing room with how thick the trunk gate is so in total its not that much more room in the trunk. Same thing with the interior. Im disappointed with how much space is left in the rear seats once everyone in the front is comfortable. its basically the same amount of room I had in my Q or G, maybe a tad bit more leg room but it honestly just looks the same. All of the extra room in the vehicle goes vertically. The center console swallows cards and ID's due to cracks and crevices so thats something to watch out for.
Questions;
I know between a G and this vehicle a lot of the infotainment (If not all) is interchangeable as I had em both at the same time, with that I wonder If I can just swap out a Q's interior into this for the dual screens etc.
I purchased a few things to add to the vehicle;
I got the Motor trend weather matts for the time being, Ive used them in all of my previous vehicles, you do need to cut them to fit right but besides that I dont have any complaints about them. There not huge nor laser cut so they leave a lot of the carpet exposed but I usually put them on top of a full form fitting carpet such as the $100+ Diamond stitch carpets. Have not purchased those yet but will soon. I purchased some seat covers for each seat, The only seat thats not new/torn up is the drivers seat. I decided I rather protect all of the seats from the elements and keep them pristine since I spent money and time replacing them, I like to layer my seat covers in 2 steps. First being the seat covers, and second being these water proof towel seat covers that you can put over the seat. Beware the seats for the qx and fx do not come apart in a way were you can properly clip universal seat covers into. Minor annoyance but I have to figure out a way where I can keep the butt section from sliding off. I also grabbed up the seat gap fillers, I used to have a guy that made great custom infiniti ones on ebay but to my dismay I cant find his shop anywhere and I left mine in my car when I sold it by accident. Lastly I grabbed a universal arm rest cover, mainly this is all to ensure the car stays clean after trips to the gym or quick meals, trips, accidents etc.
I am a fan of creature comforts and all around Quality of life upgrades even if not really tasteful, Iv done the whole show car scene and im more so looking for convenience now.
Next purchase (Not Mods)
Dashboard cover Leather - Protects dash and allows for phone mounts that require suction to stay on.
Trunk weather mat - for beach stuff because sand sucks
With that I leave a list of things that I will be working on next and updating with what I did to fix it.
Unsolved;
Wheel wobble - Could be suspension etc
Alignment - waiting to fix wheel issue first
Headliner lights - Dreading this solely because I hate removing the panic handles but I will remove the whole headliner again to see if I missed any connector anywhere.
Balancing audio
volume knob - might test old and new plate
Battery needs to be replaced or parasitic drain
I need to see a qx70 in person because I might have put the rear seatbelts in slightly off as it looks weird to me.
Untested;
microphone
cruise control
trunk outlets
dashboard tweeters - cant tell if on
All buttons and options-
headlights foglights signals breaks - I know they all work but will do a full point inspection
