10 Japanese luxury models owners report problems with

Acura, Infiniti and Lexus carry reputations for polish, yet their owners still file complaints, and the tallies vary widely from one model to the next. The counts here come from CarComplaints.com, where owners self-report problems, so they reflect reports rather than measured failure rates. Ten models below show where those reports pile up.

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1. Acura MDX: Acura’s Biggest Tally

MDX owners filed 421 complaints, the most for any Acura model, according to CarComplaints’ Acura page, which also names the 2016 MDX among the brand’s worst models.

A shopper weighing a used MDX could treat the 2016 model year as the one to research first, checking its complaint history before making an offer. A high count may also reflect how many of these vehicles are on the road, so it works best as a prompt for questions rather than a verdict.

2. Acura TSX: A Long Complaint Tail

TSX owners filed 166 complaints, a figure listed on Acura’s CarComplaints page alongside the brand’s other models.

A count by itself does not say what went wrong. Anyone shopping for a TSX would want to look at which specific problems the reports describe and how they spread across model years before drawing a conclusion about the car, since a total can hide a lot of detail. Owners already driving one can use the same approach, searching the model’s complaint listings for the issues that match symptoms they have noticed.

3. Infiniti QX60: A Pricey Transmission Shudder

QX60 owners filed 68 complaints, and the Infiniti complaints listing puts the average cost of a 2014 QX60 transmission shudder at $6,900 at 110,000 miles.

That figure is an average of owner-reported repairs, not a quote, and it applies to the 2014 model year specifically. Anyone considering a used QX60 of that vintage could ask for transmission service records, since the repair cost is steep next to the modest complaint count. Because the repair figure is tied to a single mileage point, owners of other model years should not assume the same cost applies to their own car.

4. Infiniti Q50: Two Years Flagged

Q50 owners filed 55 complaints, and CarComplaints’ Infiniti ranking lists both the 2014 and the 2015 Q50 among Infiniti’s worst models.

For a buyer, that narrows the search: the two named model years are the ones to scrutinize first. Pairing the listing with a vehicle history report and a pre-purchase inspection is a sensible way to test whether any particular car has shown the problems owners describe. That the two years are singled out suggests the problems are not spread evenly across the nameplate, which is useful when comparing one Q50 against another.

5. Infiniti G35: An Early Warning Year

G35 owners filed 52 complaints on Infiniti’s problem listings, where the 2003 G35 is among the brand’s worst models.

A car from 2003 is now more than two decades old, so any example has had years of wear and probably several owners. Buyers drawn to the G35 would do well to ask what repairs have been done and let that history count for more than the badge. Its 52 complaints are close to the Q50’s 55, which shows how tightly the Infiniti totals cluster on this list outside the QX60.

6. Infiniti QX56: Smaller But Notable

QX56 owners filed 46 complaints, the smallest tally among the Infiniti models on this list, per CarComplaints.com’s Infiniti data.

A lower count may reflect fewer vehicles sold or fewer owners reporting, so it should not be read as proof of reliability. The figure mainly gives a baseline for comparing with the QX60 and Q50 numbers, with the same caveat that every report is self-submitted by owners. It is a reminder that rankings built from owner reports shift with sales, age and how willing owners are to log a problem online.

7. Lexus RX 350: Lexus’s Top Complaint Count

The RX 350 has the most complaints of any Lexus, with 130 owner reports on CarComplaints’ Lexus page.

Even the most-reported Lexus sits well below the Acura MDX’s 421, so numbers across brands are not directly comparable without knowing sales volumes. Used RX 350 shoppers can read the specific problems behind the 130 to see whether they match the car being considered. Owners who already drive an RX 350 can still benefit, since the same listing helps in spotting issues worth raising at a service visit.

8. Lexus ES 350: Melting Dashboard Repairs

ES 350 owners filed 121 complaints, and a 2008 ES 350 melting dashboard averages $2,500 at 99,000 miles, according to the Lexus complaint listing.

The dashboard problem is tied to the 2008 model year in the listing, so owners and buyers of that year are the ones to check. The $2,500 figure is an average of reported repair costs, meaning an individual bill could land higher or lower than that. Owners of other ES 350 years can use it as a reference point, while checking whether a similar problem has been reported on theirs.

9. Lexus IS 250: Ninety-Two Owner Reports

IS 250 owners filed 92 complaints, a count recorded on CarComplaints.com’s Lexus listing.

The summary behind this entry gives no single headline defect for the IS 250, so the number mainly signals that owners reported enough issues to merit a look at individual complaint threads. Checking those threads against a specific model year would give a buyer more to go on than the total. That approach is more useful than rank alone, since the IS 250’s count lands between the ES 350’s 121 and the LS 460’s 61.

10. Lexus LS 460: Fewest Lexus Reports Here

LS 460 owners filed 61 complaints, the lowest of the four Lexus models on this list, based on the CarComplaints Lexus page.

A smaller tally can simply mean fewer cars in circulation, so the number says little about how any single LS 460 will hold up. A used buyer would still be wise to review the specific complaints and the service history before committing to a purchase. Its 61 reports also sit at less than half of the RX 350’s 130, which shows how widely the Lexus totals spread.

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