2009 Infiniti FX50: Theeeeeeeyyyyyy'rrrrrrrrrre Baaaaaaaaaack

It's just an annoyance in this Infinity 50,000K luxury crossover, but if this was a Q5 or Q7 everyone that had a pre 2006 Audi they would be chiming in about how horrible the reliability is.

The needles aren't orange, they're red.
(;

Those gauges look too clown-like for a luxury vehicle. I can see them looking seriously outdated in a few years.

@bimmerjay: they're white digits with red needles and a subtle blue ring. Other than Mercedes, whose gauges are understyled, everyone else seems to have taken their gauges into outer space, or need to bring them up out of the 1980's

Yet another speedometer that compresses the useful part into way too little space. Given that these are computer-controlled speedometers, if they're going to be the automotive equivalent of crotch-stuffing by conveying far more speed than the vehicle is actually capable of, they should at least start counting in greater increments over, say, 100MPH (some vehicle I've seen recently does this but I don't remember what... Audi?)

"@bimmerjay: they're white digits with red needles and a subtle blue ring. Other than Mercedes, whose gauges are understyled, everyone else seems to have taken their gauges into outer space, or need to bring them up out of the 1980's"

I've seen them in person. Maybe clown-like is an overstatement but the blue is pandering to a trend that is bound to be short-lived.

Understated elegance seems to be largely lost on the American public.

Guys... aside from being a little light on infomation, the guages are fine. Nice to see a little colour for a change.

Aside from cx7lover and myself, isn't anyone even slightly curious about the electrical failure that causing the warning lights to come on?

That instrument cluster is nearly identical to my friend's Nissan Altima.

Who would have thought that so many long term road test readers would be professional gauge designers.

hehe 19k on my 2008 x5 and no problems at all.

jeffal, the only similarity to the altima is the white numbers and red needles. the layout is completely different.

The VDCoff light is just a result of you turning it off though isnt it? thats what it usually takes so why not just turn it off? then its only 2 lights

ya, usually an owner would call the dealership instantly the moment a safety system warning light comes on and bring it in the same day within minutes to hours.

But these are rev happy street autocrossing cowboys who actually prefer not having VDC, so they like the light to stay on.

So more power to the light staying on! That means no stability control! You know the entire Edmunds staff prefers it this way.
In fact, don't get it fixed.

Rear active steer? Nobody liked rear active steer, on a BMW or an Infiniti.

Traction Control? nobody likes no wheelspin on launch.

Don't fix this the official way.
Find the wire to the warning lights and cut it.

@ bimmerjay: How are the gauges overstated? Aside from the addition of a blue hue, what exactly seems to be the issue here?

Also these gauges aren't just for the North American market. So what this has to do with Americans is beyond me.

I've heard of this happening before (on G35s). With the abnormal use that your long term fleets see, have you all had a chance to take a look at the brakes/brake fluid level? Just a thought.

@dkhm3: Of course no problems with your X5 yet! Remember, German vehicles only have issues after the warranty expires. Good thing my A4 has a 100k mile warranty or else my steering would fail.