2004 Infiniti QX56 problems & reliability
106 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2004 Infiniti QX56, alongside 1 safety recall campaign. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
3 complaints report injuries (3 injured).
Federal crash records (FARS 2020–2023): 2004 Infiniti QX56 vehicles were involved in 3 fatal crashes with 3 occupant deaths. Involvement counts are not adjusted for how many are on the road and do not imply fault or a vehicle defect.
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Service Brakes → | 33 | 31% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic → | 32 | 30% |
| Electrical System → | 16 | 15% |
| Air Bags → | 10 | 9% |
| Engine | 5 | 5% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 5 | 5% |
| Visibility | 5 | 5% |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 4 | 4% |
| Power Train | 4 | 4% |
| Steering | 4 | 4% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Common symptoms owners describe
Keyword analysis of complaint narratives; one complaint can describe several symptoms.
Mileage when problems occurred
Half of the failures with a reported odometer reading occurred by 87,000 miles (middle 50% between 30,000 and 115,000 miles), based on 89 complaints that included mileage.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“My wife was driving home from work, said brake is failing, makes loud grindy, rattling noise when brake is applied. Once the car is turn off and back on, everything is back to normal. When I got home, i took the wheels off to check everything was ok, pads were almost new, which I replaced last year. Drove around for…”
Service Brakes · filed Jul 5, 2024
“The contact owns a 2004 Infiniti QX56. The contact stated that the vehicle would fail to start up after multiple attempts with several unknown warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. In addition, he stated that the vehicle would intermittently stall while driving at various speeds with several unknown…”
Engine and Engine Cooling · filed Feb 28, 2022
“I was on the highway driving my family from texas to north carolina when I ran into rush hour traffic long the way. I applied the brake to slow the vehicle down, then suddenly the steering wheel started shaking, there was a lound gridding noise as if the engine about to fallout and my brake didnot hold immediately…”
Service Brakes · filed Apr 19, 2021
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
105 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 2004 Infiniti QX56. The 10 most recent:
CERTIFICATION LABEL AND VIN PLATE REPLACEMENT SERVICE INFORMATION Because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “Certification Label” or “VIN Plate/Label” may be needed. HINT: Certification Label =…
ITB09-063C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 13, 2026
INTELLIGENT KEY NOT DETECTED / ENGINE WILL NOT START This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB13-052E · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued May 20, 2024
WINDOW GLASS WARRANTY INFORMATION This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB17-009H · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 30, 2024
REMOVING FOREIGN MATERIAL FROM THE WINDOW GLASS This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB13-007I · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 30, 2024
WINDSHIELD CRACKING This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB09-039K · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 29, 2024
REMOVING FOREIGN MATERIAL FROM THE WINDOW GLASS This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB13-007H · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 27, 2023
WINDSHIELD CRACKING This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB09-039J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 27, 2023
WHEEL BEARING COLLISION DAMAGE This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB10-067C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 22, 2023
DTC P0456 CAUSED BY EVAP LEAK AT VENT CONTROL VALVE O-RING This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB17-042E · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 7, 2022
INFINITI; FRONT SONAR PARKING SENSOR SERVICE INFORMATION This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
ITB16-006A · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 24, 2021
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 2004 Infiniti QX56 has 1 NHTSA recall campaign — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 2004 Infiniti QX56?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.
- · Owners most often reported problems around 87,000 miles — budget accordingly if the car is approaching that mileage.