Let me start this one out with a story:
Back in 1998, my parents purchased a slightly used 1996 Nissan Maxima GLE to replace their aging 1986 Olds 98 Regency Brougham. It was a great car in its day, and my parents lovingly drove it for 18 years... until yesterday. My dad was coming back from the grocery store, and he got T-boned by someone who blew a stop sign at full speed. My dad and I spent all day in the ER yesterday, and thankfully he's alright, but the Maxima is done. 
My dad has been recently looking for an excuse to get a new car to replace their aging Maxima, and as fate would have it, he now has the chance.
Lately, he's had his eye on the Infiniti Q50 with AWD. He doesn't like the new Maxima (we had a 2014 Maxima rental last year on a trip and he didn't like the CVT), but he really likes the looks of the Q50. My sister had one as a loaner while her Infiniti was in the shop, and he loved the thing.
So, any of you guys have any experience with the Q50? All I know is that they have that weird "steering-by-wire" system that people seem to hate. My dad says in his research, he sees people complaining about the nav system. They really want an AWD/Auto one. My dad's got bad knees, and my mom can't drive stick, plus they could use AWD for getting out of their steep hill of a driveway in the winter.
Learn me!!!
(Thanks in advance!
I had to look it up via wiki but Q50 seems to be the new name on the old Infiniti G37 sedan.
Lots to like!
In reply to JohnRW1621:
Kinda.
It more or less replaced the G37.
Since your father keeps cars a long time, he may not be as bothered by the huge depreciation of Infinitis.
This is not the type of car you want to finance with little down. It could get totaled early and you find yourself upside down on the loan. Gap insurance is offered for those cases.
Might he consider something "of lease"; 2-3 years old?
Large savings to be had.
JohnRW1621 wrote:
Since your father keeps cars a long time, he may not be as bothered by the huge depreciation of Infinitis.
This not the type of car you want to finance with little down. It could get totaled early and you find yourself upside down on the loan. Gap insurance is offered for those cases.
Might he consider something "of lease"; 2-3 years old?
Large savings to be had.
Oh yeah, he's not buying a new one. I forgot to mention that. He wants a CPO car, and I've seen a few ex-lease cars that fit the bill. Also, my sister is in the business, so she can find him a car no problem. It's a matter of the "POS" factor. I know a fair bit about the G37 because he was looking into those too, but after he checked out the Q50, I think he likes that more.
The toughest sell is my mom. She has very strange taste and is borderline insane, and I say that in the most loving way possible. She will come home saying "I saw a car to day that I LOVE!!!" and then we have to play charades with her for a couple hours before we figure out what the hell she was talking about. She has even resorted to drawing pictures. Her favorite cars over the years have ranged from the Jaguar XKE, to the Nissan Juke, to the 370Z, to the Hyundai Tiburon, to the Saturn SC2 and most recently, the Bentley Continental Convertible. She is all over the map. She HATED the Maxima when they bought it and thought her Olds 98 was a much better car, but by the end, she loved it more than any car in existence.
Also, she rates a car's total performance with how quick it is "off the line". Her famous last words are "I don't care, my car will beat your ______ OFF THE LINE!!!" She claimed the Maxima was faster than both my WRX's, and pretty much everything else on the road, because to her it was faster "off the line".
They should include this essential stat in instrumented magazine tests. 
Since used, how about the larger and classier M37, now Q70, I think.
Same 3.7 engine and I'll bet with depreciation, hardly any more expensive, used.
Edit: Above I made a statement so I figured I had better back up the statement with facts. Sure enough, I headed to Autotrader and found.
I saw you were in MA so I just picked Boston for greatest selection.
2012 CPO M37 w/ 30k miles ask $28k
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=02115&endYear=2017&modelCode1=M37&showcaseOwnerId=576152&makeCode1=INFIN&startYear=1981&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=25&showcaseListingId=418465378&mmt=%5BINFIN%5BM37%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&listingId=407271176&Log=0
2013 CPO G37 w/ 30k miles ask $25k
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=02115&endYear=2017&modelCode1=G37&showcaseOwnerId=576152&makeCode1=INFIN&startYear=1981&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=25&showcaseListingId=418465378&mmt=%5BINFIN%5BG37%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&listingId=421008894&Log=0
I don't have much to add other than the colors Malbec Black, Chestnut Bronze and Graphite Shadow are some of the better colors on any cars.
JohnRW1621 wrote:
Since used, how about the larger and classier M37, now Q70, I think.
Same 3.7 engine and I'll bet with depreciation, hardly any more expensive, used.
I think they want to be in the mid $20k range. I can only find one Q70 near us, and it's $43k. They are nice though!
Sorry to hear about the wreck, glad he's doing alright. I don't know if the Q50 is still built on the FM platform? But if he wants CPO, either a late G37 or M37 could be a great buy. You can get a low mile '11-'13 G37 for well under $20k, or the M37 for low-mid $20's. They share the same platform, powertrain, etc...with the M being more luxury focused. Damn nice cars. The interior is a bit dated IMHO, but not horrible.
It is still the FM chassis. The steering is better in 2015+ than the 2014 model. They are trying steering by wire and have had teething issues. The feel was pretty bad the first year.
Too bad he can't wait till the 2016 are CPO. They are getting the revised steering and the dual turbo 3.0L in either 300 or 400HP trim.
To me they are one of the best 2-3 year old CPO buys out there. They are priced right and it has a pretty healthy warranty even without the CPO at 4/60K bumper to bumper and 6/72K powertrain.
I've read about the dumb steering-by-wire system and still don't get it. All I read is that it feels weird compared to other contemporary sport sedans when pushed to the limit. Put it this way, they are used to diving a 1996 Nissan Maxima. How bad can it be?
