Infiniti Q30 Diesel

I purchased Q30 1.6D as brand new with love at first sight.

With its design, GLA based body and handling - there was little to think about, except.... It only strike after short period of ownerships with few lists of items.

First, space is definitely an issue with this car, which appears to be decent from the outside, but the inside is very cramped especially the back seat.

Also it lacks compartments and storage to keep items in the car.

Visibility is also poor - had to adjust to check blind spots.

Last and foremost... Its seat position is very awkward - I was suffering from knee and back pain.

In terms of reliability, I had to send the car to a shop for repairs almost every 6 months. Check engine lights from sensor gone wild (stopped in the middle of highway in Malaysia and towed back to SG), ABS sensor faulty twice.

On the positive side, it handles really well in turns, high speed and in bad weather situations.

Fuel economy is excellent for combined 5.5/100km in average.

and... The look never disappointed me for any moment I owned it.!

Got the premium version about a month ago. One of the most comfortable drive I have driven. The suspension system and brakes dampens enough of the impact to make most humps and braking soft. The Bose sound system was great. Loved the exterior styling. The interior was luxurious with almost the entire dashboard covered with leather. The diesel engine gave extremely good fuel consumption. I achieved 19-20km/l on my first two tanks. Only bad point was the outdated head unit. It only gave the most basic bluetooth connection; Phone calls, sms and music, can't access messages on apps like whatsapp etc. The maps for the navigation are also way outdated. Roads near my home were already in use for a few years but are not charted on the maps.

Test drove the Q30 Diesel base model.

All I can say that it's very suitable for city driving due to the size and handling.

Acceleration wise is a bit pushy, gota floor the accelerator but power isn't too great.

Doesn't comes with Bose stereo system but stock stereo system is well above average.

The engine noise made by Q30 diesel is definitely lower than some diesel engines from the conti range.

Great car to own at this price if you compare to some Jap makes. Yes, this is Jap as well but at least a premium one.

Test driven this recently.

First looks is sporty and a head turner for sure. The sporty exterior design sure gets your attention easily.

The aerodynamics of the body contouring certainly makes it sporty, combining the hot hatch with a crossover.

The interior comes with premium leather seats, feels luxurious too with the push start chrome look, similar to Mercedes Benz. Same for the releasing of handbrake, though is a pretty dated latch release type.

With the aerodynamic exterior design, it somehow sacrifices the rear look from the mirror. Should a big or tall guy sits behind, th back view from rear mirror is covered or blocked.

The drive...At normal mode, seems little pushy and draggy feel though gear changes are good. Maneuver this fellow is easy as it is like driving a Mini.

Pickup is average but feels kinda underpowered despite its a 1.5L turbo Mercedes engine beneath the hood, compare with similar capacity ones of other makes.

On the return drive, changed to sports mode where the pickup improves and gear changes improved too but the underpowerness is still there.

Not many gadgets that you will see in this chap too like no blind spot assist. Only front collision assist.

Overall, the looks of this car does somehow captures minds who wants a Mercedes engine with premium feel without the need of a deep pocket.

However, you will need to bear with the back mirror thingy and the underpower in return. And no too sure of the parts availability though sales say it shares with Nissan.

An update on my review of the basic model.

A few things to note:

There is NO keyless at all (sgcarmart info says "Yes"). You need to take out the remote key to unlock the doors and put into the ignition to start the engine

There is no electric side mirror at all. You have to manually fold the mirrors with your hands (this is not mentioned in the features list and I did not ask cos i thought this is like very basic)

Also found that there is a lack of storage space compared to my previous Jap/Korean cars.

The above not withstanding, the drive itself has been pretty good. Handling is impressive too. I am surprised i can still take fast corners as i used to do with my BC-equipped, lowered Veloster turbo wearing UHP tyres.

Love the 7speed DCT (i just hope it's not going to have reliability problems in the future).

Would advise all potential buyers to consider the premium model instead unless you really don't care about the above "Frills".

My car was a management unit that was 7 months old and already the windshield washer nozzle is not working and the driver side door handle cover came off. Hope this is not an indication of its quality elsewhere.

Lastly, sad to say I did not have the best experience with Wearnes.

Likely to go back to Jap/Korean after this.

Not having any craving for any "Luxury" Brand, I was a bit uninterested when my friend wanted to test drive this car, but when I myself took a turn at the wheel, I was impressed in some areas but not in others.

Interior... Well, what can I say... This is an A-Class in disguise, isn't it? But some things are lacking in what should be a luxury car... No electric seats? No keyless entry and start-stop button, or reverse camera in base models? Come on!

Handling and steering are subjective. For me, as many have mentioned, the steering feels a bit elastic or "Gluey". At low speeds, the bumps can be felt, but as it gets up to speed you will feel the ride improve. That's good, because the car feels kind of weird, like it wants to be sporty when in reality you'll think of it as a soft cruiser that soaks up the bumps.

Most people will be curious about the engine: When revved, it is quite smooth and you won't really know that you're driving a diesel. But from the outside, it can't be disguised.

The 7-speed gearbox also makes quite smart use of the engine's torque. But still, it is a 1.5-ton car, so... Of course it cannot match the 2-litre version in performance, but neither can the 2-litre version come close in FC. All in all, it's a matter of whether you like cruising or whether you believe luxury car means must "Chiet" People at the traffic lights.

Summary: if you're looking for a comfy diesel cruiser that won't take 15 mins to vertical park, and can go to KL and back for the weekend, this should be on your list. But if you need a coherently sporty car that wears the word "Luxury" On its sleeve, or if you feel upset that a $12x car doesn't even have features like keyless and push start-stop, don't even consider.

I had earlier test drove the premium version (see earlier review) and now went back for the base model. Base on the price difference, I chose the base model. Yes quite a bit of features are missing yet when i was driving it i was totally happy and did not feel i was driving a "Basic" Car in anyway. For eg although there is no "10 speaker BOSE sound system" The normal sound system sounded much better than other normal sound systems i heard in cars around this price. The dashboard still has normal leather instead of alcantara and for me i actually prefer normal leather than alcantara. Some of the other stuff like absence of fog lights, chrome tail pipes, etc are not things that you will feel when driving - its just cosmetics. The only thing I will need to get used to is no keyless - but since i can save almost $10k, for me it's acceptable.

Test drove the 1.5 turbo diesel premium and really loved it. No "Diesel clatter" At all when inside the car, not even when i rev a bit hard. Nice plush interior and excellent ride. Lots of nice features like the Bose sound system, alcantara leather, electronic handbrake, etc. The main drawback is no electric seats (which is why features only get 4 stars instead of 5). Al things considered, at the time of my test drive it was priced at $128k which i consider to be excellent value for money. Infiniti might not be a Lexus but for me, it is certainly still at least one notch above the other mainstream Jap/Korean brands.

Decided on this car because it's the only Japan brand diesel car, and it's got good looks in my opinion. Driving alone usually for about 100km per day, so was contemplating with other suv like xtrail , vezel, kadjar. Walked into the showroom, when it wasn't on my list, and decided upon it.

After driving for weeks , i understand it better and feel it's growing on me that's it's a very good car that fits my needs

1) high seating position for SUV feel , suits me as i wanted something other than a saloon car

2) excellent suspension, eats up the bumps and humps superbly in my opinion

3) diesel economy good for long distance travelling

4) it's a Merc inside has ample and sturdy controls. External looks better than the competition in my opinion. Come 2018 don't think there will ever be such car at such price point anymore.

5) have upgraded to the higher spec at a good price for the leather seats, led intelligent light, keyless , navigation, autofolding mirror , reverse cam, back and zonal aircon...

6) safety wise is 5 stars. And you feel safe in this 1480kgs car... 7 airbags, auto emergency braking, all-round sensor , solid doors, all seat belt sensor , tyre monitoring ...

7) power steering is speed sensitive , but has been gunned down by critics as "Glutinous" . But this feature is available in some high end cars...

Just bought the Q30 as my family car. Reasonably size for a family of 3 and that is about the most you can go for this car. Changed from a Nissan Latio to this car, and the cabin is substantially smaller but a lot more luxurious. Was looking at the Honda Civic and Mazda which is around this price range before I committed to buy this car. Randomly walked into the showroom at LengKee and signed on the spot after the test drive after the sales lady gave us a decent deal.

No regrets so far buying this car. The FC is simple amazing and more so its a diesel. The extra road tax can easily be saved by the amount saved from petrol.

Would recommend this car to people looking to buy a fun and good looking car to drive with the quality of continental cars.

I just bought the basic Q30 diesel 1.5 litre car. My family and I fell in love with this car immediately when we stepped into the showroom. We have been looking around for the past 5 months and shortlisted Honda Hr-v, vezel, shuttle, K3, Altis, Elantra. We finally decided to go with Q30 because of its super attractive outlook and it's diesel.