Infiniti I30 Reliability by Year

Based on 2M+ real complaints filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

345 NHTSA complaints (1996–2004).Complaint rate: 2875.0 per 1,000 vehicles.

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Should I buy a Infiniti I30?

Quick answer from 345 NHTSA complaints · 1996–2004

Infiniti I30 shows elevated crash or fire rates — buy with caution. 11.0% of reported complaints involved a crash — above the ~4% mainstream average. Most complaints relate to airbags. Inspect carefully or consider a different model in the same class.

Years to avoid
Most common Infiniti I30 problem: Airbags32 complaints (15.6% crash-involvement rate).

Keep scrolling for year-by-year complaint trends, recall campaigns, and component breakdowns — or click any year above for a full report.

Why these years are worse

The most common issues driving the complaint spikes:

  • airbags32 complaints (15.6% involved a crash)
  • unintended acceleration22 complaints (22.7% involved a crash)
  • suspension failures19 complaints (10.5% involved a crash)
  • electrical faults17 complaints (0.0% involved a crash)
  • electrical system:alternator/generator/regulator16 complaints (0.0% involved a crash)
Severity Score
67000.0
Complaints
345
Crash Rate
11.0%
Fire Rate
5.5%
Injuries
25
Fatalities

Which Years to Buy & Avoid

Years auto-clustered by complaint volume relative to this model's median.

Rankings based on raw NHTSA complaint counts. Sales volume data not yet available for this model.

Bottom line: Avoid the 2000–2001 Infiniti I30. The 2002–2003 models had significantly fewer reported issues. Most common issue across all years: Airbags.

Avoid These Years

2000–2001
~92/yr complaints · 18 crashes
1998
~61/yr complaints · 7 crashes

Average

1996–1997
~30/yr complaints
1999
~36/yr complaints

Better Years

2002–2003
~3/yr complaints
Looking at a specific Infiniti I30?

A model's reputation is just the start.

Even within the “good” years, individual cars can have hidden accidents, title issues, or odometer rollbacks. Check the actual VIN before you buy — full history report for $4.99 (vs. Carfax $44.99).

Complaints by Model Year

NHTSA complaint count per model year

Common Infiniti I30 Problems

Most reported component complaints to NHTSA. Bar length = volume; color = crash-involvement rate.

Show full table
ComponentComplaintsCrash %
Airbags3215.6%
Unintended Acceleration2222.7%
Suspension Failures1910.5%
Electrical Faults170.0%
Electrical System:Alternator/Generator/Regulator160.0%
Body Structure128.3%
Engine & Cooling120.0%
Engine Problems119.1%
Steering Defects911.1%
Air Bags:Frontal977.8%

When Each Problem Spiked

Year × component heatmap. Darker cells = more complaints that year. Reveals which model years a specific defect concentrated in — useful for spotting redesign-cycle quality dips.

Data Sources & Methodology

Complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation consumer complaint database (345 records for this model). Public domain data, updated monthly.

Sales data: Not yet available for this model. Complaint counts are shown as raw numbers.

Rate calculation: Complaints per 10,000 vehicles sold = (complaint count / US annual sales) x 10,000. This normalizes for sales volume so high-volume models like Civic or Camry aren't unfairly penalized.

Year classifications: AVOID = 1.5x+ the model's median complaint count. GOOD = 0.6x or below. Years less than 3 years old are marked TOO NEW (insufficient data).

See also: Infiniti I30accident & safety statistics from our vehicle history database.

Buying a Infiniti I30?

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