Compare the2022 Toyota AvalonVS 2022 Infiniti Q50

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Avalon have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Infiniti Q50 doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Avalon are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q50 doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Toyota Avalon has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q50 doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Avalon has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Q50 doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Avalon has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Q50 doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Both the Avalon and the Q50 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Avalon is safer than the Infiniti Q50:

	Avalon	Q50
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	162	225
Neck Stress	220 lbs.	223 lbs.
Neck Compression	6 lbs.	45 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	3 Stars
Chest Compression	.8 inches	1 inches
Neck Injury Risk	25%	48%
Neck Compression	64 lbs.	85 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Avalon is safer than the Infiniti Q50:

	Avalon	Q50
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.8 inches	.9 inches
Abdominal Force	156 lbs.	262 lbs.
Hip Force	318 lbs.	320 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	41 G’s	46 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	19 inches

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Avalon the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 145 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Q50 has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Avalon for 2 years and 25000 miles. Toyota will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Infiniti doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Q50.

There are over 6 times as many Toyota dealers as there are Infiniti dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Avalon’s warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are better in initial quality than Infiniti vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota 13th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles, Infiniti is ranked 21st, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Infiniti vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota fourth in reliability, above the industry average. With 39 more problems per 100 vehicles, Infiniti is ranked 23rd.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Infiniti vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in reliability. Infiniti is ranked 11th.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Avalon gets better mileage than the Q50:

			MPG
Avalon
	FWD	XLE 3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/32 hwy
		3.5 DOHC V6	22 city/31 hwy
Q50
	RWD	3.0 turbo V6	20 city/29 hwy
		Red Sport 400 3.0 turbo V6	20 city/26 hwy
	AWD	3.0 turbo V6	19 city/27 hwy
		Red Sport 400 3.0 turbo V6	19 city/26 hwy

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Toyota Avalon uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Q50 requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Toyota Avalon higher (5 out of 10) than the Infiniti Q50 (3). This means the Avalon produces up to 16.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Q50 every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Toyota Avalon, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a seven-speed automatic is available for the Q50.

Tires and Wheels

The Avalon has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the Q50; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed.

Suspension and Handling

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Avalon is 2.3 inches wider in the front and 2 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Q50.

Chassis

The Avalon Touring uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Q50 doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Avalon has 4.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Q50 (104.3 vs. 100).

The Avalon has 2.6 inches more front hip room, 1.6 inches more front shoulder room, .7 inches more rear headroom, 5.2 inches more rear legroom, 2.3 inches more rear hip room and 1 inch more rear shoulder room than the Q50.

Cargo Capacity

The Avalon has a much larger trunk than the Q50 (16.1 vs. 13.5 cubic feet).

Ergonomics

The Avalon Limited/Touring has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, tachometer, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Q50 doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Avalon’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Q50’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Avalon and the Q50 have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Avalon is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Q50 prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Avalon’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Q50’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Marginal.”

Both the Avalon and the Q50 have standard heated front seats. The Avalon Limited/Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Q50.

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Avalon Limited/Touring keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Q50 doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Toyota Avalon offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Q50 doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Avalon owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Avalon will cost $2985 to $13165 less than the Q50 over a five-year period.

The Avalon will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Avalon will retain 46.36% to 47.7% of its original price after five years, while the Q50 only retains 41.03% to 45.59%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Avalon is less expensive to operate than the Q50 because it costs $18 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Avalon than the Q50, including $237 less for a muffler, $28 less for a fuel pump, $188 less for front struts and $848 less for a power steering pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Toyota Avalon will be $10497 to $29998 less than for the Infiniti Q50.

Recommendations

The Toyota Avalon has won recognition from these important consumer publications:

	Avalon	Q50
Consumer Reports® Recommends	TRUE	TRUE
Car Book “Best Bet”	TRUE	FALSE

The Toyota Avalon outsold the Infiniti Q50 by 44% during the 2021 model year.