Compare the2024 Toyota CrownVS 2024 Infiniti Q50

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Crown have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Infiniti Q50 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its 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 Crown 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 Crown 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 Crown has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats 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 Crown 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.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Crown. But it costs extra on the Q50.

The Crown’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Q50 doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Crown 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.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Crown its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 67 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Q50 is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”

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 Crown’s warranty.

The battery on the Crown is in the trunk, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures that can degrade battery life. By keeping the Crown’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Q50’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are better in initial quality than Infiniti vehicles. With 18 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Toyota higher than Infiniti.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 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 above average in long-term dependability. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Infiniti is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Infiniti vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota second in overall reliability. Infiniti is ranked 13th.

The Crown Platinum’s standard 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 50 lbs.-ft. more torque (400 vs. 350) than the Q50 Red Sport 400’s standard 3.0 turbo V6.

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

Regenerative brakes improve the Crown’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Q50 doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Crown’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. The Q50 doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Toyota Crown higher (7 out of 10) than the Infiniti Q50 (3). This means the Crown produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Q50 every 15,000 miles.

The Crown has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Q50 doesn’t offer a CVT.

For better stopping power the Crown’s standard brake rotors are larger than those on the Q50:

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Crown has standard 19-inch wheels. Smaller 18-inch wheels are standard on the Q50 Luxe. The Crown’s optional 21-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels on the Q50 Sensory/Red Sport 400 AWD.

The Crown 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.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Crown is 2.6 inches wider in the front and 1.9 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Q50.

The Crown has 2 inches more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, .7 inches more rear headroom, 3.8 inches more rear legroom and .6 inches more rear hip room than the Q50.

The Crown has a much larger trunk than the Q50 (15.2 vs. 13.5 cubic feet).

The Crown’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 Crown and the Q50 have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Crown 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 Crown’s headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Q50’s headlights are rated “Marginal.”

Both the Crown and the Q50 have standard heated front seats. The Crown Limited/Platinum 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 Crown Limited/Platinum 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 Crown has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Q50 doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Crown Platinum’s Advanced Park can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Q50 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Toyota Crown and the Infiniti Q50, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Toyota Crown outsold the Infiniti Q50 by over three to one during 2023.