Timing is everything, in life and in the automotive world.

For us, it is the difference between avoiding an accident on the interstate or being involved in it. It is the difference between winning that brand new plasma TV door prize or being behind the guy who wins it.

For an automaker, timing is the difference between selling all the vehicles you can make and making more vehicles than you can sell.

Nissan’s timing didn’t seem to be off when it introduced the Infiniti QX56 as a 2004 model. SUVs were hot, and Cadillac’s Escalade had become the vehicle of choice for all sorts of celebrities.

A large, luxurious alternative such as the QX56 should have been as hot as a close encounter with a sun lamp.

And it was, for a while. Then gas prices started to climb and demand for SUVs – particularly big ones – began to fall. Then the economy tanked, and demand for nearly all vehicles fell even more.

As a result, Nissan managed to sell just 253 QX56s last month. It sold nearly 10 times that many in a typical month just a few years ago.

It’s no wonder Nissan has announced that the 2010 QX56 will be the last one built in the U.S., although a company spokesman said there are currently no plans to discontinue the model. Who knows; maybe there’s a market for them in Dubai or Qatar or somewhere.

Around here, I know of at least one person dying to buy a 2009 QX56 like the one I recently tested. Unfortunately, my son Brandon is only nine years old and will need a much larger piggy bank to cover its $61,865 cost.

But like the similarly sized Toyota Sequoia I wrote about a few months ago, Brandon loved the QX56. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that vehicles such as the QX56 are such an endangered species they may not be around when he’s old enough to get his license.

It would be easy to dismiss Brandon’s passion for Infiniti’s big luxury vehicle as childishness, but in some ways it helps explain the incredible popularity SUVs enjoyed not so long ago.

For example, Brandon doesn’t have a job, doesn’t have to commute to work and doesn’t have to pay for the gas used by his school bus or the vehicles his mom and dad drive. So it doesn’t bother him that the EPA says the QX56 will go only 12 city or 17 highway miles on a gallon of gas. I averaged less than 13 mpg overall during the week I drove it.

That wasn’t a big deal for most consumers, either, when gas cost around $1 a gallon and global warming was just a rumor. But when pump prices climbed over $4 and when folks started believing that the ice caps really are melting (and Hoboken becoming a beach resort probably isn’t a good thing), fuel-thirsty SUVs lost their luster pretty quickly.

Size is another area in which a nine-year-old’s perception of the QX56 helps explain the waning popularity of big SUVs. Brandon loved the roominess and grandness of the Infiniti. Perched in its second row, he had room for snacks, a handheld game system, and even a few DVDs to watch on the QX56’s entertainment system. Despite his size, he had a commanding view of the road even when he sat in the vehicle’s third row.

But it doesn’t bother Brandon that the Infiniti’s size isn’t necessarily a good thing for the person driving it. When you’re operating a vehicle over 17 feet long that takes 41 feet to turn a circle, parking lots are harder to navigate and parking spaces harder to find.

Its standard rearview camera and sonar backup system help the driver dock the QX56 into one of those spaces. But parking it in any space – or the average home garage – can feel like trying to jam a Size 12 foot into a Size 8 shoe.

We lived with those shortcomings when gas was cheap and we could afford to drive a vehicle that can transport seven people, haul a ton of cargo, or tow an 8,500-pound trailer. But the sobering reality of paying $112 or more at each fill-up (based on filling the QX56’s 28-gallon tank at $4/gallon) made us question whether we really needed to haul, tow, or transport that much.

We’ve also learned to live with a little less comfort than the QX56 provides. Its wishbone rear suspension and robust construction make the Infiniti a comfy and quiet cruiser. It also handles well for a vehicle that weighs over three tons and is almost 6-1/2 feet tall.

But smaller crossover SUVs such as Infiniti’s EX35 are more responsive, more nimble and generally more fun to drive.    

It’s difficult explaining that to a nine-year-old, but not to someone who pays the bills. Especially when you consider that the $61,865 QX56 I tested costs nearly twice as much as a nicely equipped EX35.   

For a small percentage of people, the asking price for the plush QX56 and the cost to keep it fueled is irrelevant. I know one such person, but he’s only nine and won’t be buying a vehicle any time soon.

 

NUTS AND BOLTS

 

WHAT IS IT? 2009 Infiniti QX56, a full-size luxury SUV.     

WHAT DOES IT COST? QX56 starting prices are $55,050 and $58,150 for 2WD and 4WD models, respectively. Options and delivery fee hiked test vehicle’s MSRP to $61,865.

WHAT I LIKED BEST: Power, comfort, luxury.

WHAT I DISLIKED: The cost of buying and fueling it.

WHO’S IT FOR? Consumers who won’t be intimidated by the cost of the vehicle or the possible criticism from others.

IMPORTANT NUMBERS: 5.6-liter, 32-valve, V-8 produces 320 horsepower, 393 lb-ft of torque. 5-speed automatic. 6,011 pounds. 123.2-inch wheelbase. Cargo volume 20/61.4/97.1 cu. ft. behind third/second/front rows. 10.8-inch ground clearance. 8,900-lb towing. 12 city/17 highway mpg (EPA). 0-60 in 7.6 seconds (stopwatch).
 

About the Author

Scott Wasser is the managing editor for the Times Leader. Reach him at (570) 970-7162 or swasser@timesleader.com.

Scott Wasser is a previous Vice President of News. He currently serves as executive editor of the Portland Press Herald as her continues to write an auto column for The Times Leader.

Wasser has worked at newspapers as diverse as the Stuttgart Daily Leader in Arkansas and the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. His Times Leader tenure began in 1983, when he was hired as the newspaper’s sports editor. Over the next decade, he turned the newspaper’s sports section into one of the most recognized in the nation as it was annually named one of the best daily and Sunday sports sections in the country.

Wasser left the sports department to become assistant general manager and online editor of The Times Leader’s website during the infancy of the internet. He left The Times Leader in 2000 to become online editor of the Wilmington (Del.) News Journal. Just prior to returning to The Times Leader in 2008, he was editor-in-chief of a national magazine covering home theater and other consumer electronics.

But Wasser says his proudest accomplishment is having driven and reviewed over 1,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles since he started writing a weekly car column for The Times Leader in 1988. The column, which runs in print on Saturday and online here, has appeared in several other newspapers, and Wasser has contributed auto-related content to national publications including “Road & Track” and “Open Road” magazines and “USA Today.”

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