In the days before everyone cut the cord and turned their living rooms into a jungle of streaming platforms, I used to watch television like a normal person. I’d find a show I liked, get well invested—really commit emotionally—and then… boom. Cancelled. Every time. Without warning. Without mercy. Just gone.
Now, of course, there are more streaming services than there are squirrels in Central Park. You’d think that with infinite content and unlimited choice, things would be better. But no. The curse lives on. I’ll finally discover a show that doesn’t insult my intelligence or make me wish for the sweet release of a power outage, and four episodes in—poof. Discontinued. Disappeared. Axed without ceremony and buried in the “expiring soon” graveyard of content.
And sadly, this affliction has found its way into my garage, too.
Cars I’ve loved, cars that made sense—or didn’t, but in the best way—all quietly taken behind the barn. The Alfa Romeo 4C? Gorgeous, irrational, and completely impractical. I adored it. Gone. The Ford Focus—especially in its ST and RS forms—was a blue-collar hot hatch hero. Gone. The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk was a 707-horsepower rocket ship with a lift kit. Completely insane. Also gone. And every last Scion, which may have been slightly weird, but weird is good. Weird had personality. Weird had guts.
And now we must add another to the tombstone.
The Infiniti QX50.
I had my first week with one back in 2019 and immediately liked it. Then came the 2020. Then the 2023, which added a “Sport” trim that didn’t actually improve performance, but it looked more aggressive—gloss-black trim, dark 20-inch wheels, semi-aniline leather, and a 12-speaker Bose stereo that made even AM radio sound halfway decent.
Over time, Infiniti trimmed the fat from the lineup—Sensory and Autograph trims quietly vanished—but they made AWD standard, which was a good call. What they didn’t do, however, was update the tech. That odd two-screen center console felt futuristic when we were still excited about 3D TVs. But by 2023, it looked like someone had glued two iPads to a microwave.
Still, when I climbed into the 2025 QX50 last week, I remembered why I liked it in the first place. It still ticks all the right boxes. It’s the Goldilocks of luxury crossovers—just the right size. Big enough to haul your groceries, hockey sticks, and three of your taller friends, but not so big that you need to dial in clearance angles to get through a Chick-fil-A drive-thru.
It looks sharp, rides comfortably, and doesn’t feel like a punishment to drive. It’s not trying to be a BMW. It’s not pretending to be something it’s not. It’s just… right.
But none of that matters.
Because 2025 is the end of the road.
That’s it. No redesign. No next-gen. No electrified resurrection. Some C-suite inhabitant, probably named Brad or something equally yacht-clubby, sat down in a meeting and issued a memo that likely included words like “synergy,” “streamlining the brand,” and “consumer-focused strategic realignment.” A memo that, when you strip out all the MBA jargon and meaningless pie charts, basically says: “We’re done here.”
It probably ended with something like, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” Which, ironically, is exactly the kind of nonsense that kills off interesting cars. Because here’s the thing: good cars—really good cars—often do have an ‘I’ in them. Identity. Individuality. Infiniti.
So here we are. The QX50 is heading off into the sunset, not because it’s bad, not because it stopped selling, but because it didn’t fit whatever flavorless five-year plan the marketing department cooked up after too much LaCroix and not enough horsepower.
So if you’re in the market for one, go and get it. Now. Before they’re gone. Because soon, the QX50 will join the automotive version of those great shows that were cancelled too soon—remembered fondly, missed dearly, and replaced by something that’s probably a crossover with no buttons and a name that sounds like a Bluetooth speaker.
Another good car, cancelled before its time.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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