Nissan VQ37VHR: The Reliability File on a 332-hp Naturally Aspirated V6

The VQ37VHR is the engine you buy when you want a naturally aspirated V6 that revs to 7,500 rpm, sounds like a small Le Mans car, and isn't trying to sell you a turbo failure in five years. It's been in production from 2008 to 2020. Nissan put it in the 370Z. Infiniti put it in the G37, M37, FX37, and the early Q60. It also sits in the FX37 that later got renamed QX70 — which is how a lot of European buyers end up here without realising they're shopping for the same engine that's in a sports car.

It has a reputation. Some of that reputation is real. Some is borrowed from the older VQ35DE, which had genuine problems and lives in people's minds.

Here's the actual file.

The numbers

Specs first, because most online write-ups round them.

VVEL is the key piece of tech. Variable Valve Event and Lift — Nissan's mechanical-electronic system that varies both the timing and the lift of the intake valves, replacing the throttle plate for most of normal driving. It's the reason the engine has the throttle response it does. It's also the reason the part of the cylinder head where it lives is not cheap if you need to touch it.

CVTC is the simpler variable cam phasing on the exhaust side. Standard Nissan tech, no horror stories.

Where you'll find it

• Nissan 370Z (Z34) — 2008–2020. 332 bhp standard, 339 bhp on Nismo.
• Infiniti G37 — 2008–2013. 328 bhp standard, 348 bhp on IPL.
• Infiniti M37 — 2011–2013, sold as Q70 from 2014.
• Infiniti FX37 / QX70 — 320 bhp in this application; same engine, softer tune.
• Infiniti Q60 (G37-platform) — 2014–2015. The Q60 became a different car with a twin-turbo VR30 in 2016, so anything Q60 from 2016+ is not a VQ37VHR.

Same engine block across all of them. Same problem set.

What actually goes wrong

I'm going to be specific about mileage, because that's the only thing that matters when you're looking at a used one.

Oil consumption (almost universal, almost harmless)

The VQ37VHR drinks oil. Not in the catastrophic Audi 2.0 TFSI EA113 sense — in the "you check the dipstick every 1,500 km or you get a low-oil light eventually" sense. Forum data and dealer field reports converge on about 1 quart per 1,000–2,000 miles as normal. Some cars are tighter than that. Few are looser.

Two things to know:

1. Nissan considers up to ~1 qt / 1,200 miles within spec. It's documented in TSB language. You won't get a goodwill engine out of them on consumption alone.
2. It does not predict failure. The oil-consumption-to-engine-failure correlation on this engine is weak. The engines die from being run dry, not from consuming. People who top up don't have problems.

If you're buying one, the test is simple: check the dipstick. If it's at minimum and the seller hasn't topped up, that's a behavioural signal, not a mechanical one.

Timing chain — the most-feared, least-real problem

This is where the reputation borrowed from the VQ35DE comes in.

The 350Z's VQ35DE genuinely had timing chain tensioner issues. Owners would get a hard rattle on cold start and the conversation went straight to "is the chain about to jump." That stuck.

The VQ37VHR is a different engine. The chain assembly was redesigned. Forum-aggregate evidence — the kind you get when you read 2,000 posts across 350Z-tech, the 370Z Forum, MyG37 — points to timing chain issues being significantly less common than on the VQ35DE, and largely concentrated in cars over 150,000 km that weren't oil-serviced on schedule.

What you'll hear if it does happen:

• Rattle on cold start that lasts 2–4 seconds and fades as oil pressure builds
• Sometimes a slightly rougher idle for the first 10 seconds
• Eventually persistent rattle under part-throttle

What it costs if you do nothing: catastrophic if the chain skips, but that's rare. Most cases caught at the cold-start-rattle stage are a tensioner and a small guide. ~€800–€1,500 at an Infiniti specialist in the EU.

Oil galley gasket — the pre-2013 footnote

Early-build VQ37VHRs (roughly 2008–early 2012 production) have a documented oil galley gasket failure mode. Symptom: external oil weep at the back of the engine, sometimes worsening on track use.

Two things:

• It's a gasket, not an engine teardown. €400–€800 fix.
• 2013+ production cars rarely show it. Nissan revised the gasket design.

If you're shopping a 2009–2011 G37 or 370Z, factor it in. If you're shopping 2013-onwards, it's not the thing to worry about.

Water pump (the boring one)

Standard interval thing. Plan on water pump replacement around 100,000–120,000 km. ~€600–€900 done with the auxiliary belt at the same time. If you don't pre-empt it, the failure mode is coolant loss + temp spike, not a destroyed engine. But replacing it before failure is cheaper than the towing.

Catalytic converters

VQ37VHRs run hot. EGTs on the way out of the head are high. Two known consequences:

1. Cats degrade faster than on a comparable Toyota V6
2. P0420 / P0430 codes are not unusual past 150,000 km

OEM cats are not cheap (think €1,500+ for one side in EU spec). Decent aftermarket cats are €400–€700 per side and work fine for road use, though they may throw codes intermittently if the back O2 sensor is sensitive.

What I am not going to scare you with

• No widespread head-gasket failures. Aluminium block, aluminium head, decent thermal management.
• No bottom-end failures from normal use. Forged crank, sintered rods, oil galley pressure-fed. The engine doesn't lunch itself.
• No DSG-style transmission concerns — the engine is bolted to a Jatco automatic or a manual; both have separate, well-understood track records.

The 2013 cut

If you only remember one date from this post, remember 2013 model year.

• 2013+ cars are noticeably more reliable than 2008–2012 cars.
• Oil galley gasket fixed.
• Misc. minor revisions (cooling, fuel rail) that show up in fewer warranty claims.

A 2013 or 2014 370Z / G37 / FX37 at ~80,000 km is a sweet spot for the engine. The car has been through its early-life teething period, the major wear items haven't all come due yet, and you're past the gasket-revision cutoff.

Maintenance that actually preserves the engine

I'm going to be opinionated here, because most maintenance pages on this engine are generic.

The two items most owners skip: brake fluid, and getting the auto trans fluid done. The Jatco 7AT (RE7R01A) is fine if it gets a fluid change every 80–100k km. It's not fine if you treat the "lifetime fill" sticker literally.

What a sensible used VQ37VHR buy looks like

If I'm walking a customer through a 370Z, G37, or QX70 (which is what the Infiniti FX37 became in this market) with this engine, the checklist is:

1. Service history. Continuous Infiniti / Nissan stamps to at least 80,000 km. After that an independent is fine if they did the right oil.
2. Cold-start listen. Cold engine, full 30-second listen. Rattle that fades = light tensioner watch. Rattle that doesn't fade = walk.
3. Oil consumption. Ask. If the seller says "none," that's either a lie or they top up without remembering. Both are fine. Just know you'll be buying oil.
4. 2013-onwards build date. If the option is there at your budget, take it. Pre-2013 isn't disqualifying, just price it accordingly.
5. Exhaust smell at idle. Sulphur / rotten-egg smell is failing cats. Negotiate.
6. VVEL noise. Light whirr from the front of the head at idle is normal. Loud whirr or rattle is not.

Plug yours into the analyzer and it will spit out the same checks alongside the price band:

The bottom line

The VQ37VHR is one of the last great naturally aspirated V6s. It is not a fragile engine. It is not the timing-chain bomb the older VQ35DE was. It does drink oil, and that has fooled people into thinking it's worse than it is.

A 2013-or-later example, oil-serviced on schedule, with a documented water-pump replacement around 100k km, will go to 250,000+ km without anything dramatic. The risk profile is "boring stop-watch maintenance," not "wallet-evaporating teardown."

If you're choosing between this and a turbo six from any German manufacturer at the same money — the German car is faster and feels more modern. The VQ37VHR is the one you can drive hard for ten years and not budget a €5,000 engine-out repair into the calendar.

I know which I'd rather own.

Image credit: VQ37VHR engine photograph from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons.