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Infiniti G35 Sedan 2006 and earlier

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Comments

  • peaceofmindapapeaceofmindapa Member Posts: 9
    That is a lot of talk about oil. G-35 people sure are nice and helpful people.

    No one said, unless I scanned over it, anything about the underside guard that you have to remove to get to the oil filter. Anyone have any experience with that? Is it a pain?

    As far as getting someone else to do the maintenance, I will admit I am a bit lazy. I look at it this way though. When I was young and poor, it seemed like I spent more time under the hood than in the driver's seat of my beat up old Datsuns and Colts. By the time I got the grease and oil out from under my figernails, it was time to go back under or in to fix something else. Now I can afford new cars and get rid of them about every 50,000 miles so I should have no problems. If I take my car somewhere for maintenance I always keep the receipt. Helps to have when reselling the car and if I have any problems, I have proof of the work/service performed. I know what you mean about not trusting people with your baby. I guess I'll take the chance with the babysitter though. Good thing I don;t have kids, huh? LOL
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    For those of you who are interested, it is only $3 per quart plus shipping. Works great and appears signficantly better than Mobil 1 and slightly better than Amsoil, while a bit less expensive than either. Schaeffer has been making oil products for >100 years, so they have plenty of experience. From what I understand, they primarily sell to commercial applications (racing vehicles, long-haul trucks, etc.)

    Scott

    PS. I have no financial interest in any companies discussed.
  • dklaneckydklanecky Member Posts: 559
    Scott,

    Have you found a source for the oil analysis you referred to? I'm approaching 100k on my 2000 Maxima SE and would like to do an analysis of how the Mobil One has in fact been holding up, particularly after reading through the "Bobtheoilguys" information.

    I'm hoping for some kind of kit including sample bottle that you fill and send in for the analysis by return mail. All the parts stores around here claim to have never heard of such a thing.

    Thanks
    Doug
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    Doug,

    The name of the guy who does them in on the "bobistheoilguy" web site. Here is the URL:

    http://pub27.bravenet.com/classified/show.php?usernum=2240725418

    The name of the guy is Terry Dyson and is the last classified ad. From re-reading the ad, it appears that the cost is $25 (analysis and explanation/interpretation). Elsewhere on the site is a sample oil analysis and they are fairly easy to understand. My understanding is that you need to save a "hot" (ie. run and well-mixed) sample in a container (don't remember how much) and send that to him. He will analyze and send back the results.

    Also, on the page are some other ads for obtaining either Schaeffer or Amsoil products. An additional bit of information for the following products can be found at:

    Schaeffer:

    www.bobistheoilguy.com/Industrial.htm
    www.schaefferoil.com/

    Amsoil:

    www.amsoil.com

    Hope this helps!

    Scott

    PS. Again, I have no financial interest in any of the mentioned companies.
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    ...Castrol Syntec is widely available at the discounters - its what we have used in all of our cars for the past 10 years, and is the OEM synthetic for BMW. Mobil1 is also widely available, but I prefer the 5-50 viscosity that Syntec can provide.

    These others are excellent, but as noted above, harder to find. If you plan to go with a 5000-7500 mile interval, there is no reason to look too hard when there are easily obtained synthetics right on the shelf.
  • stanny1stanny1 Member Posts: 962
    Castrol Syntec is very controversial. Do some research and you'll find it is probably the least "synthetic" oil you can buy. That's because it doesn't have the polyol esters and/or PAO that "real" synthetic oils have. It's really a "super cracked" Dino oil.
    But it's better than just plain old Dino oil. I just won't pay Syn prices for non-Syn oil.
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    ...we have had nothing but sterling results with Castrol, and BMW evidently agrees. Their new cars are going 10-15k miles between oil changes with it [actually not unusual in Europe - nobody dumps perfectly good crankcase oil as ridiculously often as Americans do]. They also have the test results to prove the oil's effectiveness, but I've found that all discussions about oil border on religious debates, so whatever you want....
  • stebustebu Member Posts: 204
    "...discussions about oil border on religious debates"

    Amen to that. I've never owned a car, that I bought new, for less then 100K miles and several for 140K or more. I do my own oil changes. I've always used whatever oil I find on sale as long as it meets the API service classification and the SAE viscosity ratings my car requires. I follow the manufacturers reccomendations. I've NEVER had a problem.

    Consumer Reports did a study some time ago... they found no reason to buy synthetic unless maybe you own a fleet of taxis. But, it's your money, and like everyone else, you can spend it anyway you choose.

    BTW, I used to use ramps for oil changes but I've had to revert to using a hydraulic hand jack w/jack stands for several of my latest vehicles. It's because of the lower front air dams that many cars seem to have these days. I'm not sure how much clearance the G35 has in front of it's front wheels.
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    "... religious debates" or not, oil does make a difference. My wife and I owned a ($20K) '95 Chrysler Sebring for 90K miles and "religiously" had the oil changed at the dealership every 3000-3500 miles. At 90K miles (actually about 85K) the car was puffing blue smoke during cold starts. This is typically a sign of valve seal wear.

    You can bet that the Chrysler dealerships do not use the highest quality oil (why else would they insist on 3000 mile oil changes these days?) and the car was developing problems (though it still performed great), one of the lesser reasons we got rid of the car. I have no doubt that a better oil and filter combination would have resulted in a lack of the valve seal wear.

    If you want to see the effect of oils, go take a look at the Toyota engine sludge board (not sure if it is open for posting or not anymore). Toyota has been having so many problems with their newer V4 and V6's (not sure if it applies to the 2001 or later models as it is a new engine), but they have had so much of a problem that they are sending out ~2 million notices to owners to let them know about it.

    My in-laws were also "religious" about 3K oil changes with occasional 4K changes. By 50K miles, their engine was so sludged up that the oil drains were plugged and the engine siezed. (Sludge is an accelerating process, due to heat.)

    Their Toyota dealer was adamant that it was thier fault for not having the TOYOTA dealer do the changes. They blamed it on the Texaco station's oil and filters and would NOT cover it under their Toyota extended warranty. It cost them ~$2600 to have the engine rebuilt, by the dealer.

    This is on a car that claims (like my Dodge Durango and the Infiniti G35) that you can go 7000 miles between oil changes, if you meet the "A" schedule driving requirements (they do). The Toyota dealer told them they needed to periodically do "engine flushes" with a cleaner to keep this from happening again... on a 3K oil change interval.

    The good news is that, thanks to something I read on another web site (don't remember the URL), they called the Toyota 800 number for this problem and Toyota USA, after receiving their oil change records, reimbursed them for their out-of-pocket expenses. This is good, but only after they had received much criticism from the Toyota dealership (a typical story).

    Anyway, this is NOT meant to be a tirade against Toyota or Chrysler. It is meant to illustrate the fact that better oils DO make a difference in today's higher performing engines... beyond the, IMO, relatively insignificant cost savings of less frequent oil changes.

    My wife and I expect to have the G35 for another 75K miles (we just hit 6500 after 3 months) and, while we qualify for "A" schedule oil changes, based on driving, want to maximize the engine's life.

    As for BMW running their oil to 10K to 15K, that is due to better filters and a better quality oil (better anti-oxidant and wear ADDITIVES) than your off-the-shelf $.99 specials. Castrol Syntec may be a very good oil, but I'll BET that no BMW dealership will recommend a customer take their oil to 15K miles, regardless of driving habits. I'll also bet that an oil analysis will support that.

    Personally, I'm happy with my choice of Schaeffer's oil. Others are happy with other choices, such as Amsoil, Mobile One, $.99 special, etc. The point of my posts was not to start an "oil religion" debate, but provide information for those people who wanted to base their oil decisions on information, rather than marketing.

    My wife and I LOVE our G35 and want to treat it well, especially after paying ~$35K for it. However, I'm going to base my oil change interval on the results of an oil analysis (that will tell me how well the oil is actually holding up, based on our driving habits) rather than a generic manufacturer recommendation.

    Scott
  • stanny1stanny1 Member Posts: 962
    If you look on the Schaeffer's site, you will see that Castrol Syntec is only a Group 3 oil, not a 4 or 5 like the true synthetics. But I shouldn't have to mention this. It's all over the web and was mentioned in Car and Driver a few months ago.
    I've used Amsoil 10-30 Turbo formulated 100% Synthetic since 1974. My last car went to the junkyard in April 2000, after being hit in the rear and totaled, or I would still be driving it. A rare 1983 Cressida with five speed manual. Had it 17 years since new, would still redline at over 160k on the clock, no blue smoke and no oil usage. And not driven lightly. Changed Amsoil every six months or about 5,000 miles with new Amsoil filter each time. And you could eat off the inside of the valve cover. The outside of the engine stayed cleaner also. And no drips on the floor so the seals never shrunk ( a great myth since the early days of synthetic oil).
    Put what you want in your car, but the best is always least expensive when you talk about the price of engine work. Sludge is water in the oil and Dino oil has water in the can to begin with (also parafin and asphalt, depending on whether it's east or west coast and the parafin is easier to remove). I think the best Dino oil is Kendall GT-1 and I use that for break-in oil.
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    ...religion is less controversial. Whatever...
  • jskhojskho Member Posts: 107
    It was mentioned in another discussion thread that the Amsoil XL7500 is no longer fully synthetic.
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    So far as I know, there is only one 100% synthetic oil (for automotive applications) and it is over $30 per quart (www.synlube.com). The rest are ALL mixed synthetic/petroleum with different % of each.

    For those of you who are interested, here is an explanation of an oil analysis and a sample, at the bottom of the page.

    theoildrop.server101.com/whatisoilanalysis.htm

    Here is a good explanation of oil shear and the problems it causes. This is probably the main cause of the Toyota engine sludge problems.

    www.bobistheoilguy.com/oilshear.htm

    Here is some information about synthetics:

    pub27.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=2240725418&password=&catid=1441&action=showcat

    Hope you enjoy these references and that they assist you in babying your "G"! :)

    Scott

    PS. I have no financial interest in any of the companies/products listed above. :)
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    Wow, it sure has gotten quiet around here. Everyone too busy getting ready for the 4th of July? :)

    Scott
  • baylorbear99baylorbear99 Member Posts: 29
    I'm not sure where this came from, but it has me foaming at the mouth:


    G35 Coupe Info.

  • cybersaxcybersax Member Posts: 18
    Infiniti G35 sales were down to 3,044 units in June, from 3,298 units in May. The Cadillac CTS continues to spank the G35 in sales volume, with 3,477 units sold last month.

    Nissan priced the G35 $5,000 lower than the CTS, and a good $10,000 less than the BMW 330, Mercedes C-Class, etc. Their profit margins on this car must have been miniscule. With the recent 11% appreciation of the Japanese yen vs. the dollar (enough to wipe out a $3,000 profit margin), it's likely that Infiniti is losing money on these cars. Next year, you can count on prices being jacked up on the G35, which will cause sales to plummet even further.

    I think the G35 will be remembered as a car that was popular with the import loving auto rags, but was a financial failure for Nissan/Renault.
  • cheerioboy26cheerioboy26 Member Posts: 412
    supply in my area (DC) is short.....When I picked up my G last Monday at Coleman, there were only 4 left (mine was an order).....sales manager said they aren't willing to deal as much since the inventory levels are tight...leads to good profits. MSRP to invoice difference is 3-4K depending on your options.
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    Well, if the Cadillac CTS is so great, how come it keeps getting SPANKED in almost every review, when compared to the G35? Oh, I forgot, "import loving auto rags", right? It couldn't be that the CTS is an overpriced, underperforming car, could it? The fact that the CTS, or Toyota Camry for that matter (>400,000 cars per year) sells more than the G35, doesn't mean they out perform it.

    In addition, Cadillac is already offering discounts off MSRP (TMV base discount of $800, up to $1600 with comparable options). Infiniti is not having to resort to large MSRP discounts (per TMV) to sell cars. The CTS has a 3% holdback vs. 1% for the G35, an indication of how long the manufacturer expects the car to stay on the lot/how much money they have to put in the dealers pockets vs. discounts at retail. The Cadillac is typically toward the bottom of Consumer Reports reliability statistics, whereas Infiniti is very close to the top. Personally, I expect that the resale of the G35 will be better than the CTS.

    As for the Infiniti begin dramatically less than the CTS ("$5000"), according to Edmunds.com, it appears to sell for about the same base price, but comes with the less expensive manual. With comparable options (pretty well decked out), the CTS is only about $2000 more (MSRP).

    Also, the Infiniti name is not as well known as Cadillac or others. This just highlights that, with the G35 you are getting more for what you pay and are not paying so much of a premium for a name.

    The fact is that Nissan, due to its many new product releases, is in the black. This after many years of bleeding red. This could hardly happen if they were losing money on every sale...

    Wish they had some SOLO II around here as I would just LOVE to see a Cadillac CTS competing against me... :)

    Anyway, I guess you like your CTS. Congrats! Keep telling yourself that when the next G35 blows by you... :)

    Scott
  • pcoatespcoates Member Posts: 15
    If you didn't happen to see the Motor Trend Television review on SpeedVision last night, it was great... if you're a G35 owner. The comparison was between a Cadillac CTS, BMW 330i and the Infiniti G35. All three were automatics, so it could be argued that it was more of an apples to apples comparison than most of the others. Anyway, the G35 smoked them in all categories.

    Phil
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Member Posts: 363
    "Wish they had some SOLO II around here as I would just LOVE to see a Cadillac CTS competing against me... :)"

    You have never autocrossed before have you? Why do I come up with this assumption? Because everybody I know who actually does autocross regularly knows that when you have two cars that are similarly performing, it WILL come down to driver skill. Also, everybody I know who does autocross knows that horsepower is about as important as who makes your shift knob.

    So even with my minimal experience with SoloII, I can assure you that nobody gets frightened when they see your G35, and just the same, nobody gets frightened when they see a ferarri. AutoX is set up almost perfectly for any auto enthusiast...may the best DRIVER win. Not "May the best driver with the best gear win."
  • r1_97r1_97 Member Posts: 181
    Very impressed with handling and acceleration. Good value for about $32k. Trunk is a little small and interior is a bit "funky." Ride is a little rougher than my 5 year old E320.

    Salesman said change oil every 7,500 miles. What's all this discussion to change oil every 3k miles? I drive mostly in the city and only average 7,000 miles per year.

    Turning radius seems a little high. Any comparisons with the E320 and other similar cars?
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Member Posts: 363
    With an automatic transmission, you might as well just add a second or maybe two to your lap times.
  • ldesouzaldesouza Member Posts: 3
    Well my “G” finally arrived after waiting two months. I picked it up from the dealer today. It’s a Garnet Fire G35 with the aero and Navigation system. At least I have something to do this weekend that is going through all the manuals and understanding the system.
  • verozahlverozahl Member Posts: 574
    AS I keep repeating incessantly, Greater Detroit region only has two Infiniti dealers. Stopped by one of them today just for the heck of it, as I do not see many new G35s on the road >:( and I wanted simply to look at one. I still don't understand why people say the rear taillights look strange. I like them. The front headlights is probably the only part of the design I don't much like.

    I doubt Nissan is losing money on its new Infiniti lineup, but I can't think that profit is very high either still.
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    Well, ya got me, it's bin' well nigh 18 years since ah done drove me some road track an thin's mighta changed some since then. :)

    Yep, HP doesn't mean much on a road track, torque to weight ratio (T2W), however, does. And the G35 just blows the CTS out of the water when it comes to torque and weight (G35=260/3336lbs, CTS=218/3568lbs, data from Cadillac comparison site).

    You are correct in that running all of that torque through a torque converter will pose some problems, but given the G35's better T2W ratio, it will probably be a toss-up (assuming that the CTS I was talking about was a manual). Guess that just leaves the much superior handling of the G35 to leave the CTS behind. Or its far superior braking... Then again, you may want to check your assumptions.

    First, you assume that the CTS is an equivalently performing car to the G35, something that isn't supported by the facts. With the exception of Popular Science (hardly what I would call a discriminating car review), the G35 has been rated as being notably better than the CTS in every performance category you care to discuss.

    Second, you assume that I have not raced. As indicated above, while I haven't raced in almost 20 years, it doesn't mean that I haven't or that I wasn't very good at it when I did. However, I will admit to being a bit rusty, so I will concede that a practiced SOLO II driver may well be likely to beat me in the underperforming CTS...

    Third, you indicate that you believe that, because the G35 has an automatic, the CTS would post 1-2 second faster times than the G35. While I haven't seen/heard any results, I don't believe that assumption would be supported by the track data of the major rags, in which the G35 beat the manual CTS in every performance category.

    Fourth, if you really think that cars don't make a difference in racing, you need to go learn about the sport. The only way the car wouldn't make a difference is if all drivers drove the same car. Not the same make/model/year, but the SAME CAR.

    Kind of reminds me about the classic karate argument, where people claim that size doesn't matter. Based on 10+ years in martial arts, I can say that is BS. A good big person can usually beat an as good or moderately better small person in a real fight. Guess what? The same DOES apply to cars.

    Fifth, what is this stuff about "frightened"? Never indicated it. (Was that a "Freudian slip"?) I just indicated that I would love to match up against someone driving a (stock) CTS as I believe I could do well. 'nuff said... :)

    However, you DO bring up a good point. I WOULD prefer to race like cars as I do prefer to let my skills shine. If I win, I would prefer it to be MOSTLY my skills and slightly, or not at all, my car. (Hey, I have pride in my car too. But you probably knew that as you were reading the *G35* board...)

    Anyway, I'll stand by what I said in my previous post, "Wish they had some SOLO II around here as I would just LOVE to see a Cadillac CTS competing against me". The car picked DOES say something about the driver. :)

    Rah, rah, G35!

    Scott
  • stsurbrookstsurbrook Member Posts: 285
    The schedule "A" driving (mostly highway or light city, no rush hour) oil change interval is, as the salesman stated, 7000 miles. However, the schedule "B" (mostly city/rush hour) is 3750 miles. Most people still err on the side of caution and change their oil using the schedule "B" rather than "A" interval.

    However, regardless of miles driven (eg. your 7000 miles per year), ideally you should change your oil more often, probably every 6 months or so. This is because there are chemical interactions that are going on in the engine and time, in addition to miles, is an enemy.

    IMO, the best way to tell how often is to do an oil analysis and see what that tells you about how your oil of choice is holding up. That should set the interval for changes.

    The G35's turning radius is 36 feet. The mbusa.com site is just too slow to get the turning radius of the E320, but you might be able to get it from here (edmunds.com) for comparison.

    Scott
  • stanny1stanny1 Member Posts: 962
    The CTS has an orphan engine for the first year model. Watch the first year CTS fall rapidly in resale value when the new U.S. made V-6 debuts.
    Very likely, all the driveline parts will be changed with the exception of the differential. Should be fun getting replacement parts in a few years on a one-year model. Most likely the bellhousing, clutch, torque converter, and all the engine compartment stuff will be different.
    Sell your CTS now and buy the all-new 2004 CTS.
    Or better yet, buy something in the G family. Ther will be millions of common parts out there plus an entire aftermarket of parts to choose from. I don't think the aftermarket will get too juiced over the CTS. You'll be lucky to find one or two wheels unless they also fit a Camaro or other GM car. As far as chips and other engine parts go, have you seen much out there for a Catera?
  • kevin111kevin111 Member Posts: 991
    Hi. I am helping a friend buy a car, and he is debating between the G35, Acura TL and TL- Type S.

    Since he was in a big accident, he is worried that he can not find any crash results about the G35. Does anyone know where he can find this? He also lives in New York
  • blueguydotcomblueguydotcom Member Posts: 6,249
    Try Freshalloy.com. Some people have dug up the Japanese crash test results. It scored tops.
  • cybersaxcybersax Member Posts: 18
    "Very likely, all the driveline parts will be changed with the exception of the differential. Should be fun getting replacement parts in a few years on a one-year model. Most likely the bellhousing, clutch, torque converter, and all the engine compartment stuff will be different."

    Why would I need parts for my CTS? What do you think this is? A Nissan product? LOL!!!

    The only thing they're changing next year is the engine, FYI. General Motors now ranks among the top 3 most reliable car makers, after Toyota and Honda. Cadillac's own reliablity is excellent as well.

    For those just joining us, the Nissan brand (which includes Infiniti) tied Volkswagen as makers of America's most unreliable cars, according to the JD Power 2002 Initial Quality survey. Both of them came in dead last! Not only that, but Nissan was the only brand which got worse (vs. 2001), while everyone else's quality improved.

    Carlos Ghosn's cost cutting is going to cost Nissan+Infiniti dearly, since most import buyers hail from the "JD Powers/Consumer Reports is the Bible" crowd!
  • aftyafty Member Posts: 499
    General Motors now ranks among the top 3 most reliable car makers, after Toyota and Honda. Cadillac's own reliablity is excellent as well.

    I would like to see proof of this. You are confusing initial quality with reliability, which are two very different things.
  • aftyafty Member Posts: 499
    Now if we're talking about reliability, maybe we should check the J.D. Power study on that. Hey look, Infiniti is in 2nd place behind Lexus! And Cadillac is way back there at 8th!

    http://carpoint.msn.com/advice/standardart.aspx?contentid=4019432&src=404
  • cybersaxcybersax Member Posts: 18
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/31/national/main510681.shtml


    "The quality of new cars and trucks showed the most improvement in five years and General Motors Corp. crept into the top five major automakers in the annual J.D. Power and Associates initial quality study."


    "Toyota was followed by American Honda Motor Co. (113 problems), BMW of North America (116 problems), Porsche Cars North America Inc. (122 problems) and GM (130 problems)."


    "Toyota and GM showed the biggest gains in quality over the past five years, with improvements of 31 percent and 30 percent respectively."


    "An 11 percent improvement over last year's performance allowed GM to vault past Nissan Motors Corp., which saw its quality decline by 5 percent."


    http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/classifieds/automotive/3367179.htm


    "NISSAN SURPRISED BY HIGHER PROBLEMS


    Nissan scored 152 problems, up from 145 last year, while Volkswagen had 152 problems, down from 159.


    "The results were surprising and disappointing for us," said Emil Hassan, Nissan's senior vice president of North American manufacturing, quality, purchasing and logistics."


    Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

  • cybersaxcybersax Member Posts: 18
    afty: In case you didn't notice, those are rankings for 1997 cars. A lot has changed since then, namely: Nissan has gone from bad, to worst!
  • robmarchrobmarch Member Posts: 482
    I think there's a huge difference here. I would much rather have a car with several small initial build quality problems that are quickly fixed under warranty and have a car that lasts >200k miles without major drivetrain or electrical problems, than have a perfect initial car with major problems once you're out of warranty.

    In my opinion, initial quality problems that are quickly addressed by the dealer are much more forgivable than drivetrain or electrical components that are designed to outlast the warranty period and then die.
  • aftyafty Member Posts: 499
    That doesn't change the fact that the survey you quote measures only initial quality, not reliability. Maybe you should check out this article, since you seem unable to distinguish between the two concepts:

    http://www4.fosters.com/autos/articles/auto_0531b.asp

    "'IQS is geared more to auto manufacturers than the consumer,' said David Champion, director of automobile testing at Consumer Reports, referring to the initial quality survey.


    "'They get the initial quality right, but I don’t think the cars are robust enough to last over time,' he added. '"The consumer is looking at 1, 2 or 3 years of ownership.'


    "David Healy, an analyst at Burnham Securities, said 'some cars do well on the 90-day survey and fall apart after 3 years.'


    "'From my point of view,' he added, 'how it lasts over 7 years is more useful.'"


    J.D. Power does a separate Vehicle Dependability Study, the 2001 edition of which is included in the link I posted. Obviously it's going to look at older cars; how do you measure reliability for 2002 cars, since practically no one has reliability problems with a brand new car?

  • dklaneckydklanecky Member Posts: 559
    Same car- 4cyl engine


    http://www.osa.go.jp/anzen/html2002e/as125.html

  • baylorbear99baylorbear99 Member Posts: 29
    Robmarch,

    I agree completely. Infiniti may not be at the top for initial quality, but it finished 2nd for long-term durability. Part of this may be consumer perception. When I buy a Ford, I don't expect it to be perfect, because it's a Ford. On the other hand, while I haven't purchased an Infiniti, when I do (I'm waiting for a 6-speed coupe), I'll go over it with a magnifying glass.
  • riezriez Member Posts: 2,361
    Speaking from owning two Infiniti and not having any problems in 79,000 miles of driving, my local Infiniti dealer is the best dealer I've ever dealt with. Fantastic Service Manager.

    Both cars were bulletproof for reliability. And they had great warranties (which I didn't ever use) and ever better dealer loaner car policies (which I did use for routine service).

    Only thing Infiniti should do is add "free" scheduled maintenance. (Yeah, I know, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. But at least it seems free since you pay for it up front in the purchase price). That would help maintain parity with BMW and MB. And if Lexus & Acura don't, then helps them compete with Lexus & Acura.
  • humble_rexhumble_rex Member Posts: 6
    Infiniti's definitely are not tops in initial quality. Having owned two infiniti I think I can vouch for it.

    Car Number 1: 1995 Infiniti G20. Great car had some minor problems in my first few months of ownership viz. Delivered with misaligned wheel took dealer three attempts to get it right. Now after 7 years and 96000 miles the car still runs like new. I have not done any unscheduled work on the car. Tires (Twice), Front Brake pads (Twice), Rear break pads (Once) do not count.

    Car Number 2: 2000 Infiniti I30. This was a first model year and had its own problems like TCM module, incorrectly aimed headlights...but after two years and 26000 miles I am happy with it. Not as nimble as G20 but a great highway cruiser.

    And ofcourse the service is very good and I believe is more consistent from a dealer to dealer. My G20 was/is serviced by Motorcars Infiniti (Cleveland), Pepe Infiniti (White Plains NY), Pinnacle Infiniti (Scottsdale AZ), Midway Infiniti (Phoenix AZ) and Bennett (Allentown PA) and my experience with all of them was excellent.

    Now if I can only get free schedule maintainence...Umm

    And if you believe in consumer reports (I personally dont) Infinitis have always ranked on top.
  • sysadbsysadb Member Posts: 83
    To imply that Infiniti initial quality is poor because Nissan's is shows just how far one can leap in "interpreting" statistics. Just because Nissan owns Infiniti does not necessarily mean that Infiniti IQ correlates to the rest of Nissan. For example, Infiniti cars might actually be propping up the rest of Nissan vehicles, keeping the rating from being even worse than described. More Nissan cars and trucks are being manufactured here in the US every year, as opposed to Infinitis, which I believe are mostly, if not entirely, manufactured in Japanese plants. You can decide for yourself if that makes any difference in quality control.

    Infinitis have historically been in the top three makes on the average in both JD Power Initial Quality (IQ), and Long Term dependability surveys. Unless JD Powers has a separate survey by brand (and they usually do) that only addresses Infiniti, there is no evidence that Infiniti IQ is anything other than what it has always been - excellent.

    DB
  • jvalentyjvalenty Member Posts: 41
    Hey guys, The San Diego group is planning a joint meet with some Orange Cnty/LA Owners on July 27 at Le Peep in Encinitas. That's about half way btw SD and OC. Details to follow.

    If you want to be on the invite list and want followup details, email me at jvalenty@yahoo.com

    Send your name, email addr, color/options, etc

    We plan to caravan from the south and from the north as we head toward Encinitas (about 15 miles south of Oceanside).
  • jrct9454jrct9454 Member Posts: 2,363
    ...but I'll add that the car that killed Nissan in the most recent JD Power IQS was the Altima, which had more than a reasonable number of problems at the start, not the least of which was the abysmal quality of the interior. A lot of complaints revolved around the noises and general looseness that was evident in the Ghosn-era choices they made for this car.

    But how this translates to the Infiniti brand and the G in particular loses me completely. Anybody who SERIOUSLY believes any GM car is going to be a better long-term proposition than this one should immediately put their money on the table and buy the Cadillac. Not me...
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Member Posts: 363
    "Yep, HP doesn't mean much on a road track, torque to weight ratio (T2W), however, does. And the G35 just blows the CTS out of the water when it comes to torque and weight (G35=260/3336lbs, CTS=218/3568lbs, data from Cadillac comparison site)."

    Okay fair enough.

    "You are correct in that running all of that torque through a torque converter will pose some problems, but given the G35's better T2W ratio, it will probably be a toss-up (assuming that the CTS I was talking about was a manual). Guess that just leaves the much superior handling of the G35 to leave the CTS behind. Or its far superior braking... Then again, you may want to check your assumptions."

    Why do you assume that the G35 "handles" better? Handling is very subjective. Handling is still important in drag racing, and it is important in autocross, however the types of handling are VERY different. Chances are, magazine tests are going to be running handling number and subjective tests on 100ft slaloms and back country roads...hardly the kind of conditions you would find in an AutoX course. In actuality, AutoX very strongly favors cars with shorter wheelbases, which actually does slightly favor the G35, but not too significantly. It also favors cars with bigger contact circles, which is talking tires and not cars. Also you might want to consider center of gravity, braking capability, and gear ratios(as well as speed and control of those gear ratios, severe advantage to manual transmission cars). "Performance" is VERY far from being represented by a few magazine numbers.

    "Third, you indicate that you believe that, because the G35 has an automatic, the CTS would post 1-2 second faster times than the G35. While I haven't seen/heard any results, I don't believe that assumption would be supported by the track data of the major rags, in which the G35 beat the manual CTS in every performance category."

    I didnt say that. I said that an automatic about a 1-2 second disadvantage over a manual car. This means a manual G35 with a competent drive would typically post 1-2 seconds faster times than an automatic G35.

    "Fourth, if you really think that cars don't make a difference in racing, you need to go learn about the sport. The only way the car wouldn't make a difference is if all drivers drove the same car. Not the same make/model/year, but the SAME CAR."

    I know a fair share about racing. I agree. HOWEVER we were talking very specifically about AutoX. In AutoX style racing, driver skill matters significantly much more than car choice. Ask anybody who races AutoX on a regular basis. You will find Miatas and Civics and Integras that post times that are quite a few seconds faster than Boxtsers, M3s, and Ferarris.

    "Fifth, what is this stuff about "frightened"? Never indicated it. (Was that a "Freudian slip"?) I just indicated that I would love to match up against someone driving a (stock) CTS as I believe I could do well. 'nuff said... :)"

    I brought up the frightened comment. Simply put, nobody is impressed, frightened, intimidated, etc when you pull up to the AutoX course with a nice car. Why? Because they know it is the driver that makes the difference. A good friend who rather-amaturely races AutoX with a first-gen MR2 in the Bay Area had a brief run in with a "racing-team" with a Lamborghini Diablo. Her best lap time was 4 seconds faster than the Diablos best lap.

    It would take a lot more than someone quoting magazine performance specs of their car to convince me that they would beat ANYBODY in an AutoX race.
  • dane4dane4 Member Posts: 107
    I just got a call from my Wife... She was heading off the off ramp on the way home in the G35 and a car shot out of the parking lot of a strip mall on one of the faster streets she was on...

    The car in front of her slammed into it broadside and she slammed on her brakes and the car stopped about 3 feet from making contact with the other cars, but you guessed it... she looks in her rear view mirror after hearing a loud long screech and *wham*

    *sigh*

    Well... she's ok, shaken but ok... now I have to go and give her a hug and see what damage is done...

    Have a great 4th everyone... stay safe!

    Faenor/Dane4
  • kdshapirokdshapiro Member Posts: 5,751
    Have a great 4. Glad your wife is okay. That is the most important thing.
  • willjamwilljam Member Posts: 22
    Glad to hear that your wife is OK, hopefully, the 'G' did not sustain to much damage.
  • kevin111kevin111 Member Posts: 991
    Especially to dklanecky for the link. I will relay this information to my friend.
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Member Posts: 363
    Good choice with the G35! I heard it is the highest rated vehicle for safety in Japans history.
  • dancingdoctordancingdoctor Member Posts: 2
    Does anyone have an opinion about the extended 100,000 mile warranty? The dealer wants $2150 for it. He claims it comes with more benefits than the 60,000 mile warranty.

    Thanks
This discussion has been closed.

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