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Comments
[1] Assuming I dont get the sport package, anyone have experience about how this car handles in winter driving? (I owned a RWD Mercedes a few years ago and it was AWFUL in the snow); admittedly a set of winter tires would do the trick, but I'd rather not have the hassle).
[2] For you "long term" owners, how is the dash material (plastic) holding up? On a couple of the show room cars I saw, both the black and the "titanium" painted plastic already showed light signs of wear (scuffs, spots, etc). I'm afraid it'll look like crap after a year or so...
[3] Is a manual transmission in the works? If so, when will it be out?
Thanks!!!
Based on what I have read on this forum, at freshalloy.com, and g35driver.com, my impression is that it should be OK in the snow with the all-season tires.
The base, non-sport suspension models have a choice between only 2 tires - Goodyear Eagle RSA or Bridgestone Turanza.
Go to tirerack.com and read the reviews. The general consensus is that the Goodyears are crap -loud, harsh and terrible in wet conditions. The reviews for the Bridgestones are a little better -quieter, smoother, with better wet traction.
Personally, when I get my G, I will put on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires, 235/50/17...Pricey, I know, but worth it.
Hope that helps.
I have the Graphite (black) interior, non-Sport, so I don't have any of the "titanium tinted" trim. All of the plastic has worn well. I'm pretty careful with it and I don't put objects of any weight on the center console. The only wear concern I have is that I tend to rest my elbow on the driver's window sill. That soft plastic is showing a wear spot. Nothing serious, just a change in the surface gloss. To sum up, I don't think you have to be concerned about the interior looking crappy. I would have less confidence in the silver tinted interior surfaces.
Manual trans is in the works. I have read on internet forums that the car will be at dealers in Feb or March next year. Some buyers have said that they have deposits on the manual models, dubbed "6MT", because it is a six speed manual.
No info on winter handling, but the standard suspension is a great compromise between ride and tight handling in dry conditions. I don't expect to learn about winter handling in Southern Cal unless the Ice Age returns, in which case you'll be frozen solid and won't be interested any longer. (Sorry about that last comment).
By the way, a suggestion for G35 shopping. You can "build" your car on Infiniti's website and then search dealers' inventories to see what they have that matches. I used this method to find an I35 for my mother last month and got my local dealer to do a dealer swap for the car I found that she wanted at the other dealership. Since they were still moving a car off their lot by swapping they gave her the same deep discount they were offering on cars in their inventory.
As I lease my cars for 3 years, I always get a set of winters, this way I know the all seasons will last for the three years.
If you know how to drive you can get by the first year on all season tires, it is all a matter of the right pressure on the gas peddle. My concern is with braking, I tried to get by with all season on a previous Saab 9000 until some girl on her cel phone decided to stop in the middle of the street ( conversation must of got interesting), anyways I landed up sliding right into her, this would not have happened with good winter tires, so now it is winters only for me.
I put a set of Toyo Observe G02 on my sedan and after driving today in 8" of fresh snow with icy pavment underneath, I can say that the G performs amazingly well under these conditions. I went down to 215 x 60 x 16 with Nissan Steel Wheels.
I personally would be happy paying a little more and having wood also on the door switches (window and lock switches) and center console.
JW
How has the G35 worked out over the 6-8 months?
Was just in Montreal prior to the weekend snowstorm and will be up there (briefly) again tomorrow evening. Hope the new tires continue to work well for you through the winter.
I took a sabatical from this for awhile, but am back, have just found that there was to much coupe talk and not enough sedan ( no offense to coupe owners, I know there is alot to be excited about)
Anyways have been over at G35driver.com and Fresh alloy.com. Kinda like G35Driver.com, posts are seperated between coupe and sedan. I have found that edmunds has really quieted down alot. Anyways gota run, nice hearing from you, stay in touch.
I already own a G and I have the same concerns about the interior. I've already decided to live with it until it begins to look a little worn and explore options for replacement later. Wood trim is already avaialble and easy enough to apply. I suspect there will be several afermarket options in the future.
The extra wood kit with over 30-40 pieces has some nice items too. I would like to purchase the 4 pieces that go on the windows/lock switches on the door. I would also like the wood center console sold by Nismo in Japan; I hope that makes it over here soon.
<<< What do you like least about your G35? >>>
(I'm not interested in what you like the most, cuz I know there is so much to like about the car that hearing your gripes will be more useful...)
Other than the change of the trunk design, is there any reason to get a 2003.5 over the original 2003s? (Just wondering if there were "bugs" that got fixed...)
Besides the minor bugs and glitches which will all be addressed on my first service visit, these are my lasting gripes in priority order.
1) Interior trim materials (dash and console) are a little lower grade than I would have liked. Adding the wood trim bits will mostly address this issue but Infiniti could have provided a bit better to begin with.
2) Would it really have hurt the Z and the coupe sales that much to give the G just 20 more HP and torque or am I being too greedy. NISMO bits should address this when they are available and under full warranty at that.
3) Quirky steering wheel mounted controls are too retro. They work fine but they seem out of place, more like they should be in a 80's Coupe De Ville. You do get used to them after a while.
4) The 1st and 2nd gears almost seem like granny gears when jumping off the line. 3rd comes in like a kick in the pants which is nice. But the trade off between the slow jump off the line and having all that torque on demand in the mid range is worth it since I do a lot more of my driving between 40 and 80 and no 0-60 drag racing.
5) Would have preferred a more substantial door handle than the stylized nail breakers.
6) Orange instruments.
Would any of these things stop me from buying a G? Well obviously not since they didn't.
Would any of these things stop me from buying a G again? No
Do any of these things bother me enough to make me regret my decision? No
If money were no object would I be driving something else? Of course, don't be a fool.
Would that something else be a BMW? Only if it was an M5.
If money were no object is there a high probability that the something else would not be a BMW? Yes.
Happy motoring!
Atlanta to pick it up. They were hard cars to come by two months ago. I would imagine that they are damn near impossible to find now, but I wish you the best of luck. All I can say is that I love mine. 10 weeks and 3100 miles and every one of them with a smile.
I own a 2003.5 emerald mist, leather, prem, sport, nav, aero. I live in central FL. Dealer is Orlando Infiniti (great place, BTW).
1) Granted my G is only a week old (350 miles) but the interior materials seem fine to me, no wear and I let my 17 year old drive it with some of his friends aboard. Wood would be a nice touch in some places, but until they make a fully fitted kit that replaces the other trim (not just gets glued to it) I won't be interested.
2)Again it's all relative. I used to drive a Pont Van. This car is a bullet!!! Even following the users manual breakin guidance it has more get up and go than any car (except my 97 5.7L Fbird) I have ever owned. Sure I wouldn't turn away 20 extra horses, but it really isn't necesary IMO. :-)
3)The only problem with the steering wheel controls is that I wish they were lighted. They are much better than the controls I had on the Fbird (Monsoon audio). Also, having the power control in the cluster is a very nice touch.
4)Totally agree. However, if you switch to auto stick it will let you run it out much farther, if you care to do that sort of thing.
5)No opinion either way. The door handles work very well, and look nice too.
6)I don't hate it, but I would have perferred blue or even white. I am looking into a bulb change out, if that if plausable.
7)Brakes - They stop on a dime!!! However they are a little touchy at lower speeds. The brake dust is also substantial. Like I said, the car is a week old and I'm getting ready to wash the wheels for the second time. That seems a little excessive to me. I an also looking into replacement pads, but the car is so new there isn't anything available except full brake component replacement.
8)Willow tone carpets. Even though my kids are gone for the most part I still notice that the light colored carpet seems to mark up easily. So I have Scotchguarded the mats and all the surrounding carpet. This costs less than $15.00 to do the whole G with 2 coats. Takes about 4 hours with drying and vacuuming time. That has really helped. Nothing seems to markup the mats anymore. Before Scotchguard I had to clean the drivers side mat with Resolve to get out some small marks. IF YOU DO IT MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SCOTCHGUARD FOR CARPETS NOT THE STUFF MADE FOR FABRIC AND UPOLSTRY THEY ARE QUITE DIFFERENT! I anticipate doing this once a year here in Florida. In other areas you may have to do it more often.
All for now. Good luck with your search. I know you didn't want +'s but the car is a blast. Yesterday I took the cloverleaf entrance ramp onto US4 acceleratng to 65+ through the full turn (about .3 miles). To my amazement (remember what I had been driving) the G was level throughout and seemed to goad me for more power. It's not the kind of thing I do often, but an obnoxious X5 was on my rear end all the way to the mouth of the ramp. Needless to say he couldn't keep up. :-)
Gary
Sacrificing space, luxury, reliability, and customer service. Mitsu cars are synonymous with unreliable. Check the ratings on mitsu. Scary, to say the least.
What do you all think?
This from a 51 year old sales rep who spends alot of time in his car.
White/ Willow/ Wood/ Winter/
Interesting take on things, I like the spin you've put on some of the items in my list. The brake dust on my was pretty bad for a while but it seems to have settled down some now that I'm over 2.5K miles. I don't know about the bulb change but it may be worth looking into. And for the willow carpets, I have the willow floor mats and plan to buy an extra set so that when they go to hell in a few years I can just replace them for the $70 or so required to purchase new mats.
I created the list in priority order but did not indicate a weighting. First, let me say that the significance of each item on the list drops drastically in comparison to the previous item on the list. And, the significance of the first item on the list is about the same level of annoyance I might experience if I were to say... drop one of my four quarters on the ground going through the toll booth and have to reach for another one to get through. It will bother me until I see the arm me lift.
To norcalmike2:
Yes I have that same smile gripe but mostly it's because I got everything I wanted and more for a significantly lower price than a BMW. Also, note the statements at the end of my list. I am quite happy with my G and would buy one again. I didn't intend to come across as a whiner. My list is simply an objective response to an inquiry on the board about things I honestly think could be improved, they not reasons to NOT buy a G. If I were listing the reason to not buy a G the list would be completely different. 1) I have way too much money to be wasting it on anything less than a $80,000 piece of German engineering. 2) I REALLY need to drive a more expensive car to feel good about myself ... In short, I would have no good reasons not to buy a G. There is nothing "bad" about the car but there is nothing in this world that cannot stand some improvement.
I'm glad you haven't had any problems with your 2003.5, that means that the rest of us in the 2003's have probably seen about all the problems we can expect from this first release vehicle. I have not had all the problems listed in this forum but I have experienced first hand the driver seat rock and the center console controls dying and becoming completely unresponsive. I have less than 3K miles and expect all the real issues I have found to be taken care of on my first service visit.
The speedometer and odometer will be in metric units, but MPH is available in smaller print on the speedometer. You'll impress the dickens out of anyone who looks at a speedometer that goes well above 200, though.
Good luck.
I drive roughly 35,000 miles per year and would never own another vehicle without XM satellite radio installed. I was aware of the concept but didn't think I'd really get any benefit out of it so I wasn't interested in having it installed.
The programming is outstanding and the sound quality (even FM modulated ) is excellent. I no longer have to carry dozens of CD's (or buy very many either). I really don't mind paying the .33 cents a day for the service. I can't even remember the last time I listened to a regular FM station.
My son shopped Best Buy and Circuit City and in my area, the CC guys were far superior in their knowledge and skill in the installation.
I have yet to meet anyone who's had XM installed and didn't love it. IMO, people who doubt the concept haven't experienced it for any length of time.
Or they have zero use for it. I listen to music on the radio...oh never. That's why I have CDs. I do not like being forced to listen to or watch programming (thus the reason I never watch TV too). My radio listening consists entirely of talk radio and when that bores me i flip on Howard Stern. Other than talk radio (which has no need for quality sound), I never have any reason to listen to OTA radio.
For people who drive and like having music forced on them, I'm sure XM and Sirus are great. Of course, it appears they won't last. Though another provider will surely come around soon.
Regardless, Infiniti pulled the product and I have to agree with the decision. It's a niche thing that I can't see taking off unless it offers on demand abilities.
http://www.motortrend.com/features/news/nov02news/112_021120_coy/
Hey, hold up there. I totally dig the G35 and think it's a sensational car. I never said it wasn't a good car or that it's undeserving. I do take issue with the crowing over the COY "award." Thinking an award from a magazine (a mocked one at that) will impact sales, resale, etc is a spurious concept at best. Past examples of the COY winners point to the "award" having no real impact on a car's real sales numbers, reliability, resale value or any facet of the car's lifespan.
Being MT COY is a disctinction I wish the G35 had avoided as it's almost a harbinger for bad things...sorta like being a Bond girl. Sure once in awhile an actress continues to work in legit film (Famke Janssen) afterward but the vast majority get regulated to being trivia questions (Maryam D'abo, Teri Hatcher, Denise Richards, Ursula Andress, Sophie Marceau, Carey lowell, Talisa Soto, etc) and doing dismal second rate films or even worse TV.
JW
Those are really only recent ones.
Now, having said that, I have to agree that beyond the short-term marketing opportunity that this gives Nissan, the MTCOY award ought not to cause any G owner to suddenly decide that the Infiniti brand is on a par with BMW, MB, or Lexus when it comes to resale or visiblity. But these kinds of baby steps can be incremental, and it is good to see one of Nissan's more savvy product decisions getting some deserved recognition....lord knows they've been sucking exhaust long enough.
The G is the best-realized of the most recent spate of successful new cars from Nissan [Altima, Z, and soon the Murano] - it hits the target more precisely than anything they have done in literally decades. Good work, award or not...
I so hope the murano lives up to its potential. I sat in one at an Infiniti dealership a few weeks ago (I know, it's a nissan product, regardless, it was there) and I must say it was impressive. I'm an avid SUV hater but it got my eyebrow raised. Still, if given the choice between a 30k SUV and a 32k G35, the option is easy.
BTW, Andress career post-jame bond consisted entirely of playing in poorly developed films, TV bits or always as the sexpot. As for Hatcher, she's done - her films roles have gotten progressively smaller, she's doing commercials and she's making tv movies. Stick a fork in her career...money or not, it's over. Denise's most recent claim to fame was playing White She-Devil in Undercover Brother and that kitten-in-heat thing is all she'll get until the looks fade even more.
Kiplinger anticipates the G-coupe with a 2 yr. resale value of 62% (unless I misrecall), fairly generous for their stats.
JW
Don't flame, I really like the G35, I just don't think very highly of Motor Trend and it's COTY.