Infiniti G35 Sedan 2006 and earlier

ruski

while on the dealer's lot, I noticed that most G35s had a scuff in the paint on the front door, 2-3 inches below the mirror, very close to the front lip of the door. Well actually for some reason a lot of cars on this dealer's lot had paint scuffs and scratches for some reason, in various spots. But this one was consistently in the same spot. I thought that maybe the front lip of the door rubbed on something when it went inward as the door opened, but no, I checked by opening the door and looking into the gap - there was nothing there to rub the door. So what could be causing this?

ryoken

No idea. Considering the number of scuffs you noted on that lot, maybe some yoyo there accidentally banged all the doors in the same place on something. My car is 18 months old and doesn't have a scuff there. A few chips on the front from rocks and a scuff on the taillight from my brother-in-law, but but no driver's door scuff.

norbert44

Some dealers etch the VIN on the window of all cars as a theft prevention measure. Maybe this guys' etching machine scuffs the paint while moving along the window.
Just a wild guess.

fjm1

Seriously.

My G35 shipped with the mirrors folded in and styrafoam blocks glued all over the place. That, and the sheets of styrafoam over the horizontal surfaces may be the scuffs your seeing.

Dealers sometimes take this junk off for test rides but don't do a full detailing of the car. When we test rode the car we eventually bought, it looked like crap. Then the prep guys went to work....

ruski

none of the cars on this dealer's lot had any protective tape or styrofoam from shipping.

I thought that maybe those faint scuffs were produced by the dealer people not being too carefull when removing the protection.

ruski

one more thing I forgot to mention about that dealership, there was shards of broken car class on the lot. Me thinks one of their new cars got broken into (or maybe more than one). Maybe whoever did this was also clumsy and scuffed the other cars nearby.

mmm

For you G35 Sedan owners out there with the non-sports suspension, are you happy with the handling of your cars in terms of body roll and taking corners quickly? For those of you who have driven both the sports and non-sports suspensions, how much of a handling improvement do you really feel there is? Also do you feel the sports setup rides more stiffly? Thanks in advance.

ryoken

I have the sport suspension, and I've test-driven and had several non-sport loaners. There's not a big difference between the two in stiffness or in handling. That's good for daily driving.. the sport suspension isn't overly stiff. Even the sport suspension has quite a bit of body roll, though.

microsquish

A local dealer is offering $4,000 off MSRP for all remaining 03 models, and I was wondering if it would be worth it to take the year old model instead of buying the more expensive 04 or 05 models. I'm a relative newbie to buying cars as this is the second car I've purchased. I'd appreciate any of your opinions.

cdnpinhead

It mostly depends on how long you're planning to keep the car. If you plan to keep it long enough to put 100K+ miles on it (& that won't be a problem with this car -- I drove a Datsun 240 over 220K miles), which would be 5 - 10 years, take the $4K and go with the '03. It won't be worth enough when you're ready to get rid of it for the extra model year to make much of a difference.

If, OTOH, you're planning to keep it only the typical 2 - 4 years and keep the mileage under 50 or 60K, that extra one or two model years will be worth lots more. But even at that, I doubt it'd be as much as $4K.

I'd go with the '03.

sopecreek

It also depends on how much you save with 03 compared to 04. If you can knock off a couple of thousands $ on 04, it may be worthwhile to take 04. Since 05 is coming out soon(?) (with a lot of interior improvements), you may want to wait a little more and see how much you like 05 or go for 04 at lower price by then.

wibble

There is talk of there being a significant price increase for the 2005 model.

lmacmil

Where did you hear this allegation of a significant 2005 price increase?

bake21

What I really want to know is if the '05 will have a push button ignition, I see it's on the M.....

cheerioboy26

well, there was an increase of a couple hundred on the G35 and FX last week (I think there is a PR at NissanNews.com) and a dealer on freshalloy noted that it was his expectation that a larger increase was coming for 05. Of course, we know nothing about the 05 car, so perhaps some additional content will be included. There was an increase in the 03.5 model as well, but it included some things as standard (Xenons, heated mirrors, IIRC) that were options on the 03 models.)

infinitifan

I would recommend going to a 225/50/17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, the same tires that are standard on the coupe with 18" wheels. You could probably get them at a local Discount tire for under $200 each.

mparson

I have diamond graphite color with black interior. Coolest combination....

rctennis3811

Hey everyone, after a long absence from Town Hall - I'm back! BAD NEWS THOUGH...I recently got in a wreck with my G. While I could've gotten it repaired, that meant that I would have to replace the rear bumper, the right rear suspension, 1 new alloy wheel, the right side rear door, get new side-curtains, etc. Oh yea, I got hit on the right side in the rear just above the right rear wheel. Well, it wasn't worth it getting all those repairs done because the car wouldn't feel the same and sadly, I had to buy a new car instead of waiting for the M35. Yesterday, I purchased a Chrysler 300C in black. So, it looks like I'm going to have to leave this board. It's been fun!

pat

a) welcome back
b) sorry about your misfortune and glad you weren't hurt (?)
c) you are still welcome here
and
d)congrats and good luck with your new vehicle and we'll see you in the Town Hall Chrysler 300 discussion?

rctennis3811

Thanks Pat!

ruski

wow... we will need to talk as you experience with 300C continues.

I have recently tried to get out of my Acura TL-S lease and jump into a G35 sedan. It didn't seem to work out.

At the same time I was concerned that if I lease a G35 for the next few years, I will be missing out on a chance to get my hands on a 300C which I happen to like a lot or maybe the new GTO. Or maybe even the Grand Prix GXP when that comes out...

So I decided to not push it with my TL-S lease, but rather let it take its natural course, and when it ends in a year, maybe I will have a better idea in my mind what I would like to have next - G35, 300C or GTO.

b718

So how fast have people gone in their sedan's???? The fastest for me so far was 140 mph. It was pretty smooth and it felt like there was more left

birdman579

The changes for 2005 to the G35 have been posted on Nissan's website: http://www.nissannews.com

ficuss

does any one know if the 5 speed automatic trans has a lock up torque converter, and is 5th gear considered overdrive? I had a Pontiac Grand Prix GT with a 3.8 ltr engine and a 3 speed automatic with overdrive and a lock up torque converter. It got 28 mpg on the open road. The G35 comes no where near that mileage. What should be the approx. RPM cruising at 75 mph in the highest gear?

jimmyc13

Looking for some insight as to how the RWD model drives in the snow. The dealer told me that with the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), it drives pretty well in the snow. Not sure if I want to spend the extra $1,800 for the AWD model or not. Please tell me your experience in driving this car in the snow, i.e. on highways, local roads. Thanks.

cheerioboy26

IIRC, it's around 2600 at 75.

wibble

Buy the AWD. If you do buy the RWD then put snow tires on for the winter and some extra weight in the trunk. The VDC is good but it doesn't compensate for lack of grip or wheel spin immediately.

fjm1

Skip the AWD and get snow tires instead. I'd take a RWD with snows over an AWD on all season tires.

AWD doesn't help the most important part of the driving experience.....stopping.

chrisboth

Dont spend the money if you aren't so sure you need AWD. The extra weight and lesser driving dynamic from more weight are not worth it IMO for a PA winter. Snows with this car are better than most awd cars thanks to TC and VDC. Going is not the problem - thats why all i ever see on the side of the road in vail are trucks.

ronin

Great news from the Nissan News (May 14, 2004).
Price increases of $200 for FX35 and G35 sedan, $250 for G35 coupe and $300 for the FX45. If you can't afford them, buy an Altima 3.5L or Murano. The maintenance costs are a lot less but you don't get a loaner car or an extra year of warranty.

lmacmil

Given the increased sales on these models, I would expect larger and more frequent price increases in the future.

wibble

There are rumours of a "substantial" price increase for the 2005 G35s.

kdshapiro

Actually due to the engine braking provided by the wheels being connected into the drivetrain it helps somewhat.

It is true a RWD with snows is just as good as an AWD without snows, but then you have to decide if changing tires is your thing. It also is true an AWD/FWD with 4 snows is a mule in the snow.

mrike

I'm in the market for a G35x and was at the dealer lot this afternoon looking over a car with the graphite interior. I was surprised to see that the entire interior is not black! From the dashboard up and on the ceiling, it looks like the interior is willow. Does anyone know why this is? To me, it looks hokey. (Even worse than the seat-adjust buttons on the wrong side.) Now I have to decide if I would rather have the willow interior, or see if they've fixed this "mixed interior" in the 2005 model.

M.

jimmyc13

I believe this is the route I will be taking. Thanks for the tip. Are you a G35 owner? If so, any recommendations on types of snow tires? I've been reading Bridgestone Blizzaks are good. Any input?

fjm1

Bought a G35 sedan w/stick about 4 mo. ago. Sweet ride. I live in NW NJ, we get a good bit of snow but haven't driven the G in it yet.
I'm going to see how the all season michelins do.

I've done the snow tire thing on a few other cars. Had Michelin Alpin and they were great in the snow. Never tried Blizzaks.

jimmyc13

Are they the Michelon Pilots? From what I read in some of the other forums, they said they are not that good in the snow. Thanks for the info. I may be making the splurge soon for a G soon.

Jim

jjey

I'm too is deciding between RWD and the AWD, but I've read another message posted that even with the AWD, you still need the winter tire!!! I'm leaning toward the AWD so that I can just use the All Season tires...but now, I'm back to sq one! Need more input please.

lmacmil

I think you get about the same amount of snow in Toronto as we do in northern Indiana, about 70" per season, right? Snow removal is probably pretty good but the municipalities are used to doing it. The question to ask is how often have you gotten stuck in the snow in current or prior FWD or RWD cars? I can't remember the last time I got really stuck and it was probably more due to a bad driving decision than the lack of AWD.

kwaycool

Is it worth it? Apparently most buyers think so, because the vast majority of new G's have it. Anybody have one without?

pajack

Help.help.help...

I am buying a G35X in 10 or 15 days, and one of my options is black inteiror with silver console. However, after I looked at several pictures, I begin to worry if the black interior has a silver console. Does anyone here know about it? Thank you'll very very much...

lmacmil

I think most people get the premium package because that's the way most of them are ordered by the dealer and most people buy from dealer inventory.

nypb

Only G35's with the Sport Package have the silver console. Since the G35x isn't available with the Sport Package (I believe), the console area will be the same color as the rest of the dash.
Hope this helps, I purchased my new G35x over the weekend, can't wait to take delivery!

jjey

yeah, about 70 to 80 inches. The other thing is I'm trying to get away with changing tires every time! It's a hassle for me cos I don't have space to store the wheels. But I think I will go for the RWD. But you know the new 2005 models are coming out soon !!! arggghhhh!

lmacmil

You should think about a used 2003. Save several thousand dollars and still have plenty of warranty protection left.

lmacmil

Apart from looking pretty classy, why is the black on black color scheme so popular? The exterior shows every water spot or spec of dust and the interior is hotter than hell on a sunny day. I just don't get it.

trinareeves

I didn't think it was worth the extra $2-$4K. I just leased the base model on 7/24/04 and it has everything that is considered lux already on it. Who needs the rear reclining seats? I don't sit back there and it is comfortable the way it is. Some of the premium stuff is nice but not necessary if you want to save a little money. Not getting the premium package does not take anything away from the car. I've been driving it now for the last couple of days and it's WONDERFUL; THE ENGINE IS SO POWERFUL and it's truly a beautiful auto. Most dealerships do have the base models, they just don't tell you they do. You have to let them know you are just interested in the base, maybe w/sunroof only. If it's a reputible salesperson, then they'll bring them out for you. I had the Twilight Blue, the flat Black, and the pearl white to choose from....I took the Ivory!

wibble

"Most dealerships do have the base models, they just don't tell you they do. You have to let them know you are just interested in the base, maybe w/sunroof only. If it's a reputible salesperson, then they'll bring them out for you"

The best course of action is to check the inventory of the local Infiniti dealer on the infiniti.com web site. Any salesman worth his salt would be more than happy to sell a base G35 rather than none at all.

My personal opinion is that the premium package is a bargain. Getting an uprated audio system, electric moonroof, seat memory, dual zone climate control, homelink, auto on/off headlamps, auto dimming mirror, compass, rear reclining seats and rear air vents all for $3050 is a deal.

luv2drive3

I have a 04 6MT. I was wondering how many of you have the "marble" noise when in neutral and clutch is not engaged. I hear it more in garage. When clutch is in the noise goes away but when clutch is out you hear a marble gear messing noise. I know some noise is normal when you do this but how much is normal? Should I be hearing it at a stop light with radio and Air off? You also hear it when turing off the car and clutch in not engaged as the engine turns off. You hear the marble noise for a second as the engine comes to a stop. When clutch pushed in and turning off you hear nothing? Dealer is telling me it is normal noises for the car.

Thanks in advance.

thickcommish

Im looking at a used 2003 G35 and dont know alot about them. I have a Mazda millenia S and there is no comparison. The infinity seems to have a hearty engine and very comfortable. Any advise would be extremely helpful on how to get the best deal and what and whats not worth paying for. Does it run on premium fuel only??? Do the seats in the rear fold down??? Any mechanical concerns or maintenance that needs to be done at certain mileage?? Cost of repairs if any??? Most of you seem to really know your stuff!!! Thanks for the help!!