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Comments
However getting problems resolved largely has to do with the dealer. Those of you with problems should try another local dealer and see if the answers are the same. Another alternative is if you are going to have to pay for break work anyway why oh why are you guys buying the same pads and rotors. Go aftermarket and get a good garage to install them if infiniti won't replace them.
Does Infiniti have a responsibility to treat their customers with respect and care? Well, one person received new brakes, so that is a "little" reinforcement for the rest of us. Hopefully, Infiniti is silently taking action. I would not bet my first-born on this.
If Infiniti will not pay, then aftermarket is the way to go. Is this what you are saying?
BTW - the FX brake hardware is NOT the same as the G35 according to two Infiniti servicepeople, unfortunately.
He commented that they see a lot of prematurely worn rear brakes (normally, the front wheels do most of the braking as you know). He said on these they often see lots of rubber in the wheelwell caused by people "brake-torqueing" their automatics.
Even without such treatment, when you combine the habits of many automatic transmission drivers, the nature of the automatic itself, the power and quick acceleration of the G, and soft pads for high braking performance, I can see how some people might experience premature brake wear even without overt abuse.
P.S. I love my G, too!
Thanks,
Kevin
I'm shopping around for a cleaner for my leather seat (willow color). My leather is still clean since only 6 months from purchase. I'm looking for a cleaner that will not make my leather "SHINE". The original new lether is not look shine.
Any recommendation? Thanks.
http://www.leatherique.com/
It's not the most elegant web site, but the products they sell are in my experience, simply outstanding.
An order of magnitude above and beyond anything else I've used (lexol,meguiars, etc.) and the pristine clean when used after the restorer, doesn't provide any noticeable shine.
As a bonus, they're very plesant to deal with over the phone.
That's how bad the web site was, I just gave up and called in my first order.
Go figure? Can American quality finally regain its' earlier dominance over the Japanese and the Europeans? If we eliminate BMW or Audi from the equation, then maybe. As someone mentioned, Mercedes (Chrysler) is another pain in the rear.
Anyone deal Cadillac Customer Service before? Would be interested to see if this is a viable alternative to the G35.
If you want to DO something about the issue with the brakes, or various other shortcomings, firstly, file a complaint with the NHTSA. Then, consult your states "Lemon Law" to see where you stand. I checked with my attorney, and it seems that in Texas, 4 complaints about a MINOR issue within a 12 month period are enough to invoke the states' Lemon Law. In matters where complaints are more serious(brakes) only two complaints within the same period are required. The stipulation is that you MUST have the car serviced by the dealership concerning the specific complaint(s), and if the problem cannot be fixed, or otherwise resolved, you have the right, under law, to call Infiniti and tell them you want to return the defective vehicle to them.
P.S. I have 2000 miles on my '04 coupe and love everything else about it.
Don
Then, I visited Jim Coleman Infinity in Bethesda, Maryland again. At this time it is not the economics of purchasing after market parts. It is the principle that brakes should not wear to dangerously low levels or pulsate at 7,500 miles.
The old service manager at Jim Coleman only lasted three months due to "unknown" reasons. What were the odds?
The new service guy tells me, "These are performance brakes and driving around with the VDC "On" contributes to the early pad wear and rotor warping." SAY WHAT? Driving with the VDC on makes the problem worse?
I called the nationally-known expert's shop and the mechanics almost wet their pants.
I then stated, to the new service manager, that some dealerships are paying for new brakes while others are not (per fellow Edmunds.com posters). The new service manager said, "Then use another dealer because we need to make a profit. This car should cost over 40K and you should be happy that you got it for far less."
My quotes are verbatim.
Message to Jim Coleman Infinity in Bethesda, MD: You lost a customer for life! I will drive +/- 35 miles out of my way to Passport Infinity in Alexandria, Virginia for service.
By the way -- is your friend with the radio show going to try and bring public attention to infiniti for this? I bet infiniti would have a serious reaction if a well known mechanic started dissing the car on the air. BTW, can you tell me what shop it was? As I live in the same area as you, maybe at some point I'll need them to check out my car.
Anyone knows a good Infiniti service in DC - MD - N VA?
Mark
These are the front brakes as the rear brakes were replaced under a TSB.
I do not know many happy with Jim Coleman Infiniti in Bethesda, Maryland. Speaking with others in the paltry waiting area is a misery session. It is in the middle of the showroom of all places. You think the look of unhappy customers sells cars? Is Rosenthal Infiniti any better?
The ONLY things good about Coleman is the detailers who work for them and the pretty chick behind the counter. The detailers are called: "Peoples Choice" and they really go out of their way for the customer. As they are independant, they should get noticed on this board. I hope they do not get associated with Jim Coleman's poor service. They work hard and know the customer comes first. Nice guys who work hard for their money. One has to respect that.
Go down the street and buy a Jag from Manhattan Jaguar and get real service. Night and day. Now that is a dealership that will keep people for life.
The formula is very simple: customer service and honesty. Is that asking too much?
The guy from the national TV show is near Baltimore, Maryland. The show airs on public television. He also has a radio show on 106.7 FM in the DC area (weekends). You can figure it out from there or email me for more info.....
I am done rambling about Coleman. Word to the wise: read what others are saying and make-up your mind.
More then that, what irks me about them is that I've had a couple warranty jobs done, (dashboard, car seat, 4 radios, multiple rattles, etc...) and everytime I have to wait because they have to order the part --- I mean if they KNOW these things are going to have to be replaced, and they are selling 1000 cars (not sure of number, just example) , why not have 20 pieces instock for known TSBs? For that matter, if the sold 1000 cars, they should have 4000 radios in stock
I know that's not that huge a deal and it might not even be there fault -- but it irks me.
Anyway, to the best of my knowledge they haven't ever lied to me, and my advisor tries his best, so they certainly sound better then coleman.
My biggest gripe is the hot air issue -- and they won't even look at it. They just tell me its a design flaw and I should run the A/C. Bah.
Also this is only my second car, my first being a Saturn - so perhaps if I owned a jag or a lexus before I would be more turned off by my inifini service, but hey it's all relative -- and from where I came from - having any loaner, ever, is a nice little perk
Cheers,
--brian
The easy way out of trouble with G35 is Lemon law, if one is available in your state. It's usually free, and the lawyers usually do most of work. I'm NOT trying to advertise anyone,here.
PEOPLE!!! Please, take an action for your own sake. Go to www.lemonlaw.com and check what is the situation with lemonlaw with your state. No matter how small the problems are, you, as owners of luxury vehicle should not be bother by them. The lemonlaw lawyers, most of time, don't charge their clients because they go after the manufacturer for the fee. Also, they usually say no, if they think your case is too weak. All you need to do is give the lawyer all the information (repair history) and maintain update on your car, then wait for avg. 6-9 months. You only have to go to the court once or twice but not most of cases. If you decide to work with lemon law lawyers, make sure you get it in writing how much you have to pay (free or some $)at the settlement. They usually do but If the lawyer says 'can't', Look for someone else.
Not official but personal opinion. It seems G35 was produced in hurry as off-set of 350Z or variation of Altima?? An year later, problems are surfacing. So far, 4+ recalls from Infiniti. Then, there are Far more such as BRAKE NOISE, A/C PROBLEMS, AUDIO PROBLEM, etc (problems infiniti dosen't consider to fix)... The poor quality as many of you would already have found out, but the way Infiniti (Nissan) dose their business is most disturbing. When they introduced the later version of '03 G35 sedan, they reduced the invoice price while they included more options such as Xenon headlights, etc... as standard equipment. They also corrected missing extra 12V outlet and remote trunk release button, etc on '03 & 1/2 models.
TRANSLATION: The owner of early version of '03 G35 sedan got their cars with less standard options for more money out of their pocket (also, Infiniti told the dealers not to give more than $1,000 off MSRP during the introduction of '03 early version of G35sedan). Because of what Infiniti did, who knows what's going to happen to the future value of the early version of '03 model?! Please, don't be frustrated and take an action.
I don't have a lemon.
The G35 was produced BEFORE the 350Z in Japan, as the Nissan Skyline (sedan, not coupe. The Skyline Coupe came out in calendar 2003.)
Infiniti can tell the dealers whatever they want regarding pricing, but by law they can't do anything about it. I got my car well under MSRP in May 2002, while another dealer still was asking $1K OVER MSRP. Shop around.
My car is nearing 20K. It's getting new front brakes (pads/rotors) today. I'm not particularly pleased about that, but reading this and other BBS, I knew it was coming. Infiniti will hear from me. I will say though, the dealer (Passport) has done me right, while I am paying something, I anticipate the amount will be satisfactory to me....I don't know the final number yet.
There was also one post on another forum that said Infiniti is testing a new pad for release 1 December. I have no idea if that's true, but I'll pass along what I read...
Actually, here are the numbers:
Infiniti Announces Pricing on All-New 2003 G35 [Jan. 07, 02]
DETROIT, Mich. (January 7, 2002) - Customers may also opt for a leather model with an MSRP of $28,950, ....
http://129.33.74.73/infiniti/news/products/reljanel20020110170101- .shtml
Now the 2003.5:
Infiniti Announces 2003 Prices on Four Models [Sep. 18, 02]
With the addition of standard Xenon headlights, the G35 Sedan Leather model increases $700 to $29,650.
http://129.33.74.73/infiniti/news/pricing/relautopasse20020918104- 116.shtml
Thanx 4 your opinion.
You seemed to misunderstand what I'm trying to say. It's for lemon law lawyers to decide what can be lemon law-ed. They have more information and sources about lemon law.
Yes, I am unhappy with Infiniti. However, I can say that I like what G35 is but dislike how G35 is.
Say, you buy a telephone and whenever you pick the handset, you hear rattling noise. Wouldn't you go back and return the phone? You only use the phone for few day out of its one year warranty.
Why can't we do the same with our cars, which worth how many phones?...anyone knows?). Most of G35 owners who experiencing the problem, would have not used thier car even 1/4 of its warranty. That's why there is lemon law.
I noticed that people don't use it because they don't know or are misinformed about it.
Now, you know what kind of problems you have. Why not go ahead find out what you can do about it.
www.lemonlaw.com is Pennsylvania based website. For people in other state,use the link 'other states/click here'.
I dont know maybe i'm lazy, but I figure the chances of my car being a lemon is slim to none - so it's not worth the effort to look into it. I mean, as I understand it (I'm in VA - the car would have to be in the shop for 30 days, or have a serious problem that doesn't get fixed after 3 tries.) As long as it's not safety, engine, transmission issue - i doubt it's considered serious. While I hate the hot air and the fact that I'm on my 3rd radio - I figure in the grand scheme of what can go wrong with a car - the lemon law folks would laugh at my complaints;)
About your telephone point - when I bought my Saturn car (in 96), they had a 30 day money back gaurantee policy. If for any reason you didn't like it, changed your mind, or whatever you could return it. That's a nice little warranty, and some extremely insignificant number of folks actually returned the car. Anyway it'd be nice if all car companies did that, (I'd have returned my G).. but it'd be quite a risk for them as once the car is titled they'd take huge losses on returned ones.
Cheers, and good luck if you pursue a lemon law finding -- let us know how it goes.
By the way, for the record, I agree with mostly all your complaints.
If there is one thing I've learned from this it's that I should not get 1st year runs of cars.
Expensive lesson though ;(
Cheers,
---brian
For May 2002, I could have gotten you a G35 sedan w/ Prem Pckg,Xenon,Winter, wood,trunk for total $215 over the invoice (a trade was involved in this case).
For my curiousity, did that Saturn dealer ACTUALLY took any of their car back and gave the money back?
If you know any cases, please let me know, because I've meaning to write a paper about Saturn.
For those who might read this, as far as the settlement goes, there are many different cases. Of course, the best one is 'Buyback: the manufacturer give you the amount you paid'. Also, MSRP Exchange: you get to exchange your car to equal MSRP valued model or pay the difference if you want to add options. Another case is The manufacturer would pay certain amount of money which is decided by either judge or through the settlement. I can't remember the rest. It could be different by the states, so check it out.
As far as problems "Infiniti doesn't consider to fix," I had my A/C compressor replaced under a TSB in Dec. 2002, and the Audio/HVAC circuit board failed as was covered under a recall earlier this year. Mine failed before that and has been fine since it was replaced.
Anyway all the other issues were handled just fine, and outside of sometimes having to argue over a rental car (which is a dealer issue, not infiniti issue), they took care of my issues nicely.
I agreed with you cheerioboy, that the stated reasons were not valid reasons for a lemon law finding, though I understand how frustrating they are.
Maybe Infiniti can learn with new management? How many lifetime buyers will Infiniti lose due to lousy customer service? I wish we could measure this.
msiseng - you should go to Passport. Things went well for me today regarding my brake bill. The fact they wore out isn't Passport's fault; their customer service has been good for me so far....I've been their twice, maybe three times.
I agree that Infiniti could stand to improve their customer service at the corporate level judging from what I have read. I have never had a need to call ICA. I haven't seen in issue on the G that deserves a buyback IMO.
Have any links to what Jaguar did? I know MB bought back some E? sedans recently due to a lack of SAT radio IIRC even though they paid for it.
One really has to own one to understand how they set the standard in customer service. They used to be horrible and then got a clue.
I met the people from Passport at a G35 Rally and they are awesome. Others who used them sing praises. How about that for free advertising?Just need to find the time to make the sojourn over the river.
http://cartalk.cars.com/Mail/Letters/01-17-97/4.html
The "cost" of that performance is relatively short brake pad life.
If this is a suprise to owners, I would suggest that you didn't do the appropriate amount of research PRIOR to making your purchase.
When driving at night, the two stalks (windshield wipers and headlights) plus the steering wheel controls are COMPLETELY DARK! Infiniti, tell me it ain't so!
My wife's Ford lights everything up at night so you know exactly what controls your hitting without having to turn on a map light. A FORD for goodness sakes!
Luxury car? I think not. A nice sporty overpriced sedan. Most likely.