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Comments
Imagine a car dealership with 100 cars in inventory on the lot. These cars, generally speaking are financed -- this financing is called floor planning. A $50,000 car times 100 is $5,000,000 (for the sake of easy math, not that all 100 cars would be $50K). You can figure out how much "per day" the car costs the dealer. Obviously the longer the car sits in inventory the more the dealer has "into the car."
An ordered car from a qualified buyer allows or "encourages" several things to happen for the dealer.
A sale can be made without the floor plan cost.
A sale can be added to the number the dealer can use to improve his/her "allocation" (the more cars you can sell, the more you can get, in essence)
The cost of an ordered car, therefore, is probably less for the dealer since the dealer will likely have "less into" the ordered car.
When my friend was selling Porsches in the early years of his dealership, the majority of the cars he sold (new) were ordered, not taken from inventory. As his ordered cars grew, it allowed his inventoried quantity to grow too. In the early years of Audi (post 60 minutes) he sold a lot of cars as "ordered."
So the net of this is to suggest that an ordered car CAN be sold for less and make the dealer more.
When I ordered the last 25 cars or so, I always new what the price would be -- sometimes I even knew what the lease deal would be. I always knew what the lease deal AT the MOMENT was -- and in some cases I knew "the worst case."
With our two new ordered cars we KNOW the lease price up until a certain date. The only change that will happen will be based on the residual or the money factor which will (in this case) not go up and may go down (this is only possible when dealing with the financing arm of the manufacturer).
Fear not ordering -- of course if you order a car that has an order guide but not a price guide, the dealer cannot "make something up." At the current moment, I don't know if what you are ordering is a known quantity, but I assume it is.
I was able to get my net price, fill out my credit ap and get a lease price and a cost per thousand. My wife got the same info from BMW.
There are no absolutes, but generally speaking it is possible to get a better price on an ordered car for it works to the dealer's advantage.
1. My tires are at 44-45 psi--I have to take a long drive for business tomorrow--do I have a safety issue? I have to take the car back to the dealer within the next 2-3 weeks to have Sirius installed--am I OK waiting that long before addressing the over-inflation while the car is at the dealership?
2. Am I doing any harm to the tires themselves by driving on them while they're over-inflated?
Thanks in advance for any input.
Good luck with your road tests!
First week observations:
The car has a very teutonic feel about it. Very solid with a great engine - I have to be careful about my speed, you hit 70 mph before you know it. Strong acceleration in all kinds of driving. Handling and braking are great.
Compared to the Lexus the ride is a little noisy, especially on freeways with those rain grooves. Most of it is tire noise - per the on-board tire pressure info I'm at 38-39 psi but that's after they are heated up. I did ask the dealer to verify tire presures when I took delivery. Maybe I should let a little air out and see what happens. Otherwise I just turn up the stereo and I don't hear a thing.
The rear seat headrests block the view - I wish they folded down flat so I can see all the cars I'm passing. The main control panel should probably be sloped down a bit more. Sometimes the sun's reflection makes seeing all those top-of-the-dash buttons a little hard to see. The fuel computer is off. Gave me average fuel economy of 17.1 MPG plus the distance til empty number varied a lot from day to day. My actual mileage for the first tank of gas was 20.1 MPH - about 50/50 highway/town driving.
My daughter enjoys all the room in the back seat. She felt cramped in the new GS plus the ingress is much easier with the M. My golf clubs fit in the trunk - wasn't sure how I was going to get them into the GS's trunk.
By the way, my dealer mentioned that he wished Infiniti would send over a better choice of cars. Seems alot of people want one but can't find the color/options yet, so they wait or order one. I was fortunate that what I wanted was scheduled for delivery last week or else I would still be waiting. Have seen two others on the road during the past week.
I ordered the Wheat/Rosewood trim; my interest rate through my credit union was 5.5%. I'd LOVE to get the graphite interior but my wife hates it so we went with the wheat. Ordering is something new that I've discovered that can save some money, and several people have confirmed this. Maybe if you got your pre-approved draft (or line of credit like Mark suggested), and went in near the end of the month and ordered one, you'd get as good a deal (if not better!) The earlier you go in and get the deal done the sooner the car will come to you. You'll still end up getting the car in the fall like you intended, and it'll be made just for you!!
HP
You also mention a bit of noise compared to the Lexus...and this with your non Sport edition. Please do let us know if you notice a difference with less air in the tires over those same freeway roads.
How is the voice activated NAV? Have you considered the hacks around not letting you program a destination in while en route? Seems like it would still be safe to do so with voice activation, not sure why that is not available while driving....
Anyway, enjoy that M!
The concern over noise is over rated. I've never owned a Lexus, but the M45 Sport is quieter than my Acura TL Type S that I just turned in. If the noise is too loud, then just crank up the stereo...
The Bose 5.1 sound system is excellent IF IT IS TUNED CORRECTLY. Use all the features, crank up the treble, go easy on the base, keep the surround sound on full, and enjoy. The Acura had a Bose and I wasn't anywhere near as impressed as the 5.1 system in the Infiniti (by the way, even non-DVD-A disks sound better in the upgraded sound system).
The V6 is nice, but the V8 ROCKS! Sorry folks, but 20% more horse power, and the smooth revving of 2 additional cylinders just cannot be over stated (a co-worker asked me what my favorite feature of my new M45 was and I said - without hesitation - THE ENGINE!). The thing rocks!!!
It is hard to explain, but I actually look forward to the drive to work.
My only complaint is that when you are using the Nav system with the radio up high, it is difficult to hear the voice directions. The visual cues on the map are more that adequate to get you where you are going, but what's the point in having voice assist if you can't hear it? I'm still working on optimizing this feature.
Well three weeks in and no regrets. This is a great car. I've never 'loved' a car before, but this is coming close. I really wanted a 911 but I needed a back seat (a real one that is) for work and for home. The M45 is a great - cost effective - compromise. There is something about getting more than you expect, and I just get the feeling that if I bought a 545i (which I am sure is a great driving car), I'd just keep wondering what I paid soooo much for. They don't give the M45 away, but relatively speaking, you can't help but feel that you are getting away with something!
> $10 large with a 2 year old 60,000 mile trade in. As long as I can lease at these terms buying seems illogical.
TB
I realize that "infinity4less" itself is not a URL but even when I type www.infinity4less.com or try to google, nothing is coming up. Anyway, I will try searching again. Didn't mean to violate the rules!!
Have you tried chnging the volume for the Nav voice promts? It is under one of the menus (I think Settings-->Navigation or Settings-->audio).
Alternatively, I have had success with turning up the volume while the prompts were being given (but only then, otherwise the stereo volume is increased).
Does this indicate greater interest/passion (at least in people who visit Edmunds)?
Thanks
An additional issue for which the dealer doesn't have an answer ... yet. If you lose your transmitter it seems there is no way to start the car! None of the keys will do it ... they only open doors and glove box ... there's no fall-back position. In 50 years of driving I've never lost my keys, but now that it's possible to be left high and dry ... well, Murphy was an optimist!
"Infiniti Cars 4 Less is an online broker with the ability to sell new Infinitis at fleet prices. With limited overhead and three distribution centers throughout the U.S., we can arrange to deliver savings to your doorstep."
KMG68,
I hope this points you in the direction you want to go.
Mark
Since this factory navigation system is, so say the auto journalists, the lamest sat nav ever conceived by the mind of a human being, I must assume that the feature my system has must in some fashion also be available on the Infiniti M, here goes:
On the set up menu there is a selection called "preferences" -- on my lamo Audi system the preference can be English or French language and English or Metric measurements. Dig deeper and I can turn off the voice prompts altogether. Select another option and navigation relative volume levels can be set. I think I set mine to +3 (0 being the normal setting). When I am playing a CD at high volume levels here is what my little Audi lady does -- first she temporarily turns the CD level down and speaks her command at a level that is +3db higher than "normal." After she gives me the command, she shuts up and turns the audio back to the level it was before she spoke.
Additional settings include a phone setting that allows my hands free, eyes free phone to ring, be answered and whilst I'm on the phone listening to the caller through my stereo's speakers, if the Audi lady wants to talk to me she speaks +3db louder than "normal" to compensate for the fact that I am on the phone. The caller can actually hear the navigation instructions and will often comment "cool" upon hearing my system say "prepare to turn right after 1000 feet onto I Seventy One, South."
To repeat, if this lightweight system (that BTW works flawlessly) has this simple logical feature built into it, I would almost bet a car payment that the Infiniti system has some similar settings or preferences. May I suggest a look-see in the manual to check this assumption out?
On the off chance that the system lacks this feature, I wonder if there is a simple "level" setting for the navigation audible instructions even if it is not tied to the relative level of the sound system?
If you don't like to tunnel through menus, you can adjust the volume of the prompts without changing the volume of the stereo if you turn the volume knob while a prompt is playing. If you miss the prompt, you can always hit the voice button on the center dial to replay the prompt and get a second chance to adjust the volume.
Anyway, the sales guy was great ... the dealership in general was just OK! They seem to be ready to deal, when you're ready to buy (like most dealerships). My main objective was the car and the price, and they were able to deliver both. It truly is a great car ... you won't be dissapointed.
Also, anyone find any way to get the rearview backup camera to work while the car is in a forward gear?
So far, my M35x is great. No doubts about my purchase. I do suggest purchasing a road hazard warranty for the tires and wheels, however. I had a bubble form on the sidewall that was felt to have occurred from running over the edge of a steel plate or small pothole (I do not recall running through any road hazards). The warranty covers things like this as well as more serious damage to a rim (very expensive).
I had my dealer arrange installation of audio/video jacks, as well as a spare 12-volt outlet, in the center console. I can now kept my Apple iPod connected, charged and completely out of view. Sweet!
I bought the Serengheti sand/Wheat combo. Looks great. I think the color combo will do well with time. Certainly will hide small scratches on the exterior.
Thanks
4/7 163
4/15 162
4/22 152
Could you view your song selections on the Navigation screen?
Anyone else have any thoughts or information?
This issue was raised by an M owner on another forum. He went back to the dealer, tried it on other cars and found that other M's did in fact have significantly greater audio muting during voice guidance.
I have not yet heard the final outcome, but his dealer is looking into it, and I believe that it will be solved. Either by finding a hidden service-only setting, or by replacing a part. I recommend you go back to the dealer, try it on a few different M's, and ask the dealer to solve it. You also might call Infiniti corporate customer satisfaction.
Infiniti has done really well on these kinds of problems in the past. I have a 2003 Q45 with satellite radio. When I first got the car the sat radio would go into a "loading" state once every week or two, where the only way to get it back was to turn the power off and on. Turns out it was a Clarion problem (the manufacturer of the head unit), and infiniti put an engineer on it, whom I spoke to many times and whose entire job at that time was making sure it got tested, isolated and resolved. It was an extremely sticky problem because of its intermittent nature, and thus the difficulty of ever reproducing it when an engineer was looking at it. They replaced my radio a couple of times, and eventually got it fixed entirely, with Clarion creating a new circuit board. They went to great lengths, despite the fact that it only happened to a few people, and only occasionally. The problem has not since reappeared in about a year. That, BTW, has been my ONLY problem in about three years of ownership. And a pretty minor one at that.
I feel sure this will be much more easily resolved since other M's have already been shown to be working as you would want, and since its easily and consistently reproducible.
Pete
Found it-THANK YOU!
Karen
What are the specifics on connecting your iPod and 12-volt outlet to the M35x?
Could you view your song selections on the Navigation screen?
Anyone else have any thoughts or information?
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To get the best sound using on an ipod with your M, you need an auxiliary audio input. Otherwise, you're stuck with an FM modulator, which would be far less satisfying. An auxiliary input comes with the M only if you get DVD audio, or the MES (Mobile entertainment System, i.e. DVD video player, with overhead screen). In that case the audio inputs are in a pop out compartment at the rear/back of the center console.
The issue mrivision has raised relates to the fact that the aux input compartment opens outside and to the rear of the center console. Thus if you have your iPod plugged into it, one would see some wires, even if the ipod were hidden in the console. What he's apparently done, and what I've been expecting to do, when I get the M, is to have the Aux input and the 12v charger outlet rerouted to the inside of the center console, so that the ipod can be kept fully hooked up and hidden. Given the extremely close proximity of the outlets that's probably a very quick and inexpensive job, with an extremely nice end result.
As far as seeing the iPod track names on the navigation screen: Thats not doable with the simple hook up I've just described. And, AFAIK, that's not yet doable with the M.
Some third party MFRs have been offering add-on's for this type of thing, where they make a CD interface adapter that the car thinks is a CD player. (This approach would not require the DVD audio or MES). The car displays the CD disk and track names on the car's audio screen, but in this case they'd actually be ipod playlist and track names. I haven't seen this on the M yet, but I heard that it may be coming from ICruze (with screen display via only their own small additional screen), and perhaps others using the car's display. You can check LOGJAM - Car Interface Adapters periodically to see if anything's available. You would check under iPod interface adapters, and then check "applications" to see what's available for infiniti. You might also check the MFR web sites for each of the iPod interface adapters, to see if they have compatibility modules that might be missing from LOGJAM.
Pete
I'm a neophyte with the electronics...
Also, should my display be showing the names of the artists, songs, etc. when it's playing CDs? (non-dvd system)
The car has met every one of my expectations. Glad I waited through all of that 530, RL and now GS overpriced hard-sell.
I understand that a bunch of cool new Bluetooth phones are coming out this summer, so my inclination is to hold off and get one of those. My question is, will there be compatibility issues with the M? After all, the Infiniti website lists only a few phones that are supported...does that mean other Bluetooth phones that aren't specified on the Infiniti website are not supported?
Can an auxiliary audio input be installed in the non-dvd system?
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AFAIK, the answer is no today with two exceptions:
1- You can use FM modulation with any model of any car, though its sound is not quite as clean as true AUX input. However it's fairly decent if you get a professionally installed modulator, hard wired to the car's radio antenna input. In that case the modulated signal does a better job of competing with local stations. Also, depending upon how crowded the FM stations are in your area, you may get decent quality with a stand alone modulator such as an iTrip for iPod.
2- An aux input may be available for the M in the future via third party interface adapters, as described in my earlier post.
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Also, should my display be showing the names of the artists, songs, etc. when it's playing CDs?
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Thats a possibility for some future third party interface adapters. They exist today for many car models, but not yet for the M. Given the growing popularity of the iPod and the likely success of the M, I'd say the chances are fair to good.
Pete
Thanks!
There does not appear to be a great selection of just DVD-audio to choose from!!! Any ideas? Need to know if it is worth paying extra to upgrade system?
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The only audio formats played by the DVD system are DVD audio and CD-DA. I personally wouldn't get it for those two formats. Nonetheless, I would definitely get it for a few other reasons:
1- It's the only way to get the Bose surround sound system, which includes 14 speakers (including two stereo speakers on each seat), and which according to most reports, is an incredible system with superior sound, regardless of your audio source. i.e. It makes standard CD's, MP3 CD's, FM, and Satellite radio sound far, far better, and it includes some very nice effects such as BOSE Centerpoint, Bose AudioPilot, and Bose Precision Phased Audio, all of which work on all audio sources.
2- It's the only way currently available to get a true auxiliary audio input in the M, which would provide the best possible sound for an iPod or any other MP3 player.
3- A less significant reason, but one you should be aware of, is that even if you don't get the MES with the overhead screen, you can still use the DVD audio system to play DVD videos on the Nav screen when the car is parked, (or with a hardware mod, when the car's in motion. For passengers only of course.)
Pete
Also, should my display be showing the names of the artists, songs, etc. when it's playing CDs?
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Sorry, but I just realized that I misread your question (even though I repeated it in my own post.
The correct answer is that the Nav screen will display that info when playing CD's that contain it.
According to the manual, the Nav screen will display all of the following info when it's available:
CDs:
- Disc title
- Track title
CDs with MP3 or WMA:
- Folder title
- File title
- Track title
- Artist
Pete
The centre console DVD player can play DVD-A and DTS-encoded audio discs, but it can also play DVD-video discs, which means that it will play the audio of your concert DVDs (or of any DVD for that matter). I love the system: DVD-A sound phenomenal, and even CD/MP3/WMA music (played through the in-dash CD-changing) sounds fantastic.