2007+ Infiniti G35

scottm123

On my way!!!

c9miles

I have had my heart set on buying a 2007 G35 sedan for almost a year now, and I have been seriously looking at a few pre-owned 2007's with low mileage. This will be my first car purchase and I want to make it count because I can't afford to sell / trade it in if I decide I don't like it.

After reading through the forums about the G35, I'm starting to get cold feet. I have read things about paint chipping, remote keys not working, terrible gas mileage, road noise, etc. Now I'm starting to consider other / possibly more reliable / slightly less expensive models.

I'm not sure if I'm only reading the bad comments or what, but I don't want to make a poor decision. Any suggestions? Will these faults be fixed for the 08 model?

Thanks,
Chad

sjaieve

its funny you said that cos i have made the same observations. i am considering trading in a car in the same segment as the G. am attracted to the G cos of the looks and extra horsepower but the issues you mentioned have made me think twice about this. the G is a great car but for the kind of money you will be paying, the kind of problems you mention make me a bit hesitant especially given that the one I have now has never given me any problems.

irvsteroni

I bought an 07 Sport (auto) in December of 06. I've had no problems during the 17k miles I've put on the G except for the rubber trim at the sunroof coming off twice. I'm averaging about 17-18 MPG but I do run the car aggressively. No paint chipping (except for some idiot who apparently banged their door into mine and put a slight mark on my passenger door), no problem with remote keys (although Infiniti is replacing them under warranty because of potential problems with cell phones-something I've never experienced). If there's any road noise I wouldn't know it-the BOSE stereo rocks. I'd give the G further serious consideration compared to the other vehicles you might be considering.

sweendogy

i have to give scott m some credit guy does get it done-- knows the G like the back of his hand and with his magic right foot is able to squeeze every ounce of gas(look at his mpg posts) out of his car. we can all learn alot from this cat-- On a side note -what does PAT the HOST drive.. can we get some feedback from the Hosts --would enjoy seeing something from them.

johninnj

Take everything on here with a grain of salt. I only check weekends anymore since I got tired of people attacking other people personally for opposing views. It's human nature to complain, so you will prob see more complaints here than compliments. For what it's worth, I have an 07Sport Auto with 8,000 miles on it. It is MUCH quieter than the 04TL lease I took back (Which I was reminded of when I drove the TL back a month after having the G) with the exception of the engine noise. Under acceleration, it sorta snarls...nothing offensive. If you look up the R&T comparison of the tl-s, is350, and the GSport, you'll see it was tied or quieter at all speeds. My remotes work fine and have SPECTACULAR range. Paint is fine, and I often go very fast. Stupid rubber sunroof things fell out....but that's no biggy. As for MPG, I did in interesting test on my 110 mile drive for Thanksgiving. At 55mpg open highway for 10 mins, the car was getting 29mpg. At 65 for 10 mins, I got like 25.5ish. At 75, I was only getting 22-23. At 85, I was getting like 19. The car has great aerodynamics and an efficient motor, but well over 3,000 rpms at 75 is kinda stupid. That same trip averaging 80ish I used to get high 20's with the TL.
It's the best car in the category for the money....no question. It was just picked in the edmunds comparison of sport sedans. My coworkers 45K 06 330 does nothing better (Well maybe front end feel), as he will admit. The features don't even compare. Best of luck with your purchase ! !

P.S. At 130 MPH I was getting about 9mpg at around 6,000 rpms..same trip
P.S.S. My 04 TL (First year) had a recall to add a line to the transmission to prevent 3rd gear failure, had the memory seat module replaced, and used to squeak form somewhere in the back. I'm sure that was all over the forums at the time.

cdnpinhead

Thanks for the real-world MPG numbers.

There are those who would point out that other cars can actually achieve good MPG values at 80 mph & above, since that's how they have to operate much of the time.

Others (I'm imagining you're among them) don't want to participate in that discussion. It's not especially hard to make lots of power. Making it efficiently is more difficult.

pat

Actually, pat the host hasn't acquired a new vehicle in way too long! And to tell you the truth, the G35 is definitely on my short list of what to consider when I decide to rectify that situation. :P

johninnj

As I said in my lengthy post....04TL auto used to get nearly 30MPG on the same trip which is all on the New Jersey Turnpike and all very fast. The G motor is very efficient to get 306 hp and respectable torque from a 3.5 liter, but they geared it way too low to be a long distance cruiser. I am in the group of (Highway) mpg complainers, although my city averages are the same as the old TL. Old Z06 made 400+ horsepower but got almost 30 mpg highway using a really tall 6th gear. Nissan should emulate.

eel2

Thanks for your posting. I am considering buying the 2008 G35 sedan and the only thing holding me up now is the mileage issue. I have been reading these comments that people are getting 12-13 MPG which is not acceptable. My Consumer Reports car issue showed with their tests, they were averaging 19MPG City and HWY which is ok with me. It sounds like you enjoy the car. I was looking at the TL, the IS and ES. I think the G35 has the best mix of luxury and is fun to drive. I am impressed with all the safety features and standard options.

adamr001

I'm in a Sport 6MT:

Pre-ECU update I was averaging 17.9 mpg in the city. Post update (which has only been a weekend) I'm averaging 20.5. I'll repost after I've logged more data. As far as driving style goes, I do believe in accelleration and reasonable levels of speed limit flaunting. However, I don't hit redline in every gear. In fact, my goal is usually to reach at least 4th gear, if not 5th or 6th. This means that, where possible, I keep the 'final gear' RPMs of my current speed below 3000 RPMs. If I need a burst of accelleration, that's what down shifting is for...

My only highway trip had an average speed of 59.8 mph and an average economy of 25.5 mpg across ~440 miles. Cruise was usually set to 75mph. Slow downs were small towns and traffic. Passing was done where possible and included speeds in excess of 75mph. Roads where "hilly" and not flat 75% of the trip.

c9miles

Thank you for everyone's postings. I test drove the sedan again this weekend, and I'm getting closer to making the purchase. I guess the complaints had me nervous, but I imagine it is a small fractions of the owners who are not happy with their cars.

I have been looking at the G35 service cars...the ones they give out as loaners while yours is in the shop getting fixed. They are the base models, with low mileage, but still have leather and sunroof, etc. To be honest I don't know the difference between this and the Journey model....the salesmen kept insisting that they were not the Journey model even though they have all the same features.

Would there be any other differences that I'm not seeing, and is a service vehicle a bad choice for a purchase?

Thanks,
Chad

adamr001

Well, I wouldn't buy a service vehicle personally, but that's not because of the model.

I am as guilty of it as anyone, but I'm not very "nice" to the free loaners. I drive 'em hard and fast and typically do things I wouldn't dare do in my own car. It's a lot like buying a new car with more than 15-20 miles on the odo. You never know what someone has done.

THAT said, I would imagine that the service vehicles are extremely well maintained, but having been an infiniti owner for just a couple of weeks I'm not 100% on that and it might vary from dealership to dealership.

c9miles

Thats exactly what I was wondering. I know when people get rentals/service vehicles, they made not take very good care of them. However, with only 5-10k miles on them, I would assume they can't be too bad....

scottm123

LOL

You'd be very surprised at whatr damage could be done within 5-10K miles.
In fact, the first 1,200 are the most critical and if not broken in correctly, it could come back to haunt you when you're in the car's mid-life.

davidr11

Dear All.
Please advise per my question bellow. I'm driving : 2007 G35X Sedan, about 6200 miles driven so far.

This past week-end, while on a trip to Toronto Ca , got a flat tire. (Rear, right). Turned out to be a bad , long nail, that made a deep puncture near the side of the rim.
I installed a small spare and drove to the tire place. They determined that the tire can not be repaired due to the location and the damage, etc. However, they did not have in stock Goodyear (the tire that is originally on my G35X). They only had 1 BFGoodrich left, that they offered to install.
So, currently i have: 3 original Goodyear and 1 BFGoodrich (rear, right). After i got home and called my local dealer and asked about how this may affect my driving , etc- the answer was that as long as the new tire is on the rear - it should not affect my driving.
I would appreciate any input from anyone on this. One concern i already have is about future tire rotation - sounds like i will not be able to rotate this BFGoodrich to the front. Should i consider purchasing a new Goodyear, so that i'm back to all 4 original tire manufacture, etc..

Thanks,
David.

adamr001

It's typically accepted that mixing brands and/or models of tires is a "bad idea". Primarily due to different tread profiles, traction characteristics, wear rates, etc. It's more pronounced on front tires because those are the ones that make you turn and therefore are especially sensitive to these types of issues (and you'll notice the wierd handling more)

Personally, I'd recommend that you sell the 1-off if you can and go back to the same make/model tire everywhere.

davidr11

Thank you very much for the reply ! Makes sense. I will probably follow up on your advice.
Thanks again.
David.

johninnj

Can you tell me more about the ecu update? Total pros/cons?
I'm curious as to mpg and power (Total and delivery characteristics changes.
Thanks for your time.

adamr001

Let's see:
Pros:
1) I've seen a significant (2mpg) improvement in economy. Moving from a city average of 17.9 to somewhere between 19.9 and 20.4 (manual calculation vs. computer calculation). As always YMMV. I have not tested mileage on the highway since the update so I can't speak to that. I was getting mid-25s pre-update over a 420 mile, avg speed ~60mph (peak was, um, over the speed limit, cruise was set between 70-75 most of the time), trip through a relatively hilly party of Texas.

2) VDC is now useful. Before I felt that VDC came on too early, too often and too drastically. Now it's a useful feature and I don't feel the desire / need to turn it off. (See my post in the tech package thread and point #4 below for more info)

3) Cruise Control surging addressed (mostly): The "surge" on cruise control downhill has improved dramatically. It still does this but it's not something that causes motion sickness anymore (in fact, I only notice it because I was looking for it). On a side note, ICC does the same thing and the ECU update helped there as well.

4) The throttle is no longer on/off. There's some gradation in there and you can *easily* control how much throttle you're giving the car. I really noticed this when I took the car out to burn some rubber in the twisties. The greater throttle control and the VDC improvements let me really test the car without constantly fighting the electronics. In fact, VDC only came on a few times and was much more predictable. Prior to the ECU update this same road was not drivable (at a spirited pace) while using VDC as VDC constantly killed the power. In fact, I'm not sure how much the ECU update actually improved VDC or if the improvements I feel are related to the vast improvement in throttle control.

Cons:
None as far as I'm concerned. I'd recommend the update to everyone!

johninnj

Wow....sounds like all pros. I'm going to call the dealer as I have to go in and get my replacement fobs eventually. Thanks a lot for the details.

madmarlin

ok guys. i'm late to this discussion. what exactly is the ecu update? is it applicable to 2007 G35 Sports with an automatic? Please let me know when you get a chance.

Thanks.

adamr001

Wow....sounds like all pros. I'm going to call the dealer as I have to go in and get my replacement fobs eventually. Thanks a lot for the details.

That's certainly my experience, zero cons. I'd love to hear from someone else who has done the upgrade. There's a thread on another forum dedicated to this car that I've been reading when I have the time, but it's so full of muck / repetative debate on wether they're flashing 07 ECUs to 08 Code or not. Scratch that. I skipped ahead 5 pages and it's full of more glowing responses.

Such as:
The car is still powerful but now much better-mannered.... no more jerky response on the throttle. As another poster stated..."a more linear response" describes it very well. This definitely does not mean it is docile or dull, though.

Certainly, I would recommend the TSB be implemented.

and

FINALLY got my CC TSB done. I love the results. Throttle response is more linear.

The car still gets up and goes when you want it to. You just have more CONTROL now. Two thumbs up!!

Also, I should note that throttle response feels identical to the 2008 sedan that I drove and torque converter lockup is more smooth.

This TSB actually fixed a coupe other problems I had (thud when accelerating from a stop and when on and off the gas at 40 mph).

Maybe it's a "cure all" for the 2007 quirks.

My advice is to advise your dealer you're bringing it in for the TSB for cruise control (fax them a copy if you have to) and if you have ICC to have them order the sensor BEFORE you bring it in as they likely won't have the sensor for ICC in stock (took 3 days to get mine) and turned what's otherwise a 2 - 3 hour affair into 4 days without my baby!

It's still totally worth doing though!

slzweibel

Sorry if I am asking a repeat question but what exactly is the ECU update? Is there a TSB about it? If so is there a specific TSB # I can refer to or get a copy of the TSB somewhere?

I just had my '07 G35x in for routine service and had mentioned both surging while in cruise control (which they will fix by ordering a new computer chip for the cruise control system) and the erratic behavior of the car during heavy use of the throttle - they told me this is a common problem which has no fix as of now - is this not true? It sounds like this ECU update could fix this problem....

Thanks for any information you can provide.

adamr001

TSB for Cruise Control surging

This is a very new TSB. Released at the end of October, some dealerships might not be aware of it. I'd recommend printing it out and taking it with you.

cdnpinhead

where the heck is Scott?

He'd normally be hip-deep in this disucssion.

scottm123

LOL... I'm here, just enjoying the back seat.
Looks like this one is under control.

I posted the original information on the TSB but I myself have not gotten back down to the dealer to have it done yet.
I figure I'm better off letting those with the TSB work done take the driver's seat on this one.

meadoel

Often times I've gotten to my destination and want to turn off the engine, but want to leave the radio or Bluetooth active. Is there a way to shut the engine off but leave on all accessories? In my previous car I could shift into Neutral before pressing the START button and it would shut the engine down and leave the accessories on.

desidogg

just press the start button after the engine is off, without pressing gas button

meadoel

If I do that it shuts off the radio & Bluetooth and I have to wait a few seconds for them to come back on. For the radio it's no big deal, but if I'm on a call that could be problematic.

adamr001

If you figure out a way to leave bluetooth on while shutting down the motor, let me know. Right now, I don't know of anyway to do that, so I typically leave the car running. This means sitting outside of my garage if I'm on the phone.

shov8

Can you not transfer the call back to the phone? Or does the phone not "take over" the call if the G35 stops? I have never tried it so just I am just suggesting, but I have been on a call before prior to starting the G35 and the car seamlessly found the phone and took over the call once started (in other words, I was talking on the phone one second then talking inside the car using BT the next). Maybe it works in reverse?

kc

adamr001

Oh you can transfer back, that's not the issue at all. Transfering back though means I have my bulky blackberry stuck to my ear instead of the convenience of hands-free. I'm very tempted to go back to my standard hands-free device (A plantronics bluetooth headset) but that won't auto-mute the stereo, give me caller ID that's easy to read, etc.

Turning the car off while leaving bluetooth enabled is only desired because I park in a garage and would rather not fill it with carbon monoxide and exhaust smell.

shov8

Oh, I agree with you on the parking deal. I just thought you guys were stating if you stopped the car the phone hung-up or something. I guess the only solution is to turn the car off, have the conversation transfer to the phone momentarily, then put the car in ACC mode (and re-tranfer the call). It would be a pain but it should work. AFAIK, there is no way to go from engine ON to ACC without turning the car off.

kc

meadoel

Can you direct us to your posting about the TSB?

desidogg

Ummm.... I never had a problem. Did you guys push the button fast? Double click the start button like a mouse and you can get a seamless transition to from ON to ACC.

ajmtbm

is the nav system worth it? how easy is it to search the musicbox hard drive? is sound quality acceptable?

what sort of items are disabled while driving? does the phone transmit caller id name to the screen when rining, or do the names need to be in the phonebook first?

meadoel

I never thought to "double click" the start button. I tried it this morning. The first time I clicked so fast I did it three times, which obviously didn't work. But I tried it twice, double clicking both times and it worked great. The Nav didn't restart and the Audio\BT both stayed connected. Thanks!

scottm123

Look at post # 854 here, or post # 306 in the 2007 Infiniti G35 Problems thread.

meadoel

For some reason I assumed there were two issues: ICC Fix and ECU update. I see people indicating that the ICC Fix fixes lots of other stuff, including throttle response off the line.

I'm confused about how an ICC fix fixes all those other items. Wouldn't they have made it a broader TSB?

adamr001

The ICC Fix *includes* an ECU update. Taking the car in for the ICC fix is *easier* than arguing about the other things and there's a quick / clear TSB about it.

It's really the ECU update tha'ts the magic here.

irvsteroni

I brought the TSB to my dealer at the same time that I was getting my 07 sport serviced. Are they required to do this work? The service dept. said just because there was a TSB out didn't mean the work was automatically done. They checked my car, inspected the cruise control, and having found no problem whatsoever, did not provide the work associated with the TSB update for cruise control.

slzweibel

You need to complain about surging when the engine is cold to get the TSB done for reprogramming the ECU and complain of surging when the ICC is on and going downhill. I had problems with the cruise control also not turning on and once almost driving me into the vehicle in front of me!

zekeman1

I think it varies dealer to dealer; I just told my dealer about the TSB and that it might fix the jumpy throttle - gave them a copy of the TSB # then they performed the work for me after I dropped the car off one morning. No hassle from them.
Z

johninnj

Reading through old posts.....GREAT advice here...I've sat with the car running myself to stay on a phone call. THANKS ! !

jl114

I told my dealership about a "cruise control problem". They asked me for detail, I told them it wasn't stable going down a bridge...etc. 2 minutes later they came back and told me there is a TSB on it and they'd do fix it up. 1 hour later, they said they did all they could do but they needed to order some parts (new ICC) so I had to wait half a week and bought my car back in again.
Now they're saying they need another part in Japan which will take 2 weeks...
I guess no one around my dealership went to do this...

zekeman1

While they very willingly gave me the update, my dealer also had to order parts because he couldn't program it correctly. That resulted in keeping the loaner for about 4 days but after I got it back, the issue was taken care of... no more jumpy throttle.
Z

kennynmd

Any suggestions between these two vehicles? A few friends have owned Nissan's in the past and they swear that the fit and finsh is terrible with squeeks and rattles. I was thnkin about a TL but a 4th Generation is allegedly in the works for 09. The G35 is a tad cheaper in price though. The CTS is a new Generation (rattles and problems?) and is more expensive to a comparably equipped G35.Anyone compared the two while shopping???

scottm123

I have never owned a Nissan before and I have now had my 07 G35 for 10 months.
I have never had one squeak of rattle. Quiet as a church mouse.... until you put your foot on it.

I haven't had a chance to go see the CTS and don't know of anyone who owns one so I can only give my 2 cents on G.
BTW... TL's are notorious for squeaks and rattles in any generation, so if that is an important bullet on your list of pros and cons, scratch the TL off your list.

jebell

Have you driven the TL? After a 10 minute test drive I quickly scratched it off my list. It felt small, and did not have the stable feel of the G35. The shorter wheel base contributes to a less sports car feel and I felt the fit and finish were way behind the G35.