ivan_99... I wouldn't be too discouraged. You forget that the dealer who takes your car wants to make a profit. He has to markup what he pays in order to get that profit. Thus all all you can get from a car dealer is wholesale. You can approach retail by selling to private parties direct. YOu likely won't get exactly what the going "retail" price is in your area, but you'll get a lot closer than selling it to a dealer.
Unless you can cut out the middlemen (i.e., the dealer), you won't get top dollar. Dealer gets a part of their cut out of you.
Try to sell privately. Advertise in paper. Put a sign in window. Try some friends and family. Use message boards. Does your car have some desireable color or options?
that dealer will probably try to sell your car in the high 20s or near 30 maybe.
when i went to pick up my plates, a new G with temp tags (from another dealer) was being traded in for a Q. It was loaded and had only 1000 mi or so I think. MSRP 36K or so. Anyway, I was talking to the dealer and he said he'd offer about 31 and try to sell it for 34.
the g 35 sedan is made in tochigi, japan, with port of entry la, calif. the dock workers on the west coast went on strike today, and the parties involved are said to be "miles apart." i'm not exactly sure what this means for those waiting on G's, you may want to contact your dealer. i would expect Pres. Bush to step in sooner rather then later if the parties can't find common ground.
My dealer called me just testerday and announced that my car was still scheduled for late Oct early Nov delivery (to Orlando, FL I guess - not port of entry). I bet he doesn't no what impact a prolonged strike will have. Are all Infiniti cars delivered in LA and then trucked or train transported eastward?
Just what I need, more delays, yikes. Well, I guess I'll just have to keep playing with this car simulator instead of driving the real thing. At least I've got robusto largas on the way!!
Ordered my silver/black/sunroof in late August and was told to expect a mid to end of November delivery .......was not aware of the up-dates at the time of purchase .....Got the price I wanted basis the old pricing.(MSRP less 1600 USD) Not sure which will be delivered, happy either way as long as the a/c issues etc are resolved, ....what do you think the odds are I get the 2003.5 ? Happy to have the xenons...free ?(kind of) New York area...
I am extremely frustrated with the dealership. I recently purchase a 2003 G35. One of the options i requested on the car was xenon headlights. These were included in the original price quote when I went to pick up the car my sale person, rewrote the quote eliminating the xenon headlight. He claimed they came standard on the car and did not have to be listed separetly and priced the car at the same price. I purchased the care assuming the xenon headlights were on the car and payed the original price quote. It brought to my attention a couple of weeks ago by a friend that the car did not seem to have xenon headlights.
When I told the sales person and the manager this they said they will refund me the cost of the lights. I wanted to have the lights on the car that I originally requested and payed for. They both claimed that it was too costly for them to install and they would mail me a check and give me a free service. Now It is over three week, numerous phone calls and no check and no xenon headlights.
one of the reason I bought an infinity was because of dealer reputation. I have all the written documentation to support my recollection of events. I am frustrated and angry that a new car purchase of an infinity can lead to such fustration. At this point I am notifing you for satisfaction. I want the xenon headlights and nothing else. I find the intentional misrepresentation of the car that was sold at best terrible representation of what infinit stands for and most likey illegal. What do you think or better yet what does the NYS Bureau of Conumer Affair think. I want satisfaction. I will settle for nothing less.
if you want xenon headlights and nothing else, you should not accept their refund. You should have the dealer order the same car with xenons, for you to trade your current car for when it arrives. If they're willing to refund you the money for the headlights, they're making a good effort to satisfy you. Offer them this trade and see what they say, it can't hurt.
Tsb is in. Mine was fixed on Thursday. Replaced the compressor, compressor mounting bracket and rerouted the drain tube. Went from very noisy to quiet. Love my G more now.
No offense, but you're always supposed to check the window sticker prior to paying for a car to make sure it is what you want. The fact the HID lights were not listed would have been very clear.
The dealer should have shown you the sticker and where it was placed in the owner's manual. If that did not happen, you should have requested to see the sticker and verify the car had not just the lights but all equipment you wanted (and didn't want). Then you should have physically checked out the car before writing a check, especially since there was doubt about the lights in the first place.
I feel bad for you and good luck. It does seem the salesperson was partially at fault, but you need to accept some blame as well for buying a car without checking it out first. By your own admission you "assumed" the car had HID lights. I don't mean to be harsh, but you should not assume anything when buying a $35,000 car.
This may be old news, but the November issue of Automobile magazine just proclaimed the G-35 coupe as doing the unthinkable, they said it is a "BMW Beater"!
Suggestion: approach it as a safety issue. Xenon lights are marketed as, and I believe are, better light on the road. If they won't give you a new car (and I'd guess they probably won't), it probably won't do much other than cost you money to get an atty. since, as was noted, the absence of xenons would have been apparent on the sticker.
Just saw that INfiniti is recalling g35 sedan's (20000 of them )because of some safety issue.. (source: Edmunds news) Anyone has more info on this? I was planning to get a g35 (considering a Acura tl typeS also but was leaning more toward g35). This recall is getting me a bit concerned.
The recall concerns a fuel line attachment that only might be an issue. There have been no reported accidents or failures. This seems to be a very cautious "just in case" recall. I wish more manufacturers were this proactive with respect to potential defects. I bought my G last Wednesday and was told that all new models reaching the lots now don't have the problem, and also have the new A/C compressor design to minimize noise.
With all respect, I must disagree. People only buy a new car every 3-5 years, on average, whereas dealers sell 100's every month. There is no way for an average person to check every detail to ensure that the vehicle came with everything they thought would be on it. It is not reasonable that the buyer would be able to remember everything about every option that the car was supposed to come with.
The contract established by the buyer's agreement is/should be sufficient to ensure (for the buyer) what is expected to be on the vehicle. Just because the buyer did not find out until after he drove off the lot, is no reason to try to say he shares some of the blame for the deceptive practices it sounds like this dealer is guilty of practicing. Especially from a premium brand like Infiniti who claims people should buy based on the "customer experience". Of course, this ASSUMES things happened as described and it sounds like he has documentation demonstrating this was an accurate account of the events.
Bait-and-switch (which this sounds like) and outright fraud are illegal practices and the victim shares no blame.
Just my opinion, and we all know what those are like...
Two days after the fix the car is working beautifully and I am very happy about that. The fix kit replaced the compressor, the compressor mounting bracket and the drain tube was repositioned because of the new bracket. Before I was suffering a large power loss with the A/C on but now don't see any noticeable difference. It is also very quiet. The company will only fix cars when the customer complains because they assume that if they don't complain all must be ok. Hope this note will help. A quiet G is a good G. I love mine! Good luck to all.
I do agree with you. Deceptive dealer practices are intolerable. My point was two-fold:
1. Many times dealers don't even know how cars come equipped. To trust that they know what cars have what equipment is not a good idea.
2. I guess I'm used to the way I take delivery of a car. I always check the window sticker (which at time of delivery is placed in the owner's manual) and also look at the car itself just to make sure there are no scratches or flaws. I do this before writing the check. If there is something wrong (which luckily has never happened), I would not accept and pay for the car.
Does anyone have (or know a link to) pictures of a G35 with a wood dash kit installed? I've been looking at the G for many months now, but cant get over my dislike of the dash materials. Think the wood might make a huge difference (to me anyway), but want to see it first....
I think lenscap's practice re: accepting delivery is probably more than most average buyers might do. I also think it represents the old "buyer beware" adage. My experience with my Infiniti dealer, from sales manager to service rep to the guy who drives my car back to the dealer driveway after service and hands me my keys has been nothing short of great!
I don't buy cars often, even less frequently than 3-5 years, but reading a post like lenscap's is educational and one to stick in the mental filing cabinet for when you do accept delivery of a 30+K car. Salespeople are human too and can make mistakes; can also intentionally misrepresent....both scenarios human characteristics.
Here are a couple of Pics of the 2003.5 rear hatch.
Thought some might like to see them. Taken at Orlando Infinity. My Emerald Green G should be in at end of Oct. If the west coast dock strike doesn;t screw the pooch.
I wonder why anyone would buy silver. I never liked silver as a color on an auto (exterior, anyway). My fav auto color is black with tan interior but down here is FL that isn't for me plus it shows the dirt like mad. Of course the pictures don't do any color justice. I like it and so does my wife so its a win win. gary
After market NAV for the G will be a problem because it will take some serious customization, The dash has no spare DIN slots so the storage slot on the center console (top) will have to be adapted. I think you will pay well over 2k for an after market install. Even if you DIY its not much cheaper and its pretty frustrating. My son and I have done it to his 2001 Mazda Protege MP3. Took a day and a half and his dash had the din slot. (I have pics if you would like to see how it came out) In addition, if you like the 'birdview' feature that only comes on the (Xanavi) unit. You can get the Panasonic unit which approximates that kind of view. Anyway, If you have the cash I would recommend the factory install.
I wonder why anyone would buy silver. I never liked silver as a color on an auto
I think the big pull of silver is that it highlights a car's curves and angles better than most colors without being an unusual color. If you notice many, many ads shows cars in silver and concept cars at auto shows are also often in silver for this reason.
I'm just curious why German companies (BMW, MB, Audi/VW, Porsche) use such expressive colors on their cars while american/japanese companies almost always stick with plain jane, non-metallics?
....first became popular as an idea in the fifties. I say idea because the color required real aluminum, so it was used only for its weight advantages on exotics and every kid who built models had to have a bottle of silver paint.
Meanwhile, cars could only go with shades of gray (very, very blah usually) until the invention of metallics. Does anyone know the year?
I've never liked the color either. Somehow I never quite believed that an Hyundai or Daewoo or most others, for that matter, wouild ever be made of solid aluminum!
Interesting: for many years, black was considered a dull and uninteresting color and it didn't really get a big audience until clear coats and purchasers who couldn't remember, first hand, the Model A.
1- you have to have a registered domain name or url or web address where you can store the pictures (.gif or .jpg format).
2 - that place has to be served by a web server, like Apache or Microsoft IIE or Mozilla.
3. place the photos in that location and then use this syntax to refer to them in your post:
If you don't already know the things in "<>" are html(hypertext markup language) tags:
disreguard the double quotes when you actually type it all in.except around any thing after an equal sign
"<"a">"
"<"img src="http://domainname here/filename here" ">" text to go with picture here "<"/a">"
That should work.
The alternative is to point to the location by just typing in the "http://....." stuff. The forum preprocessor takes care of formating the link properly when you hit the "post my message" button.
hope that helps. if its unclear send me an email and I'll explain it in a message. It might be clearer.
hides dirt almost as well as light gold...it's definitely my front runner for a practical car's color. Black (and other dark) cars like the dark red I have now eventually drive you crazy with scratches, swirls and chips, if you notice that sort of thing. I love the looks of many cars in black, but will opt for the always good looks of silver for my next car, probably.
I agree with Robmarch: for those of us who park our cars outside overnight, silver is the best color for hiding dirt. I've had a succession of silver cars (including two BMWs), but in 1995 bought a dark grey Volvo 850 turbo -- great car, but the dirt really showed. So last year when I got my I35, I went back to ever-popular, tried and true silver, and am very glad I did. --Andy
I picked up my first speeding ticket this weekend in my G35, one of what may be many unless I follow through with my intention to purchase a valentine radar/laser detector. 99 in a 65, ouch. Fortunately it was an out of state ticket so it won't count against me for points on my license, and the cop was very nice about not tacking on a reckless driving violation also.
On a positive note, I must say that handling remained exceptional at high speeds. The car continued to handle curves and bumps while maintaining good traction and precision steering. Very impressive.
I have the Brilliant silver G35 and have no complaints on my end. No matter what color, the car is a HEAD TURNER. HOnestly, I drove up to a parking lot today and a guy was walking by and stopped dead in his tracks to look directly at my car. I could read his lips, "WOW". And then he looked at me and gave me the thumbs up. He was still looking while walking away.
I had a black car...you see every scratch!! It looks NICE when clean but it was just too hard for me to maintain. Plus, its just preference..if u dont mind silver, then get it. Sure hides dirt and scratches. Im completely satisfied with my car! Drives like a dream....zzzZZ
I don't think the G looks bad in any color. I bought silver because of its ability to hide dirt. My last car was black, as is my wife's current car, and every speck and ding shows. I was also considering twilight blue, but decided against it for the same reason. (Dark colored cars do look great when they're clean, though.)
I saw a red G for the first time last week and was very impressed. Red has never been my favorite color for cars, but it looked wonderful on the G.
I originally intended to purchase Twilight Blue, but ended up with Silver. My wife saw one in the showroom and liked the look very much. I liked it too, as was mentioned by blueguydotcom it shows off the lines much better than dark colors. It came down to a flip of the coin. I'm happy with Silver, especially since she hasn't been washed in about a month (waiting for arrival of Zaino), but I just saw a Black G35 and I'd have to say it makes me think of what might have been. Maybe I'll get the G repainted in a couple of years
The right color is the one you like. The most important external asthetic thing (in my car care book, anyway) is getting a good wax on early in a cars life and then maintaining it throughout. Even the latest clear coats, although an improvement, are n't the panacea they were once thought. For me wax is the key to long lasting great appearance. Its a bit more work but worth the effort no matter what color you choose. I use Mothers (soft carnuba) myself specially formulated for modeern clear coat finishes. That is one of the first things I will do when my G comes home to stay.
Comments
I went to a number of different dealers looking at lower end vehicles and they all quoted WAY below what I was expecing.
My G35 listed at 33,565.
All my quotes were around 26,000
I do have 10,500 miles on it (purchased around April or so) but I expected something closer to 30...or more...
Very Discouraging
Unless you can cut out the middlemen (i.e., the dealer), you won't get top dollar. Dealer gets a part of their cut out of you.
Try to sell privately. Advertise in paper. Put a sign in window. Try some friends and family. Use message boards. Does your car have some desireable color or options?
when i went to pick up my plates, a new G with temp tags (from another dealer) was being traded in for a Q. It was loaded and had only 1000 mi or so I think. MSRP 36K or so. Anyway, I was talking to the dealer and he said he'd offer about 31 and try to sell it for 34.
Just what I need, more delays, yikes. Well, I guess I'll just have to keep playing with this car simulator instead of driving the real thing. At least I've got robusto largas on the way!!
thanks for the report,
Gary
Gary
When I told the sales person and the manager this they said they will refund me the cost of the lights. I wanted to have the lights on the car that I originally requested and payed for. They both claimed that it was too costly for them to install and they would mail me a check and give me a free service. Now It is over three week, numerous phone calls and no check and no xenon headlights.
one of the reason I bought an infinity was because of dealer reputation. I have all the written documentation to support my recollection of events. I am frustrated and angry that a new car purchase of an infinity can lead to such fustration. At this point I am notifing you for satisfaction. I want the xenon headlights and nothing else. I find the intentional misrepresentation of the car
that was sold at best terrible representation of what infinit stands for and most likey illegal. What do you think or better yet what does the NYS Bureau of Conumer Affair think. I want satisfaction. I will settle for nothing less.
Paul
The dealer should have shown you the sticker and where it was placed in the owner's manual. If that did not happen, you should have requested to see the sticker and verify the car had not just the lights but all equipment you wanted (and didn't want). Then you should have physically checked out the car before writing a check, especially since there was doubt about the lights in the first place.
I feel bad for you and good luck. It does seem the salesperson was partially at fault, but you need to accept some blame as well for buying a car without checking it out first. By your own admission you "assumed" the car had HID lights. I don't mean to be harsh, but you should not assume anything when buying a $35,000 car.
I was just thinking how all the manufacturers issued their September sales except Nissan/Infiniti.
"The G35 sport sedan continued its strong sales pace with 2,612 units sold."
Good luck.
Joe W.
Anyone has more info on this? I was planning to get a g35 (considering a Acura tl typeS also but was leaning more toward g35). This recall is getting me a bit concerned.
The contract established by the buyer's agreement is/should be sufficient to ensure (for the buyer) what is expected to be on the vehicle. Just because the buyer did not find out until after he drove off the lot, is no reason to try to say he shares some of the blame for the deceptive practices it sounds like this dealer is guilty of practicing. Especially from a premium brand like Infiniti who claims people should buy based on the "customer experience". Of course, this ASSUMES things happened as described and it sounds like he has documentation demonstrating this was an accurate account of the events.
Bait-and-switch (which this sounds like) and outright fraud are illegal practices and the victim shares no blame.
Just my opinion, and we all know what those are like...
Scott
Paul
Will be test driving the G tomorrow. Hoping to be impressed enough to buy one( and hoping my SO will share the enthusiasm)
1. Many times dealers don't even know how cars come equipped. To trust that they know what cars have what equipment is not a good idea.
2. I guess I'm used to the way I take delivery of a car. I always check the window sticker (which at time of delivery is placed in the owner's manual) and also look at the car itself just to make sure there are no scratches or flaws. I do this before writing the check. If there is something wrong (which luckily has never happened), I would not accept and pay for the car.
But your points are certainly well taken.
I don't buy cars often, even less frequently than 3-5 years, but reading a post like lenscap's is educational and one to stick in the mental filing cabinet for when you do accept delivery of a 30+K car. Salespeople are human too and can make mistakes; can also intentionally misrepresent....both scenarios human characteristics.
Thought some might like to see them. Taken at Orlando Infinity. My Emerald Green G should be in at end of Oct. If the west coast dock strike doesn;t screw the pooch.
Of course the pictures don't do any color justice. I like it and so does my wife so its a win win.
gary
In addition, if you like the 'birdview' feature that only comes on the (Xanavi) unit. You can get the Panasonic unit which approximates that kind of view.
Anyway, If you have the cash I would recommend the factory install.
Gary
I think the big pull of silver is that it highlights a car's curves and angles better than most colors without being an unusual color. If you notice many, many ads shows cars in silver and concept cars at auto shows are also often in silver for this reason.
I'm just curious why German companies (BMW, MB, Audi/VW, Porsche) use such expressive colors on their cars while american/japanese companies almost always stick with plain jane, non-metallics?
Meanwhile, cars could only go with shades of gray (very, very blah usually) until the invention of metallics. Does anyone know the year?
I've never liked the color either. Somehow I never quite believed that an Hyundai or Daewoo or most others, for that matter, wouild ever be made of solid aluminum!
Interesting: for many years, black was considered a dull and uninteresting color and it didn't really get a big audience until clear coats and purchasers who couldn't remember, first hand, the Model A.
Take care.
Joe W.
2 - that place has to be served by a web server, like Apache or Microsoft IIE or Mozilla.
3. place the photos in that location and then use this syntax to refer to them in your post:
If you don't already know the things in "<>" are html(hypertext markup language) tags:
disreguard the double quotes when you actually type it all in.except around any thing after an equal sign
"<"a">"
"<"img src="http://domainname here/filename here" ">" text to go with picture here "<"/a">"
That should work.
The alternative is to point to the location by just typing in the "http://....." stuff. The forum preprocessor takes care of formating the link properly when you hit the "post my message" button.
hope that helps. if its unclear send me an email and I'll explain it in a message. It might be clearer.
Gary
--Andy
On a positive note, I must say that handling remained exceptional at high speeds. The car continued to handle curves and bumps while maintaining good traction and precision steering. Very impressive.
I had a black car...you see every scratch!! It looks NICE when clean but it was just too hard for me to maintain. Plus, its just preference..if u dont mind silver, then get it. Sure hides dirt and scratches. Im completely satisfied with my car! Drives like a dream....zzzZZ
I saw a red G for the first time last week and was very impressed. Red has never been my favorite color for cars, but it looked wonderful on the G.
Gary