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If you're looking for a car in which nobody has ever reported a lemon or hasn't had a lot of problems in a particular car, you're going to be walking. I'd go with general reliability trends, and hard data like Consumer Reports. The stuff here is very anecdotal.
I'd also keep your car until the 2004s ship. Every car is more reliable in its 2nd year of production and this gives a chance for the consistent reliability problem to rise to the surface. Finally, you get a better deal. There is little reason to buy a 1st year model except to be first on the block with something new.
- Mark
You have to be the judge and read between the lines on this one.
My assessment of G35 reliabilty is like everyone else's since the car hasn't been in service very long - just an educated guess. But Nissan has pretty good history of building reliable cars and the G35 is mostly using technology that has been well-proven, especially the engine. And none of the G35/350Z boards I've read show any pattern of consistent issues. So this reads to me like its prospects are good to excellent, especially in the 2nd year of production.
I also don't think you really gain any reliabilty in buying the premium brand of a car mfg. Lexus is a reliable brand, but no moreso than a Toyota. Likewise, Infiniti is about as reliable as any other Nissan. The differences between buying a Nissan and and Infiniti are mostly a nicer sales experience, a little more leading edge technology, and fancier trim and options. Underneath, an Infiniti is definitely a Nissan.
- Mark
Michael (fotodad)
G35 sedan
BMW 325i sedan or wagon
Mazda 6 wagon or hatch
Acura TSX
Subaru WRX wagon
Mini Cooper S (long shot)
It has to have a manual transmission, be reasonably sporty, and I'd prefer the utility of a hatch or wagon. I don't want to spend more than $30K and would prefer spending $25K or less. I'm ruling out VW/Audi products because I think they're below my miminum bar in both reliabiltiy and customer service. The G35 is more car than I need, but makes my list just because it is such a great value.
- Mark
You are always gonna have a lemon here and there, but I would buy another Nissan because of how well my Maxima is built.
Obi
How often do people stop by the complaints box to insert a "NO COMPLAINTS; EVERYTHING FINE AND DANDY" note?
I guess what I'm saying is that those people with problems could just be a loud minority.
If you're worried about the reliability of an Infiniti you'll never be satisfied with any car.
price
for equal performance and packaging from BMW you're gonna have to spend at least 4-5k more (even with ED) for a 330ci.
and how it performs in snow(light to medium).
That has more to do with tires and the driver than the car and its stability/traction control system. Throw snow tires on it and it'll be fine. Drive on the snow with summer 18s and you're begging to be in a rental for a month.
And again, what would be the good price for a G35c with pre.pack.
MSRP to maybe 500 under MSRP would be a fine deal at the moment. Depends on your area though. In San Diego the coupes are leaving the lots as fast as they come in. In snowy areas that may not be so.
This statement has been the debate of thousands of posts and opinions. (VBG)
The rating you see is for the performance of the car. I think everyone would agree that the BMW 3 series, for example, does well in braking, accelerating, cornering, etc. The check mark of whether or not it is recommended is based not only on the car's performance but it's reliability.
I have been looking at VW, G35, Acura, and a few others and at first was perplexed by this apparently contradictary rating. The more I read these forums, the more it started to make sense. I found a lot of complaints in the BMW and VW forums about things going wrong on the cars. Most people pointed out that it usually wasn't something that would prevent use of the car but more of an inconvenience.
I have come to the conclusion that in general the German cars are engineered to the limits of the physical world and as such will perform beautifully but at the cost of reliability. The choice is what are you willing to give up in driveability to get reliability, the answer will be different for everyone.
That is a very longwinded way of saying that Consumer Reports is saying that a BMW is an awesome car that will break more often than a more conservative design. I suspect from what I have read that the G35 is in the middle of performance and reliability. I don't know but wouldn't be surprised if they have sacrificed a little reliability to get a little more of the BMW driving feel.
For example, the JD Power initial quality survey lists the 3 series ahead of the G35. So how does that tie in to Consumer reports? Seems like the two are at odds.
In addition, it is my opinion, people are more anxious to post on forums when there is some issue or axe to grind. Also, it is my guess a lot of people don't even bother to post anything on automotive forums, good or bad experiences. This results in looking at these forums with the impression these cars are extremely problematic.
CR used to "normalize" the results so that individual area (e.g. "engine") black marks were below average and red marks above. No more. Now, all ratings are absolute, thus every car shows a trend where there are more and more problems - and more and more black marks - as the car gets older. At the beginning on the ratings, they include the marks for an "average car" for the model year. It is whether a car is above or below this average that determines whether they give the car an overall reliability verdice. Thus, a car can be below average in reliability in the early years even if it has mostly red marks and few problems.
It doesn't take much to drive a car's rating down in the early years. Cars like Accords will commonly average less than 1 problem in the first year. Thus a car that averages two problems in the first year may rate relatively poorly, even though one extra/minor problem in that first year may not be of much importance to the owner.
I think CR's data is quite good and definitely the only real objective source of good reliability data we have. But it is the lack of any perspective on whether a car's reliability is "good enough" that means you should take things with a grain of salt. If a car is a great car, but suffers a few extra failures in window lifts the first year, then it can be rated poorly and CR would make it "not recommended". Well, I wouldn't think taking it to the dealer one extra time in the first year would be a terrible thing to put up with if otherwise the car drives wonderfully and is the right car for you.
- Mark
What's funny is my logical side concurs with your views but the emotional part gets a little crabby on that 7th trip to the dealer in under 2 years for a "minor" issue (broken interior components, weird electrical problems, etc).
My Bimmer OTOH hasn't seen the dealer since last spring, and I am going to bring it in for an oil change, cause I want the car checked out.
But it brings up another point. Even though there are several Infiniti dealers in the DC area, the two closest ones to me have poor reputations. My Nissan dealer, on the other hand, is superb. Wouldn't it be nice if you could get an Infiniti serviced at a Nissan dealership? Given the high end independent mechanic in my area who services Ferrari, Porsche, BMW "M" and AMG cars, it couldn't be that hard for Nissan to cross train their mechanics to handle their sister cars, especially in areas where Infiniti dealers are limited.
Just a thought, since I would be much more inclined to buy an Infiniti if I could have it serviced at my Nissan dealership.
Mark
Hope it helps!
JW
FWIW, my worst all time dealer experience was with Fitzgerald Isuzu in Bethesda. Standard 30k service = $1,000!
Mark
If so, don't expect your Infiniti dealership to cover the repair. The owner's manual warns not to use CD-R and CD-RW's in the audio system.
The offending CD may have been one my son burned for us, so I certainly hope 8u6hfd is not right in his comment. I confess I hadn't seen that warning in the owner's manual.
I did check on another discussion and found someone with the same problem. Another person commented that his service manager had warned against using CDs that had been "home-created."
As a result of my "problem," I got to drive my wife's Acura TL-S a couple of times. Amazing how I used to think that car handled well. Nice to get back to my Infiniti even if I can't use the CD player.
This seems to be a problem related to the Bose units, as my cousin's 99 Acura 3.2TL's went through 4 headunits before they figured out it was the CD-R's causing it to jam in the loading mechanism (kinda sucks to see a "near-luxury" car sporting a portable CD-player with a tape adapter)
The cheaper CD-R and CD-RW have its construction on the thinner, lighter side. From what I heard the more expensive CD-R's (such as Sony) does seem to work better.
One thing that gets me worried though is the fact that the base model is only 5% of production... I sure hope they dont discontinue the car for 2004! Quite frankly, I hope I can even get this car!
Another question though, are any of you guys able to get the G35 coupe at below MSRP at the dealers or is it still MSRP or greater?
I've only had a chance to try it our in the showroom. Feels reasonable, but just wondering how it works.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
It will probably fry your leg in traffic.
from road and track
http://www.edmunds.com/new/2003/infiniti/g35/100183722/roadtestar- ticle.html?articleId=83174&tid=edmunds.e.roadtests.rtsearch..- .Infiniti*
Each of them has also mentioned the likelihood that the several upgrades will be attached to an increase in MSRP.
JW
Even with those few drawbacks inside the car, there's still much to praise about the interior."
"Fails to wow" but "straight forward and functional" and "surfaces do have a quality feel"
they think it's a little bland, but high quality. And, one person's bland is another's understated. As long as they aren't knocking it for feeling cheap or having poor quality, I think it's not fair to say "leaves a lot to be desired."