Both machines have been well maintained and have clean carfaxes. I really love the '05 mileage and the fact that its a 1 owner car. It starts up and purrs like its brand new. It has two small dings in the fenders, a cloudy headlight and something with the CD player, but these are nominal, fixable things - mechanically it is pristine.

The '07 has more refined aesthetics, a much nicer interior and overall user experience, but I don't care for the additional mileage. It is also a 2 owner car, but has a good service record. Both are priced relatively close to one another, and the '07 has the added benefit a 60 month term vs the 48 month one for the '05. I also believe that the '07 will hold its value better down the road since it is a newer generation, despite the additional mileage.

Also, is it true that the '07 will get slightly better fuel efficiency than the '05?

Links to both machines are below. I would really love your feedback between the two years / generations, as well as these two cars specifically.

Thanks!

'05: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/de...41/overview/#1
'07: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/de...91/overview/#2

 

I say 05 if your gonna mod it and 07 if your just gonna drive it.

 

Yeah, just gonna be a daily driver for me. What are your thoughts on the differences in mileage and generations effecting the residual value?

 

No difference. Sedans don't hold their value well at all. Plus keep in mind in a few years the price point of a G37 will be close enough that many wouldn't pick a G35 over a G37.

Also, keep in mind these are two different cars with different styling interior and exteriorwise. Which one appeals to you more? Which interior is more comfortable to be in. If this is your daily driver then which one would you be more happy in?

Also, the newer model does have 307HP (or around there) vs the 280 in the 05. If you are keeping the car stock, this might be a factor.

20-30K miles difference isn't that big of a deal, but age might be a factor. Wear and tear on things like the exhaust, bushings, rubber seals etc might be less on the '07 despite the higher miles. Miles only tells part of the story. My '06 with 150K miles on it rides better than some of the 05/06's i've test driven lately (just to see how mine was aging in comparison).


Fuel efficiency sucks no matter what. I have a coworker with a 2011 G37x and his fuel economy is no better than mine.

Which car are you more excited to own?

 

Get the '05 with lesser miles. Mileage will effect the trade-in price more than year. It is also a one owner car and the exterior looks as close as you'll get to flawless for that year. The '05 is a 1st gen and because of that has a lot of aftermarket support.

Now on to the goodies. I own an '05 X so let me tell you what you'll be getting into should you want to mod it to get more performance, then I'll tell you what will break.

If you want to upgrade the engine without touching the stock block you'll be looking at a Vortech and you'll be spending at least $15,000 all together including supporting mods. You'll never probably run more than 400hp to the wheels because of the 5AT and that's the only transmission for this year X. This is what it took to get me to close that number, and I'm still working on it. As far as suspension you'll probably want to go with BC BR coilovers with some SPC camber kits at the very least, and that will set you back $1,000 - $1,500. If you want to upgrade your headlights, at the very least, you could buy Spec-D projectors that start at about $400, OR invest in building your own projectors by retrofit for more. OR you can replace them with OEM by Eagle which will run you about $120 a headlight. You can upgrade your front bumper to something like a Kurookie or Nismo for $500. You can run staggered wheels on the X with no issues as long as the wheels work out to be even.

I strongly encourage you to keep a few inner and outer front right (passenger) axle boots, as those are very common to tear in the X and only on this axle. Rebuilds for this axle are next to impossible to find. Your CD player will probably blow up from now or until 100k, and that is also pretty common across the board. So you might want to upgrade to a double-din later on, which will require you to buy that face plate and some other gizmo's to hook up your new stuff. OR you could just buy another used OEM player for something like $80 on ebay. Your cam sensors will probably go out between now and 100k, and luckily those are super cheap and easy to replace yourself. So here is another reason to get the '05, it's about 30k miles less than the '07 which means you are just that much further from doing your 100k maintenance.