Hi everyone, happy holidays.

It wasn't so happy for me recently since my car was totaled in an accident. I am very very glad I am ok and suffered no major injuries. Now that I am feeling better I need to decide on whether to

1. Take the $11-12 grand the insurance will pay or start thinking of a different car
2. Take the money and also buy the car for $2k, then try to transfer the engine into a different body

6MT coupe, only owner, car was almost 10 years old
Got all but the most recent maintenance service done and at every service I did have done, the engine was flawless. It had just a bit over 100,000 miles. The clutch was getting a little stiff but tranny seemed fine. To be completely honest, I wanted to keep the car for as long as possible. Maybe lighten it one day and do a few mods to make it look a little more updated, maybe a little bit for performance but nothing insane.

At the same time, I just realized the design of the car is 15 years old (see my username)! The design was finalized in 2000... its 2015 practically! I also read that the G35 sedan design was done in 1999 and looking at concept photos, its turned out to be the same exact final car. Also, the G37 came out in 07/08 and that design started in like 2003.

Do you think its time for a change?
Would you buy a used G35 instead?

What are you estimates on total costs to do a transplant? $1-2k for the labor and what, like $5k for a G without a good engine? I don't know if those are even easy to find that don't have structural damage or flood damage.

What cars do you believe will give you similar luxury and power for the $10-15k a typical low mileage G35 is worth nowadays? I don't know if there are any.

I have until Monday to decide, the insurance wants to know by then. Thank you!

I FORGOT TO MENTION - the car will need about $15k in repairs so its not worth keeping the actual body.

 

I would take the money. Buy the core from ins. Get another coupe or sedan. Use the wrecked G as a project for the ultimate G! The car you buy can be your G to.enjoy the road with. When my audi was totaled l thought about buying the core but l bought the 05X and said bye to audi. The a6 quattro was nice. But My 05X would beat the a6 no problem! I Iike sedans. I want a coupe.but l like awd better than rwd. They corner better under power. I love curves and twisty roads! The Dragon in tenn is one hell of a road to drive! 11 miles with 300 curves!my Audi was fun to drive on it but the Infiniti will.be better!! I would build up the wreck and have the ultimate G!

 

I own an 05 6mt coupe but, I don't look at my car as being 10 years old. I look at my car as being 10 years young. The shape of the G's is timeless doesn't matter if it's coupe or sedan. I was in the same boat a year ago. I removed all my mods and took my then 05 auto coupe back to stock when my insurance company totaled after my accident. Two weeks later I bought an 05 6mt coupe in Diamond Graphite with just over 25,000 miles on it and couldn't be happier. Ultimately, the choice is yours but, I'd buy another 05 6mt coupe, buy back my other car from the insurance company, remove and build the motor to my specifications and later drop it in my new coupe or if the old is rebuild able I'd build my ultimate G35.

 

Take the money and buy another G. It may be a 15 yrs old design but its timeless. This is a great time to buy one. You can take the $12k and buy a fully loaded coupe with 50-60k miles. A sedan is more like $8k. I challenge you to find a better "all-around" car in that price range.

If you take the cash, the insurance won't let you keep the car. If you take the car, you've just completely negated the purpose for buying insurance. Just buy a new (to you) G.

 

I took the money and bought a coupe for when I had a sedan lol.

Can't go wrong when the cockpit is exactly the same.

 

If you love the G, just keep what you want from your old one and buy a new one. It will cost too much of your time and money to salvage your poor old car. If it protected you, it died with honor.

 

I being a mechanic would buy the car back from the insurance company for 2k, it is worth a lot more if you part it out, but there is where the questions would lie for you. Do you have the place to park it for month or years to come without a governing body such as the City Code Enforcement, Housing Community Regulator or the worst of all, your Wife wondering when you are going to get rid of that wreck? If storage is not an issue and you have the time and tools, keep the car. If not, take whatever after market installations you have done and let the car go. Remember one thing, once you start to remove parts, some of the parts will render the vehicle immovable, what will you do then? Also, be aware that if you are going to get reimbursed by the insurance company, it is not a free for all, they expect the car to be complete. If you take parts from it and they notice, they will have an issue.

I restored a 1990 Bronco and had a donor Bronco sitting for years, the city and (My Wife), would check with me regularly. I had to keep it covered to comply with code enforcement. When I completed the restoration (Five Years Later), I sold what was left of my donor to a junk yard. I must admit, I was happy to see the junk go away.

Good luck with your decision and like others have said, the G is timeless and beautiful. I see a beautiful 6MT in your future.

 

They will deduct core value and give you the difference!

 

If you are going to get another car, you really should test drive an IS250 or IS350. They feel a little more refined than the G

 

I'd take the money and put it down on a newer car

 

G is nice, I would keep it. But to think you can get a new Ford Focus fully loaded or similar for around 18k that is hard to put 12k on used.

 

That's what I figured that I can still buy the car and get whats left of the payout amount.

 

That seems like a good option if I decide to get another 6mt. I would need storage space for the engine though because the current car will cost like $15,000 to repair. So I'd be buying an engine for $2k and then building it and then dropping it into a G35. I could just start doing that with a new used G35 but there's the gamble of "how good is this used engine that I know just miles and a car fax about?"

Didnt a lot of G35 engines leak a lot of oil?

 

I agree man, I dont really have the time to part it out.

Does anyone know what parts are the most valuable? What about that engine, manual with 100k miles? If I dont know pricing I probably shouldn't be trying to sell huh? lol

And yes, it did protect me. RIP G35!

 

Thats what they will do. I would get another G and buy the core! You could salvage parts and use them on new G. Or just rebuild the wreck into a dream G!