Hey fellow G35 driver, Im just really curious about what would you guys do in my scenario. My Girlfriend and I planning to do road trip from LA => Grand Canyon => Zion => Las Vegas => LA next month. Money for renting a car is not a problem but I really want to use my car and just really check the capability of it for long drive. ( My elite warranty expire on Jan 2015) I have 2007 65k Journey/tech package and its well maintained Car. Three months ago I had a problem with it. While doing my routine oil change from the dealer they found small crack on my headgasket and they put down my engine and basically cleaned and fixed it. Now before posting this thread I read that one of our fellow driver his engine blew out of nowhere and now im thinking is it worth it to drive or just rent?

Maintenance did on my car:

*oil change every 3k
*transmission changed around 60k
*rear differential change around 60k
*Brake pads replaced around 62k (hawk hps)
*tires are still good 60%-70% thread
*Coolant and all the belts replaced when I had issue with my engine 3 months ago.

 

Your post is an extreme overreaction because one forum member had an engine failure.

There are far many more owners on here with way more miles than him and your car with no engine issues, myself included. My engine is running flawless with 85k miles properly maintained and no oil loss or leak at each oil change interval of 5000 miles.

You don't have to be worried because one person had engine trouble. You can read dozens more threads on owners who had many more miles and the car is still running for them. You can take your car for the drive. Did you read hyukki's post? He has over 200k miles and did not do proper maintenance and it is still running.

However, renting is probably better if you want to save money because our car is not very good efficient with gas. You can also increase the value of your own car with less miles.

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...le-review.html

You also have the elite extended warranty so why even worry? Might as well enjoy it.

 

My 06 g35 coupe had 100k miles on it when Moved from Los Angeles California to Portland Texas, it was a lil over two straight days of driving just stopping for bathroom and has breaks. Which gas cost a lot but going away from Cali prices drop a lot. Just make sure your tires and perfectly fine and I'm sure you'll be fine!

 

Make sure to get some Blue tape if youre gonna do a road trip.

 

^Why do people do this?

Daily driven G's get hit by rocks and bugs daily....?

 

It's not a bad idea especially when I was driving 1300 miles there and back. It was nice peeling off the tape and the bugs and tar or whatever comin off too.
Saved some major scrubbing that woulda been needed

 

^ I guess but it looks stupid. I drive a lot of highway miles and I have never noticed someone who has taped up their car to avoid rocks and bugs. If you have a low miles, city car and only hit the highway on special occasions, and your paint is perfect now, I guess this might be an option.

If you are a regular highway driver a clear bra/paint protection film is a good idea.

 

Until you travel across states you won't ever realize the damage that usually comes from driving on some highways!! G35 paint is super soft so bugs will be super hard to scrub off without scratching. And there is an abundance of rocks EVERYWHERE that will hit your car randomly from time to time. Some highways/streets are not well taken care of as well as bigger cities ones.

 

155K+ on mine, excellent on road trips. Drove to Alabama over the winter, also 400 miles round-trip every month for drill weekends. Your car sounds well maintained, don't over react, drive it!

My front bumper is pitted and chipped like no other. I'm ashamed to look too closely at the front end sometimes. Hazards of livings on the interstate. If I ever repaint it, clear bra is a must!

 

If your really worried about the paint on your front end and don't want to use painters tape to cover it temporarily, 3M makes clear "Invisible Mask" that applies over the paint semi-permanently.

Here's a link to several kits for the 2007.

 

I would just rent a car anyways. Smoother ride, quieter ride, better mpg, less risk, less wear & tear on your car, less worry.

LA to Grand Canyon - 550 miles
Grand Caynon to Zion - 140 miles
Zion to Vegas - 160 miles
Vegas to LA - 320 miles
Total ~1200 miles

You can rent a cheap economy car from Dollar for about $200 a week with tax and everything out of LA. Typically a Focus hatch, Prius, Elantra, Mazda 3 ect. On average you are looking at 15-30 mpgs better than your G35, plus alot more storage for luggage. Say $4 per gallon (not to mention regular is usually 30 cents cheaper than premium). So youre looking at 150-200 dollars in gas savings. So really the rental car pays for itself just in gas savings. I have always used 1000 miles as my cut off distace for just getting a rental.

 

thank you.

 

I certainly wouldn't call a Ford Focus or any small car more comfortable than a G35 and it might get 10 mpg better gas on unleaded on the freeway. And when I checked at the LA Dollar Rental it was 313/wk w/unlimited miles*. The catch is that they must all be in state miles although if you don't tell them and they aren't tracking you with GPS how would they know? Since this is the sedan forum I think there is plenty of storage, but than I'm coming from traveling for weeks in my Miata.

Rental cars are nice, but I'd rather drive my own car if I had the choice. There's a reason you bought a G35 not a Ford Focus, Prius or Chevy Malibu.

YMMV

 

I just checked LA Eagle Rock location (first on list) and it is $168 a week, plus you can easily Google a discount code for another 10-15% off. As long as you return to same location, doesnt matter where you go.

Most G35s get around 15mpg real world. So yes it is very easy to rent a car with 15-30mpg better. You can request specific cars too (like a prius). BTW I travel for a living and get a rental car every single week. Almost all ride more comfortably than a 5-6 yr old G35.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. Mathnerd88 you are right I should not get paranoid just because one of the member's engine blew. I guess i was just really worried and the first thought come to my mind was what happend three months ago when they found a leak/crack on my headgasket.

@henryLee question how many layers of blue tape do you use?