As the prices of the G drop, a lot of people that couldn't previously afford one are getting a taste of the good stuff. That means our demographic is getting younger and younger and presents some really interesting threads on Driver these days, some downright amusing and some simply "shake your head" ridiculous IMO. So I wanted to post a public service message here because I'm starting to see a lot of threads and posts that relate to things like "My compression rods need replacing and I don't have the money, help me"

When contemplating a purchase of any type if budget is a concern there are a ton of things to consider outside of the purchase price. I could go on and on about many things this applies to but I'll keep this car related.

1. Are you paying for your car with cash or credit? If credit do you have good credit? If not, you might end up paying up to 18% interest to finance the car and you will be astounded at how much you will have eventually paid if you keep the car for the length of the loan. Same goes for the length of the loan, get a term with the lowest time of completion you can afford, the faster you pay it off the less overall you will have paid. Decide what you can afford and then see if the payment will be worth having the car. I see younger G owners paying $600 a month on just the car payment for a $17K note. I love my G, but that's ridiculous and wouldn't have my car if that was the case for me. Money isn't everything for sure, but there comes a point of diminishing returns where we need to look hard at our priorities to see what's most important.
2. Consider how much your insurance will be for the car. If you are under 25 you will most likely pay up to 3-4 times more for the G (especially if you want a coupe) than you would for another make and model. These payments can be up to $300/month on top of you monthly car payment. Also, remember that tickets and accidents greatly increase your rates, so if you have a decent insurance rate then get a couple of tickets and an accident on your record, that insurance payment might skyrocket out of your budget capabilities and leave you SOL.
3. Make sure you have money set aside or available to fix/repair normal wear and tear items as well as unexpected repairs that can pop up. This is especially important for older high mileage cars. As awesome as the Gs are, parts will wear out and need to be replaced over time, that's normal and shouldn't be the cause of panic and stress. If you don't have enough money to fix a car, then don't buy it plain and simple.
4. Watch gas prices carefully. These cars are not gas sippers, they have a fairly powerful V6 that was designed to be a lot of fun to drive, be super reliable, but not to get 35 MPG.
5. Decide before you buy the car if and what mods you plan to do. Modding the G isn't cheap, especially if you want things like coilovers, wheels, or more power. Kinda of an overused term but with these cars you gotta pay to play.

So to put this in financial terms look at a purchase this way. You're under 25 and find an 03 G with 90K on the clock for $12,000. Say you put no money down and your monthly budget is around $500 to spend on the car, outside of that you are strapped to pay any more car related. You have decent credit, do the math, and come up with a $350/mo payment. Damn I can do that you think and you pull the trigger with a big smile on your face enjoying the ride away from the dealer feeling like you're on top of the world. Then you call the insurance company to get coverage and find out your monthly payment is $250 WTF you think. Then you find yourself getting 17 MPG and spend $100/wk on gas partially because you LOVE the G and just can't stop driving her. And that's at the current gas prices that are significantly lower than they were 6 months ago. Then the headunit goes out and you spend over $1000 on an aftermarket unit. Then the compression rods go out, you don't have the skills or the tools to do the job yourself and the dealer charges you $800 to fix them. Then you aren't happy with the stock look/feel and you buy coils and rims that set you back another $2000 and you get crap on here for not buying a "quality" rim lol. Then your clutch goes out if you bought a 6MT and you have to spend another $1000 to have that replaced.

If you amortize just the repairs/purchases I mentioned out over a year then this is what you your monthly "payment" turns into.

Actual payment-$350
Insurance-$250
Gas-$400
HU replacement-$83
CRs-$67
Mods-$167
Clutch-$83


Total-$1400/mo. Doesn't sound so affordable any more does it?

So I'm not trying to scare anyone out of buying a G, just want people to look big picture before they do. And I'm definitely not the pot calling the kettle black, I have made some of these mistakes in the past as well which explains in part why I created this thread. Hope it helps some of you.

 

Thank-you..

Thank you so much.. *wipes tears from eyes*

 

Great advice but hopefully nooblets actually read it. Here is some copy paste from my old posts that comes in handy when buying new vehicles



I would make sure the engine has a good history of oil changes at 3,000 miles. Get a full service history from infiniti for everything done to the vehicle. Get an autocheck report NOT CARFAX, mechanic inspection / compression check, and a body shop inspection, Make sure there is some sort of warranty for at least 1yr on it. The specific car you are looking at has a HUGE TSB due to faulty motor design which leads to oil consumption and possibly seize the motor. Do your research of what to expect for maintenance cost. The G will cost much more than the RL and just look at the cost of tires every 30k miles. Check for common issues like leaking valve covers, and oil consumption. Do not just focus on price since you might save $1000-$1500 finding something with higher miles but pay out $2500 in maintenance and repairs to get it back on the road safe.


Maintenance and Common issues


TIRES
Belts
Spark Plugs
Coolant flush
Brake fluid
Brake pads and rotors
Tranny fluid
Clutch fluid
Diff fluid
Air filter
Cabin filter
AC controls / radio
Compression rod bushings
window motor



You need to make sure you listen to the engine and drive the car before you buy. Even if you are okay with checking oil and topping off does not mean the last guy did the same thing. I ran into some cars that seem like they were toast due to Oil consumption issues and no matter how much oil you pour the engine needed head work.

You want to call infiniti dealership and find out what services have been done and what should be done on the car for mileage. Act like you are the second owner and want to do find out what maintenance you should do. Service advisor will be glad to recommend the fluids and such but during the conversation ask him if it has records of oil changes, or any work done. Find out if the vehicle has been in the shop for Oil consumption or tranny issues.

You want to get a late model 05 so you have the last revision tranny cd009. The 2005 model had major changes and 2006 for coupe had new lights. Keep an eye on mileage since high mileage like 70-80k means you will be looking into Brakes, tires, Belts, Fluids, Compression rod bushing, Lower control arm bushing, Axle clicking (TSB). This car will need some maintenance but nothing out of the ordinary that is extremely expensive like german vehicles.


https://g35driver.com/forums/5868432-post6.html

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...rranty-up.html

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-sed...arts-sale.html

https://g35driver.com/forums/g35-cou...of-inside.html

 

Insightful thread, but from my experience, the G doesn't cost near as much as you make it out to. I think your info could be more accuratley applied to say a used Mercedes or something along those lines. I traded in a '97 Wrangler for mine, worth about 1/3 of what my G was. My insurance actually went down and I get about 7-8mpg more in my G. As far as other wear and tear...I'd say it's about on par with any other vehicle of the same age, and modified level. I would consider Nissan to be one of the more dependable manufacturers and have yet to have to do any major repairs on mine....so in my year of owning a G, it has saved me a signifigant amount of money over my Jeep. Which means I get to spend more on mods!

 

Good info, this can also pertain to anything in life really. That is why we're in debt after all

Buying more than you can afford.

 

Loan payment: $300
Insurance (6 mo.): $400
Gas per month: $200
Mod fund: $50/mo.
Maintenance fund $50/mo.
Emergency fund: credit card.

 

Dont forget the cam position sensor!! One usually goes bad around 70k miles (same mileage a lot of used g35s have)

 

It brought a tear to my eye as well lol. We are definitely getting a younger crowd on here.

 

I'm 17, my G is payed off thank god but say it wasn't and I was making $350 a month payments I wouldn't be able to afford anything other than my car, my insurence is $393 a month, my gas is about $200-$250 a month so $350 for the car, $400 for the insurence, $250 for gas, puts me at 1k a month without having to repair anything or mod...G's are really not all that affordable for kids. I'm just glad I don't have a car payment and I don't pay for my insurence (don't flame me I'm 17 and my parents pay my insurance) But I pay for all maint, gas, mods and it still comes up pretty fast. So I agree with you, buying the car is 1 thing but being able to afford it is another. I've had my car for almost 2 years now, so I'm not one of the "help I can't afford my valve covers" noobs

 

Well said! Should keep this bumped/stickied.

Insurance isn't TOO much of a problem because you can keep it under your one of your parent's names and you'll have a much lower rate than if it were under your name. Also there's a good student discount which helps a good chunk too. Along with safe/good driving .

Gas is definitely a pain.. if you're mainly driving local only like me.. getting 16-17 MPG is like the norm.. or I might need to reset my ECU, but still.

Also.. people depend too much on credit nowadays.. cash will always be king.. people tend to forget and not realize that they still have to pay it all back if they use credit and they end up having to pay a pretty big chunk more the longer they wait to pay it off. It's stupid.. I paid mine off the first day I got it.

I wouldn't put the total amount THAT high, but I suppose you could use that as like a bad scenario?

 

mine is more of a realistic scenario, about 1k a month if you have a car payment, about 5-600 if you don't and about 300 if you don't pay for ur insurance which a lot of teens don't since it is so high for us, some of my friends pay 1/2 or a 1/4 of thr insurance back to thr parents, and then I have some friends who don't pay a dime, thr parents pay for gas, insurance, car note, tickets, maint, mods and everything lol

 

Just wanted to add my 2 cents about this.

I recommend getting the longest loan term possible, especially for the younger crowd who has more unreliable income than those of us with more established incomes. I do this with all my loans BUT I PAY EXTRA TOWARDS THE PRINCIPLE EVERY MONTH (this is the key people). I do this for the flexibility in case I have a rough month for some reason. My car payment is only $230 a month but I pay an additional $150 to the principle every month which will allow me to pay off the car in about 3 years rather than 6. I also have a 30 year mortgage but I pay as if it were a 15 year mortgage.

So my advice- Get the longest loan term available but pay as much extra to the principle every month as you can. This allows you to pay it off much sooner while at the same time giving you some cushion during those occasional rough patches.

Again... just my 2 cents.

We're in 100% agreement about everything else though. Sound advice!

 

But it totally depends on the type of deal though doesn't it? Like those dealerships out there are ONLY out there to take your money and rob you.. sometimes you'll get a 6 year car loan, but you'll STILL have to pay the interest for those 6 years even if you pay it off early..
That would ruin the purpose of getting the longer loan in the first place.

Also the majority of the time.. the longer the loan.. the higher the interest rate will be. Why pay more?

 

^ Never heard of that. I've paid off a few cars early and this wasn't an issue but I use USAA for all my loans.

 

Ohhhhhh! That's why hahaha^