Thanks. Now I just need to find someone in the Chicago area who's familiar with Infiniti/Nissan to run a PPI. Anyone know of any?

I've seen the 3rd party nationwide ones but I'm hoping to find someone local.

 

So I've been searching for some cars and I've been finding 06Xs with Prem + Navi, 29-40K around $18-20K. Models without prem + navi but with low mileage (22-40K) have been going for the same price so I wouldn't mind take a bit higher mileage for more features (I drive a low amount of miles.)

According to edmunds & kbb, the pricing seems to be pretty fair since they are nearer to private party value.

Are these fair prices for the current market? What should I be paying for something similar?

 

Considering how much the car industry is hurting right now, I'm not sure that Edmunds/KBB/NADA are as accuate with their pricing as they would be in a normal market. The best way to see what cars are actually selling for would be to look up similar models on autotrader.com, cars.com, or any other sales site.

A quick search on autotrader shows a few 06 AWD's under $18K, a couple of which have had accidents, but $18K-$21K seems to be the starting point for the most part. These are of course list prices, so a proper negotiation should bring them down a couple of thousand.

 

I figured. I'm not too far away as I'm in Chicago so the pricing is similar. As much as I would like to get a great deal, I want to be realistic as well. I suppose I could check recently ended listings on Ebay.

The cars I saw are assumed to be accident free (didn't show up on carfax/autochex) but haven't been physically inspected yet. I'm still looking for someone who would be willing to do a PPI or run VINs to see if the cars have been maintained at the correct service intervals at a dealer.

 

When I was looking, I bought a 30 day "membership" from Autocheck rather than Carfax. Same type of service, but better options on purchasing. Right now, Carfax is 5 VINs for $45 but Autocheck is unlimited for 30 days for the same price. Because I ran so many VINs through it (about 150 or so), they asked me several times if I was a dealer. I was just looking for a car for myself, and told them so. They were fine with it.

As far as knowing if it was maintained at a dealer, you'e going to have to find an Infiniti employee who's willing to do it, because Carfax/Autocheck may not have every service date listed. But finding them and finding a car that's been maintained at a dealer will be tough to do. I doubt they'd be willing to run numerous VINs until you do, and there's nothing wrong with a car that's been maintained elsewhere. If you want a guarantee, then buy a Certified Pre-owned or a new one.

 

It's not a requirement that it was serviced at a dealer, it will just be nice to have a full set of records as not everyone is meticulous with their receipts.

Unfortunately, ebay only had a few listings recently sell. I saw an 06X with 29K miles with keyless that sold for $17,995. That was the closest as to what I was looking at.

 

Personally, I wouldn't buy a car off ebay unless I got to see it first. Way too big of a purchase to buy blind. If you're looking to spend at the very low end for a 2006, then consider a 2005 with low miles instead.

If you're looking at a budget of around $18K, consider going to a dealer and asking if they can buy one at an auction. The cars are generally lease returns or high quality trade ins, but they're guaranteed to qualify as Certified Pre-owned. That doesn't mean you have to buy it as a CPO, but you know the quality is there.

The 2 main reasons to do it are that you get exactly what you want (year, color, options, etc.), and the dealer is willing to accept a much lower profit on a sale like this because there's no risk for them. It's a guaranteed sale. They just have to process it in and out. I spoke with the finance manager I knew at another Infiniti dealership, and he said dealer's are looking for something like $2500-$3000 profit for a car that's on their lot, but are comfortable with something closer to $1000 on an auction-type purchase. This is exactly how I bought my car and I'll probably buy every car this way in the future. Hassle free, I got what I wanted, and paid far less than what was in the market at the time.

 

Your pricing in Chicago is pretty on target with what dealers are asking for in Boston. one dealer offered me an 06x, premium, no nav for $19,500 but it was certified pre-owned. i thought that was a reasonable price, since the autocheck was clean. Didn't buy from that dealer, since i found an 08x for $23k.

if you have time, i think the summer weather will help drop the value of the x's a bit. keep looking and good luck

 

Just outside of Philadelphia here - bought my first ever Infiniti last week. 2006 G35X, 28k miles, paid $20,800 - I think it has every option except navigation (premium package I think?). Hope that info helps your shopping.
By the way - I wasn't actually looking for an Infiniti specifically - just wanted to trade in my 2002 WRX for an AWD sedan, and came across this car. I sat in it for about 30 seconds and decided I'd take it.... So far my only complaint is that I didn't buy one sooner.

 

If you don't mind me asking, when/what did you end up paying? Was this just a random dealer or did you know someone who worked there?


Thanks.

Is 20,800 out the door or 20,800 + TTL?

 

I knew the finance guy at a dealer out in Oregon (used to live there), so I called him about the deal I was looking at. But the place where I got the car was just the closest one to me (Pfeiffer in Grand Rapids). I guess you could call it random, but it was alot closer than the other 3 dealerships in Michigan (Ann Arbor and 2 near Detroit). I knew what I was looking for when I went in there, and knew what they were selling for. They only had a very overpriced '06 X on the lot (OB with just 13K miles for $26K), but I didn't want that color or to spend that much even after some negotiating. The other 3 dealers didn't really have anything either that he could have gotten for me. I wanted a CPO so the guy I worked with explained the whole auction process. I got a great deal because I knew exactly what I wanted and how much I'd pay for it.

The dealership said people like me were pretty rare, and required more effort on their part, but were also good to work with because if the deal was fair for both sides, they knew they'd have a sale. They said the worst people to work with are the ones who have no idea what they want. Not what Infiniti model/options they want, but no idea at all. They just want a car. He said you'll work with them, maybe find something at another dealership, get some financing options, only to have them drive up in a new Ford Fusion or some SUV, neither of which is really comparable to a G35.

I got a CPO 2005 G35x with the Elite Plan, Premium package, just over 40K miles, with an extra $800 financed into it for snow tires, cloth and winter floor mats, out the door for a little under $21K in November of 2008. Financed thru Infiniti for 60 months at 3.9%. This included 6% state sales tax. Like I said, the dealer probably made about $1000 on my sale.

 

That sounds like what I'll have to try and run with then. I stopped by one dealer a few weeks ago and the sales person seemed genuinely nice so I'll shoot him an e-mail and see if he would be keen to the idea.

I don't really mind if it it's a CPO as I'm hoping it'll be a leftover lease return that is in great condition. Either way, I'd want to verify some sort of maintenance history and then have the vehicle inspected by a 3rd party if it isn't a CPO along with just using best judgment. How a dealer treats a particular vehicle during prep (ie pictures/detailing) tells a lot about how they would maintain the vehicle mechanically IMHO. I've seen some dealers in some affuelent area take pictures/list their vehicles in poor conditions.

I haven't decided what financing company I would want to go with, I've been thinking I'll try Chase first as it's been my bank and the rates are comparable to a CU that I could choose.

I think I'm also going to get a 1 day membership to Galves and see how much the 06X is being sold for. I've heard their can be a big difference between Blackbook/Manheim/Galves but at least it will give some kind of ballpark as to what the dealers go by.

Thanks for all the info.

 

This car was listed at $21,500 and I paid $20,800 + tax.

I transferred my old tags, in NJ, and I don't have that cost in front of me. My trade-in was $5800, so I paid 6% sales tax on the roughly $15k difference. Not sure how it works in every state, but in Pa you only pay sales tax on the difference.

I searched within 50 miles of my location for comps and the prices were all in the $19k - $23k range. The cheaper cars usually had accidents and/or multiple owners on the reports, and/or had higher mileage. The more expensive cars had low miles, one-owner, and/or were CPO.

This car is not CPO, but it's still under Basic Warranty until July 2010. The Infinity extended basic warranty (which I will probably buy) is $1300 for 48 months or 48k miles from date of purchase, assuming under 30k miles on car. They also offer 60 months/60k miles or 60 month/70k miles for a few hundred more. It looks like, around here at least, the cost of buying a CPO car vs buying one with low miles & extending Infiniti's warranty afterwards is similar.

By the way - as for financing - since you mentioned Chase - they gave me 4.29% x 60 months for 2006 model year.
Also, if you're doing a trade-in, check out the AutoTrader.com guaranteed trade-in value. It's free and takes about 3 minutes. Even if the dealer you use isn't on their list, or if you are using a place you already know and trust, it's nice to have that paper with "guaranteed trade-in value" printed on it when you're negotiating..

 

Should check around a bit more.. I live in NJ as well and picked up a one owner 05 G coupe with 32k miles for $16,500. Fully loaded sport package and navi. Def check your pricing, I have seen a lot around lately for less and be careful with Chase, they are a decent bank but hit you hard with a lot of little hiddens fees etc.. Def get a warranty as well these cars are extremly problem prone, look at all the posts here

 

The cars that you'll get from Infiniti are lease returns or trade-ins of cars purchased at an Infiniti dealer. They are the top of the line Infiniti's, and are better than pretty much anything you'll find at Mannheim. The only bidders are other Infiniti dealers because nobody else is invited. The cars that don't sell at that auction are then sent to the next tier down in the auction world and that's the Mannheim/dealer only type auctions. You can't buy a 1-day membership to those, you have to be a licensed dealer. What doesn't sell there will then go down another notch to membership-type auction or a public auction. So going to one of these 3rd tier auctions isn't going to tell you much about what a 1st tier car sold for at the Infiniti auction.

The purchase price of just my car (pre-tax, pre-CPO) was below what Kelly Blue Book, NADA Guides, or Edmunds had it listed for. It was also about $3500 less than what a comparable car was selling for down the street at Fox Motors in Grand Rapids.