heres my story! ive been looking around for cars for about a month now. long story short, my TL got totaled by a porsche! ive always loved the g35 coupe and didnt think the sedan was half bad neither. looking to spend about 7k on my new car, i figured the g35 would be way out of my price range, unless it was a beater.. and i didnt want a beater.. anywho, i stumbled upon an '03 g35 sedan for 6k (originally 7k... dealership has it listed as a sale for 10 days).

I have been doing my research and man, im loving the feedback. seems like these are not only good looking, they are extremely reliable and fun to drive. so i decided to schedule a meet up and take it for a test drive. with that being said, im no car whiz and know close to nothing about infiniti. i made an account and hopefully, you good people will give me honest opinions on what this g newb should do!

Here is the rundown.

carfax has the car well maintained for the most part and had 3 previous owners.
clean title.
car is @ 147k miles. (not great but not bad)
Car is loaded with leather seats, power everything, navi, moon roof, tinted windows, heated seats etc.
Automatic, v6, 4 door sedan.
car is in great condition from what i can see, no rips in the leather or dents on the outside. steering wheel is slightly sun damaged but thats at the bottom of my list of concerns.


i am taking a buddy who knows alot about cars (mostly american but can fix anything). obviously he is going to go over the simple things but what should i be looking for from a specific infiniti view? i have read around here that the suspension could be a spot to observe, but what exactly am i looking for?

I feel as this is a good deal for me but maybe too good of a deal to be worried about a scam? i trust a dealership more than private party, but you just never know. with the price being so low, i want to be sure im not getting the short end of the stick.

in the end i think my questions are.... does this feel like a "too good to be true" sale? what should i be looking for when i go and test drive it today? and what kind of services on a g with this many miles is a MUST?

sorry for the life story, but i wanted to get it all out there. thank you for reading and any help at all would be appreciated. hopefully, i can continue to talk g35's with you guys after today!

THANK YOU in advance!

 

At that age and those miles I'd look at the suspension for sure. If the suspension hasn't already been overhauled it will need to be. One of the common suspension failure points are the compression rod bushings and lower control arm bushings. I would also check the rear diff bushing. Its liquid filled and they break and leak all the time. If it is leaking you will see black fluid on the rear subframe and diff. To replace these can be on the expensive side to repair. The other common issue is oil leaking into the spark plug tubes and if the plugs have been changed. The only way to fix the spark plug tube leak is to replace the entire valve cover which are about $200 a piece from Infiniti. You definitely want to check the condition of all the fluids because it will be coming up on the 30k fluid change. Plus you don't want neglected transmission fluid or any fluid for that matter.

Some other side notes. You may want to make sure the Bose stereo works but Id bring a CD and verify. Check all other electronics too, for example does the navi screen pop up and go back down.

Price seems about right. I see 03-04 sedans going cheap these days. The miles is probably why its marked down so low.

But it is at the mileage where all fluids will need to be changed so keep that in mind.

When you test drive it listen for clunks, squeaks, ticks, and wheel noise (bad wheel bearings normally give off a roaring sound almost like tire noise). Also is the steering wheel straight or does it pull to one side? Does the steering wheel jerk when hitting bumps? Does the car continue to bounce up and down after going over bumps? Is the engine responsive when giving it gas? Does the engine making any loud knocking or abnormal ticking sounds? Does the transmission shift smoothly without long delays? Is the brake pedal firm and not spongy?

 

thanks man. very helpful! im going to look at the car now, will let you know how it goes.

 

I just picked up an 06 coupe 5AT for $5500, it's solid. The good deals do exist, if you trust your friend, thats a good start. I'd see if you can get it inspected at an actual shop. A place where they can actually lift the car, check for leaks, etc. Definitely check electronics at that point. (it is a 10 year old car)

 

Yup, lower control arm and compression rod bushings.

 

welp, i got there and from the start i wasnt impressed... the first thing i saw was the tint in the back window cracking, which they hid very well in the ad. the next thing i noticed wrong, was the car had tons of scratches.. tiny dings and scratches all over the car, which again, they hid very well. im okay with a few here and there, but they were all over the car. i gave it a chance and got in the car.. interior was very nice (only a slight tear in the driver side).. but then, i turned the key and it wouldnt start....after that, i just gave him the key back and walked off the lot.

they made it seem like this car was in excellent exterior condition.. and it was FAR from that. so with that many miles, it wouldnt surprise me if they were hiding more serious problems, as well. i didnt want to take that risk and to be honest i dont want to pay 6 grand for ANY car with scratches all over it.

i will continue looking with the g35 being my top priority, but they are just so hard to come by in my price range. thanks for the help everyone! hopefully you see me soon!

 

i would love to get a deal like this.... but everything i see this low is salvage.. and i dont want a salvage.