Looking into a 2005 G35 coupe 6MT with 95k miles. It has been in one wreck and has been sold at two auctions. Looks like its in pretty good condition from the pics, gray exterior and black interior. It was listed for $11991 but I got them down to $10000 total after tax, they said its around $8100-8200 for the car + TTL + $700 dealership fee. Trying to put $5000-$6000 down and finance the rest if I can. Is this a good deal? What can i expect the maintenance costs to be per year?

 

How bad? Salvage title? Can you tell it was repaired?

$700 dealership fee is BS. What does that get you?

Maintainence costs can be typical, or with nearly 100K miles, start to involve repairs from wear and tear.

Tires are expensive, and depending on what oyu go with for brand, may not last long. Figure a few oil changes, spark plugs are due soon, some fluid flushes like differential and coolant, and some wear and tear items.

 

Clean title, says minor damage and looks great in my opinion. How long is the average tire life?

 

Depends on the tire brand, and driving style.

15-20K miles for summer performance brands, 40-60K miles for passenger car all-seasons. A lot more factors come into play as well

Of course being on a RWD sport coupe may lower those numbers if you drive "spirited"

 

Before you buy this coupe have an independent mechanic check it out! Being in an accident with that kinda mileage it could have hidden issues. I'd also want a CARFAX to see just how bad that accident was! That $700 dealership fee is b.s.! They already have the price jacked up, why should you give them more $$ and for what?
Gary

 

I bought my 05 G35 coupe with almost the same figures as yours just a few months ago. It was listed at $10,500 with 110k miles, and all the options including Nav and 19" rims.
Let me tell you what you need to look for in a car of this age with that history:

Mine also had damage (front end which was repaired), but it was clearly visible because some of the fenders were not perfectly lined up. As long as the title is clean and not Salvage, you should be ok. Get your own Carfax report and don't just rely on the one they give you. Make sure those fender lines are clean i.e. where the edges of the hood meet the side fenders and that they are not off or overlapping.

With that kind of mileage around 100k, you need to look into the condition of the suspension, braking system, and clutch/transmission. You will most likely have to replace and do maintenance work on some of those parts. Mine had brake issues after one month and I spent a good amount of $$ fixing it up to make sure it drove safely.

A set of tires can cost you around $300 for a pair. Other things to look for:
- Navigation system working ok if you have it. (around $350-600 to fix/replace)
- CD player/changer working ok. These are known to crap out.
- Suspension Control Arms and Bushings. These may cost you $300-800 depending where you get it done.
- Cracks in the dash from age, and the material used. Mine have a few hairline cracks all over the dash.

These are a few things to consider from my personal experience. I spent a little over $2k initially after buying the car to get it running smoothly and fix the little issues. Hope that helps.

+100000 on the mechanic! Do not just rely on theirs. As far as the dealer fees, those are usually always something you pay for. When other dealers don't have this fee, believe me its already built into the price of the car. The only way to get around it is to haggle the price down even more.

One last thing, if its available buy an Extended Warranty. I pay $60/month for mine which covers an extra 100k miles/3yrs.