i am thinking about buying a new G35 6MT. I test drove a new 2005, unregistered, car and was kind of surprised at the level of road noise as compared to my 2001 Boxster. car had great power and price.

this car is a demo car and I am wondering if i should stay away as my guess is this car did not go through a break-in period.

thoughts? tks in advance,

 

get it... IMO engines have come a long way... and break-ins are not what they used to be... I know for a fact toyota engines are beaten up for the first 5 minutes of their life at the factory and thats the break in for them.... but road noise??? i dont hear road noise when i am in the car... but i guess thats because i never pay attention to it... but yes... get it

 

It's up to you, some people would never buy demo, and some would, because it has a much lower price and still has warranty, and is practically like brand new. Choice is yours. I'd be sceptical, but if the car is fine, and dealer gives you normal warranty, I'd say save a bunch of money, and go for it.
And yes, road noise is noticeable, I noticed it on the first drive out the dealership, but you can get used to it, especially if you love the exhaust note. Good luck.

 

tks.... do you think nissan/infiniti does the same?

 

I wouldn't buy the demo car. Most people drive those cars pretty hard(this is expected), and not to mention that the hard miles come in the "break-in period"... regardless whether you believe the concept of Break-In applies to our cars our not. The test drivers are also not familiar with the car, so they probably buck it/stall it more than a normal owner would.

I guess it really depends on what you want. For me, I wanted a brand new car with as close to 0 miles on it as possible and a vehicle that hasn't seen as many different people sitting in it and playing around with stuff as a NY Taxi.

Road noise on our vehicles are accentuated by the tire wear patterns too. Mine used to be silent in regards to road noise, but now the normal tire wear pattern has given it a swish-swosh, flop-flop sorta road noise. I still have plenty of tire tread left too, but that's just the way our cars wear the tires... so that it results in noise.

 

I would never buy a demo car as people drive the car pretty hard in order to see how good the performance is. Most sales people urge the potential buyers to do so. I'm speaking of personal experience as most of the time a sales guy would drive the car hard, hand it over to me, and tells me to go for it It was the same way when I test drove G sedan and coupe.

Break-in period is overrated, as the modern engines are broken in from the factory. Also, some people believe in doing it the hard way, and drive the hell out of the car off the lot. I personally believe in doing it that way. The key is having the car properly warmed up before getting on it, though, as beating on cold engine is never good, especially on a new car I doubt the demo car was properly warmed up before getting driven hard.

Anyway, the road noise is mostly from low-profile high performance tires. If you simply can't live with it, getting a new set quieter tires will solve the problems although you will lose some of grip.

 

If the one you drove had Bridgestone tires, it may have been them. Bridgestones are good, sticky handling tires, but they are noisy. This is the third car I've owned that had OEM Bridgestones, and they've all been noisy. When these get replaced, it will be another brand.

 

It depends on what type of road-noise you are talking about... I wouldn't attribute it at all to the "break-in." The break-in is a whole other issue.

If the noise is coming from the tires then a quieter brand of tires would help.

If you are talking about wind noise, it is what it is....

The coupe's engine is purposely tuned with alittle bit of growl to it; you may be thinking this is road noise. The sedan's are quieter; the coupe was made to be louder. Its actually a performance feature as it is more so in cars like the mustang...

 

I'd be reluctant to buy a demo high performance vehicle, as they really do get beat on. You pays your money, you takes your chances...

As far as the road noise goes, when I first got my G I was surprised at just how much road (i.e., tire) noise was audible in the cabin. I hadn't noticed it during my test drive, probably because I was so focused on so many other things about the car. In the year I've owned my G I've gotten to the point where on most road surfaces I no longer notice it and it no longer bothers me, but there are still times when it annoying, but for me it's a small drawback that is outweighed many times over by the G's many other positive features.

 

I wouldn't purchase a demo vehicle at any price! I
don't think the price of an '06 would be that diffrent.
There's nothing like bringing a new car home and
breaking it in yourself!

 

brand new is the way to go... turning the first miles is something only you will be able to say no one else.

 

Thanks for all the great posts. The noise seems to be road noise and not the engine. Could be just the tires. So here is the deal. I can get a demo 2005 6MT with Nav for $31k. It is the off gold color (don't remember the name). The 05 has 2500 miles and it is considered a new car since it has not been registered. Net-net, you have the full factory warranty.

 

2500 miles is way too many.

If it was like 600, that might be a different story, but 2500 is completely out of the question(at least for me). You're going to be buying a car that probably about 300-350 people have driven. That's a lot of short trips, beating, stalling, idling, engine reving, gear grinding and brake stomping.