I hope I'm in the right section! 2004 6MT with 32,000 miles. Still love it.

The car has been sitting for a while, but now that it's back running it's overdue for changing out pretty much all the fluids. I'm looking for advice on price and who to use for the service.

I want to change the transmission fluid, clutch fluid, rear diff fluid. Maybe the brake fluid. Oil is already done. The last time I asked the dealer the price was ridiculous. Maybe over $500. I won't be able to handle the work myself, so that isn't an option to save money.

I've heard that sometimes a Nissan dealership would be a cheaper option, or just going to a regular place like Firestone.

 

$500 to change all that is not too outrageous, but, don't go to the dealer.


Find a good mechanic that works on these cars (ask around, post on twitter/facebook, get some recommendations)

A car that old MUST have the Brake fluid flushed. You should do this every two years at most (I do it every year) Not a big deal, I do mine in about 30 minutes with a neat little kit I got at the auto parts store. It pulls the fluid out by vacuum. However, a mechanic shouldn't charge you much to do this. He will, however, recommend you do all the brakes, don't listen to him, this car doesn't have enough miles to warrant a brake job. He can do the clutch master and slave at the same time.

Your transmission fluid is, most likely OK, you don't need to change it until about 60K.

The, diff is not a real big deal either, but it's most likely OK also.

Something to work up to would be all the bushings in the front and back. At the age your car is, they are most likely gone. A mechanic can tell you if they are OK or not. This is not a cheap job. I just had all the bushings on mine done and the total cost (I supplied the Energy brand bushings ($140) and had a mechanic install them (almost $700), it now drives like it was new. I'm just waiting for the ones in the back to go on the control arms and the differential. Remember, you need a mechanic you trust.

 

Thanks for the advice.

We'll get the brake fluid done too. I'll have them look at the bushings and the brakes as well. The car came with those Brembos and nothing has been done to them so far that I can remember.

We bought an extended warranty from Infiniti for the car that will expire in January, so we're trying to put a few thousand miles on the car before then just to make sure everything is tip top. Any other suggestions would be welcome.

It's kind of cool to have a low mileage granddaddy G35!

 

Yeah, mine is a year younger and I have 128K!

 

I found a local mechanic that specializes in Japanese cars (he told me he mostly works on Hondas) that quote me under $300 for the brake fluid, clutch fluid, transmission fluid, oil/filter, and rear diff fluid.

I'm thinking I might just get it all done at once while the car is in the shop.

http://www.japshopinc.com/

 

Sound OK, be sure he checks out the "usual suspects"....

 

What do you mean by usual suspects? So I know what to ask...

 

It ended up working out great... the dealership nearly matched the local mechanic price on the maintenance after some encouragement, and I was able to extend the warranty on the car a few more years after a full inspection showed everything to be tip top.

 

hope you got that in writing....