Buying a high mileage 2003 G35 5AT Sedan: what should I watch for?
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Buying a high mileage 2003 G35 5AT Sedan: what should I watch for?
I'm looking at purchasing a 2003 G35 5AT Sedan with over 160,000 miles on it. It doesn't look thrashed, it looks like it was owned by the stereotypical "corprate guy who travels a lot" (rear seats look brand new, no mods, etc.). I can't afford a lower mileage G35: as a matter of fact, this is the only G35 I can afford, since the owner wants the car I have now very badly. So it's either this one, or no G35 for me.
A few questions:
1. What are known issues on these cars when they reach this sort of mileage?
2. I'm used to older Nissans and Datsuns (I've owned several B13 SE-R's, 70's Z-Cars, and S13 240SX's, with a P10 G20, Datsun 510 and Datsun 210 thrown in for good measure). The ownership experience has typically been very low maintenance. I'm used to racking up 40,000 miles a year with regular oil changes. In return, my Nissans and Datsuns never seem to require more than stuff that older, higher mileage cars eventually need (tires, brakes, starters, alternators, batteries, shocks/struts, etc.). Should I expect the same sort of experience with my G35?
3. Is a G35 any harder to convert to a manual transmission than any other RWD Nissan, such as a Z32 300ZX or S13? I really want a 6MT sedan, but they're not easy to find. And I'm getting such a deal on this one that it makes financial sense to do the work.
4. How hard is a G35 to work on for backyard mechanics of intermediate skill? My family has performed FWD SR20VE swaps in under 8 hours, and we've competently repaired everything from a 1999 Audi A6 to carbureted RX7's. That being said, we only have hand tools (albeit more than some dealerships) and we've never worked on any VQ-powered vehicle.
Thanks.
A few questions:
1. What are known issues on these cars when they reach this sort of mileage?
2. I'm used to older Nissans and Datsuns (I've owned several B13 SE-R's, 70's Z-Cars, and S13 240SX's, with a P10 G20, Datsun 510 and Datsun 210 thrown in for good measure). The ownership experience has typically been very low maintenance. I'm used to racking up 40,000 miles a year with regular oil changes. In return, my Nissans and Datsuns never seem to require more than stuff that older, higher mileage cars eventually need (tires, brakes, starters, alternators, batteries, shocks/struts, etc.). Should I expect the same sort of experience with my G35?
3. Is a G35 any harder to convert to a manual transmission than any other RWD Nissan, such as a Z32 300ZX or S13? I really want a 6MT sedan, but they're not easy to find. And I'm getting such a deal on this one that it makes financial sense to do the work.
4. How hard is a G35 to work on for backyard mechanics of intermediate skill? My family has performed FWD SR20VE swaps in under 8 hours, and we've competently repaired everything from a 1999 Audi A6 to carbureted RX7's. That being said, we only have hand tools (albeit more than some dealerships) and we've never worked on any VQ-powered vehicle.
Thanks.
I'm looking at purchasing a 2003 G35 5AT Sedan with over 160,000 miles on it. It doesn't look thrashed, it looks like it was owned by the stereotypical "corprate guy who travels a lot" (rear seats look brand new, no mods, etc.). I can't afford a lower mileage G35: as a matter of fact, this is the only G35 I can afford, since the owner wants the car I have now very badly. So it's either this one, or no G35 for me.
A few questions:
1. What are known issues on these cars when they reach this sort of mileage?
Burning oil, look for soot around the exhaust exit. Throttle body might be on it's way out, no way to tell though and the compression rods have probably already been replaced or need to be replaced now.
2. I'm used to older Nissans and Datsuns (I've owned several B13 SE-R's, 70's Z-Cars, and S13 240SX's, with a P10 G20, Datsun 510 and Datsun 210 thrown in for good measure). The ownership experience has typically been very low maintenance. I'm used to racking up 40,000 miles a year with regular oil changes. In return, my Nissans and Datsuns never seem to require more than stuff that older, higher mileage cars eventually need (tires, brakes, starters, alternators, batteries, shocks/struts, etc.). Should I expect the same sort of experience with my G35?
You're buying a car that has 160k Miles, that you don't really know about the past of. Just like any car, higher mileage you will replace things.
3. Is a G35 any harder to convert to a manual transmission than any other RWD Nissan, such as a Z32 300ZX or S13? I really want a 6MT sedan, but they're not easy to find. And I'm getting such a deal on this one that it makes financial sense to do the work.
Hard, don't try you'll spend more money on the conversion than the difference between buying one from the start.
4. How hard is a G35 to work on for backyard mechanics of intermediate skill? My family has performed FWD SR20VE swaps in under 8 hours, and we've competently repaired everything from a 1999 Audi A6 to carbureted RX7's. That being said, we only have hand tools (albeit more than some dealerships) and we've never worked on any VQ-powered vehicle.
You seem to have enough knowledge to handle this car.
Thanks.
You're welcome
A few questions:
1. What are known issues on these cars when they reach this sort of mileage?
Burning oil, look for soot around the exhaust exit. Throttle body might be on it's way out, no way to tell though and the compression rods have probably already been replaced or need to be replaced now.
2. I'm used to older Nissans and Datsuns (I've owned several B13 SE-R's, 70's Z-Cars, and S13 240SX's, with a P10 G20, Datsun 510 and Datsun 210 thrown in for good measure). The ownership experience has typically been very low maintenance. I'm used to racking up 40,000 miles a year with regular oil changes. In return, my Nissans and Datsuns never seem to require more than stuff that older, higher mileage cars eventually need (tires, brakes, starters, alternators, batteries, shocks/struts, etc.). Should I expect the same sort of experience with my G35?
You're buying a car that has 160k Miles, that you don't really know about the past of. Just like any car, higher mileage you will replace things.
3. Is a G35 any harder to convert to a manual transmission than any other RWD Nissan, such as a Z32 300ZX or S13? I really want a 6MT sedan, but they're not easy to find. And I'm getting such a deal on this one that it makes financial sense to do the work.
Hard, don't try you'll spend more money on the conversion than the difference between buying one from the start.
4. How hard is a G35 to work on for backyard mechanics of intermediate skill? My family has performed FWD SR20VE swaps in under 8 hours, and we've competently repaired everything from a 1999 Audi A6 to carbureted RX7's. That being said, we only have hand tools (albeit more than some dealerships) and we've never worked on any VQ-powered vehicle.
You seem to have enough knowledge to handle this car.
Thanks.
You're welcome
Thread Starter
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Compression rods? What's a compression rod?
And as far as my question about the auto-to-manual swap: if I'm picking up the car for $3000, then, does it make financial sense?
And as far as my question about the auto-to-manual swap: if I'm picking up the car for $3000, then, does it make financial sense?
Who did the SR20 swap? You did that but you don't know what a compression rod is????
Can you find a manual car for $12,000? If not then yea maybe. But there is a lot of custom fabbing needed to make a standard transmission bolt up. Unless you swap out the whole engine and tranny. I think the car will cause you more problems then it will be easy to work on.
Can you find a manual car for $12,000? If not then yea maybe. But there is a lot of custom fabbing needed to make a standard transmission bolt up. Unless you swap out the whole engine and tranny. I think the car will cause you more problems then it will be easy to work on.
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From: S.C.
Dude, if you are getting that G for 3k then go for it!!! But why is it being sold so cheap should be in the back of your mind.
Honestly 160k is not really a lot of miles on a half way taken care of import, its no honda but damn close!
Honestly 160k is not really a lot of miles on a half way taken care of import, its no honda but damn close!
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From: S.C.
Who did the SR20 swap? You did that but you don't know what a compression rod is????
Can you find a manual car for $12,000? If not then yea maybe. But there is a lot of custom fabbing needed to make a standard transmission bolt up. Unless you swap out the whole engine and tranny. I think the car will cause you more problems then it will be easy to work on.
Can you find a manual car for $12,000? If not then yea maybe. But there is a lot of custom fabbing needed to make a standard transmission bolt up. Unless you swap out the whole engine and tranny. I think the car will cause you more problems then it will be easy to work on.
And he has no idea if this car has been maintained at all, he is guessing.
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From: Cleveland, OH (not a suburb)
By compression rod, do you mean connecting rod?
My brother, father, and I did the VE swap.
The car is listed at $7,000; I'm getting $4,000 in trade for a car that I got for free.
My brother, father, and I did the VE swap.
The car is listed at $7,000; I'm getting $4,000 in trade for a car that I got for free.
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From: Columbia, SC
I would ask for the dealership performed service history. You should be able to obtain this as long as you have the VIN. It may have been maintained outside of a dealership after the warranty expired, but you can sometimes find interesting things there.
And a compression rod is a suspension component that goes bad... I haven't heard that term before the G either - probably a term specific to the G's suspension design vs. other older Nissan and Infiniti vehicles.
Heath
And a compression rod is a suspension component that goes bad... I haven't heard that term before the G either - probably a term specific to the G's suspension design vs. other older Nissan and Infiniti vehicles.
Heath
Last edited by Q451990; Dec 9, 2009 at 12:30 PM.
For $3000 go for it, but I don't recommend it. I could be proven wrong and it could be 100% perfectly maintained and taken care of and last for another 200k OR it could fall apart on your drive home and every other week you will post a thread saying "what's wrong with this part"?
Hit and miss, if you have 3000 laying around and you can trust it enough to give up a working car, go for it.
I've got 150K on my car and I've got a TON of mods. I drive it hard and the car is still reliable. For $3000 I'd pick it up. You could part it out and AT LEAST break even.
