+++10000


This ! I've worked at a dealership one summer and just watching people loose some 20% of their cars value the moment the damn thing was registered was a joke. If you're a car guy (and you are if your reading this thread) then you can figure out what to look for when looking for a used car.

Personally, OP , go 6mt and do some preventative maintenance. Its not much effort to inspect your suspension, change tranny oil, diff oil, etc. I just turned 100K and I would be willing to bet that my car is in better shape and general upkeep than most of the G's out there with less than 50K miles. So start wrenching

 

I would definitely go for a 370z and change it up... If not, go for a G35 coupe... You can get another G with around 30k miles for less than $30,000 ...

 

This definitely seems the way to go - and it seems to be the way I will go. Rebuild the car a bit - and for around 2700-3000 I can have something that's worth 5k on a trade-in. Then drive her around while I look for a good deal on a CPO.

Out of those 3 - I do not think any of them are certified.

 

You can get a CPO with the Elite Plan and get 8 years / 120K miles of bumper to bumper (from the service date). http://www.infinitiusa.com/content/d...CPO.CPO_Offers

Don't buy new. That never makes sense financially. Get a CPO. Infiniti has an excellent plan, and does a pretty thorough job of qualifying a car for CPO status. They don't just take anything for that program. I went to my dealer, told them what I wanted (05 DG AWD Sedan with Premium), how much I would pay for it, and they went and bought one at an Infiniti-only auction, where Infiniti guarantees the cars will qualify as a CPO. They made money on it, but were able to get it for less because they knew they had a sale and didn't have to keep it on their lot. I ended up paying about $500 less than low blue book for it. I still have a full year left on the bumper-to-bumper. Whenever I go to buy another used car, I'm going to go that same route and get exactly what I want.

 

The 20% loss only impacts if you have an accident or have to sell the car within 5 years or so. The longer you own it, the less impact it has.

Most everything you buy loses value. Try buying a TV at Target and then Craiglisting it as brand new. Hell, some items have a restocking fee of 15%.

This argument is very tired and can be minimized by a smart shopper.

If payments are an issue, go pre-owned off-lease, or lease something new.

CPO? Now there's a joke if I ever heard one. Why do you all care about service records when you have such a worthless opinion of dealerships? I've had too many issues with dealers to trust what a piece of paper says they did.

 

Fix it up and just keep on driving. Japanese cars like ours usually tend to be pretty reliable and bullet-proof if you do your maintenance like the fluids.

 

I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about, pretty much across the board. A re-stock fee is nothing like the depreciation hit that a new car takes. Most items can be returned without a re-stock fee, including a TV at Target (I know, I returned one to them at no cost). A new car's immediate loss in value is real, and is never recovered. Just because you own it for a long time only spreads that loss out over more years but it doesn't lower the actual loss.

And while a TV does lose value, we're talking at least one order of magnitude in difference. A $2500 TV might lose 50% of it's value within a year or two, but that's just $1250. A $25,000 car will lose 20-25% in the first year, and upwards of 50% in 3 years. That's at least $5,000 in year 1, and $12,500 by year 3. In case you didn't notice, I compared an average priced car to a very expensive TV. A $1000 TV and a $50,000 car have much greater differences ($500 vs. $25,000). You can shop as smart as you want, but you will take a depreciation hit the minute you drive off the lot. You may think it's a tired argument, but whether it is or not doesn't change the fact that you do lose money.

And a CPO is backed by the manufacturer, not a dealer. They're the cream of the crop of pre-owned, off lease cars. You should also think about doing some research on leasing costs. Financially, it's easily the worst way to pay for the use of a car. Yes, your payments are lower, but you end up with nothing after the lease is over. All of the expenses and risks of car ownership and virtually none of the benefits. Even buying a new car is better financially than leasing.

 

Amen!

A quick update on the car though - replaced the rear main seal, keeping an eye on the valve cover to see if I notice any oil leaking. Tranny rebuild was done however they did not properly balance the torque convertor so there was a slight vibration at idle. It's waiting for a brand new torque convertor now and that should be in by this weekend.

She felt amazing with her new tranny. I forgot how smooth it used to shift.

 

Have them install the Transgo Shift Kit and you just might want to keep the car. I did it to my sedan and am shocked what a huge difference it makes under WOT. Should have done it years ago.