I went to go help out a friend who needed a jump. I parked the nose of my G next to his car popped the release under the steering wheel. I was zipping my jacket up up and then hear a gust of wind, some metal/toggling noise, then the hood flew open almost against my windshield! I could hear the metal on the fenders/a-pillars crushing inthe process.

I jumped out and tried to shut it and found it woulnd't close more than 30 degrees open or so. The hood damaged both fenders by the A-pillars. Three guys had to pull the hood toward the front of the car to unbend the hinges enough to to get it to stay on the latch, but it is still warped/raised.

Infiniti says it is an act of god. I say its a defective latch and a design flaw because there is no stopper by the hinges or a strong connection point for the hood rod (which is cheap for an infiniti). Ininift say that once I pull the release form the driver's side footwell, it is out of their hands.
I think that's BS. That means any G driver that pops their hood latch could have that happen before they get to the front to even try and stop it from flying open.

Over $2k in damages!

I'm frustrated by this situation to say the least....any suggestions beside claiming it on insurance?

 

Sounds like an act of god to me, I've never heard of this happening to anyone else, and the gust of wind would have to be pretty strong

 

You should have had your car pointed downwind.

John

 

I dont see how it can be an act of god if the secondary latch on the hood is not catching or engaging? That to me would be a defective part if a part doesnt do what its supposed to do. What's the point of having a secondary latch with a manual release if it doesn't even work?

That would leave only the cable release as my defense againt the hood flying up while driving, and I see posts on here about that failing too.

 

sorry bro

 

that is suxx0rs.

good luck, whatever happens.

 

dude, how do you not see this an act of god? do you live near a wind tunnel? holy **** that has to be some strong wind....first, even if it was completely unlatched, no secondary latch, that wind has to be SUPER strong to lift a 50+ lb hood and flip it like that. i've drove around before on accident with my hood popped and still nothing.

 

Yeah I don't know what the wind speeds were but I looked around and the hood apparently weighs around 35-40lbs. Very difficult to believe as it happened. I just don't know why the second latch didnt hold on. Those are supposed to be heavy duty. Plus , why no mechanism to stop it?

 

But I guess I'm venting b/c no more factory paint on those panels which is going to irritate me. Thanks for the consoles though...

 

get 3 estimates claiming faulty hood latch. this way you will
have something to show infinity.

sucs..but it could happen to anyone if its a defect!

 

INFINITI! Sorry but this annoys me the most when infiniti owners mispell their own cars
For the OP, sorry but sometimes stuff just happens. I don't think you'll have any case unless it happened with your hood still latched.

 

When u pop your hood from under the dash and pull up on the hood without using the lever if it opens its defective if u can only open it using that lever then its not defective. Can you test it or it doesn't close at all anymore?

 

When I pop it the secondary latch does and does not catch. So yes, at times, I can pop it and lift it up (only so much because of the damage) without having to manually undo the secondary latch. The secondary latch is loose. It doesn't pull to the side to hold onto the hood.

Even if it is defective, Infiniti is telling me to go pound sand. It's a fun car, but this is unacceptable.

 

If you really sure that is defective parts and I assume you took some pictures for your own record. You can complain it to the Infiniti customer service so they would put pressure on that local car dealer. There is a chance that they would do the repair for you without charge. My friend did that with Lexus, now every time he comes to service, that dealership treat him like VIP.

 

g35 has a cheap hood system.