I am in the market for a Used G35. I have found what seems to be a very good deal

06 6MT Silver Exterior/Black Interior with 12,000 Miles for $26,599.
1 Owner, Moonroof, no Spoiler, no navigation system.

I will be going to take a look after work today. Anything I should be looking out for?

Any help is very appreciated.

Thanks,
Brandon Katcher

 

Look out for the high engine oil consumption...This is popular with 05-06 models....

 

what he said^

 

yea...also get a good reason they are selling the car when it's about a year old. Find out where they service the car and have them get a service record...it'll give you an idea of what has been happening with it.

Also - I would take the car to a mechanic I trust to have it looked over as well. Dealerships, BTW, do their full 'pre-owned' inspection for about $500 as well. Not a bad way at all to make sure everything is good.

Rick

 

Thanks for all the Advice.

I went and checked out the car, seemed fine, but he easily went down to 26000. Seemed a little strange.

I went to an infinity dealer 10 miles away. Had the perfect car. 2005, Graphite (Dark Silver) with Black interior, Aero package, Nav system, great condition. 3 time the miles, but direct from an Infinity dealership. Got them down to 25900.

The car had to be mine. It is exactly the color combo with the spoiler that I was looking for. Beautiful

Question. When I was signing the paperwork, i was offered a 5 year extended warranty for $2500. The car has 38,000 miles on it right now. Is it worth it? I plan on having the car for a while, but is it needed, or are there better options?

Thanks,
Brandon Katcher

 

1 - warranties of any kind on a used car are always good - $2,500 is steep though.

2 - why is a good price of $25,900 good when you can get the 1 year newer car for $100 more - with 3X LESS MILES????

Go to the dealer and have the VIN checked for repairs and issues...the 06 is a much better car, better lights, memory seats, etc. You can always get an aftermarket NAV system, an Aero kit and a spoiler...

Rick

EDIT: Not to mention there is still factory BASE warranty in place on the 06. Does he 06 have any extended warranty as well?

 

I would go for car with the lower miles. It's a better value.

 

yea you could buy the newer car and just goto an inifiniti dealer and add a warranty on for like 2500 bucks...lol

 

I went with the 2005. Might seem like a strange decision, but i just felt better about the second car. Still looked brand new, perfect service records, and went through Infiniti's full inspection. Not to mention I just felt more at home in it. It just fit perfectly.

What worried me about the first one was there were no service records to be found, not even through a dealership (I checked), and no manual or other information in the car. And the fact the he could have sold the car to the dealership for 2K more then he was willing to sell to me. I wouldn't have had the faith in that car as I do for even one with much higher miles.

So even with 38000 miles, I'm incredibly happy with my decision.

Brandon

 

OK - so here's my take - I know you already purchased the car...but here's what we're all trying to say:

1 - the 06 with 12K miles is worth anywhere from $27.5k to $~31K, equipped as you outlined. Why the person is selling, I don't know, perhaps you do. I would tend to think there is a consumption issue, a health reason, or just not satisfied with what they thought they were getting and the cost he is selling at is just to buy out his finance balance.

2 - the 05 with 38K miles is worth anywhere from $25.2k to $~29K, equipped as you outlined. you say you got it for 1/2 the price - that's $13-$15k, from a dealer, nonetheless, and its a certified car. Either the dealer is too stupid to sell cars to begin with or you know the owner - like it's your Dad and your getting the car for EXACTLY what the dealer has left on it based on the deal the last person made on the car.

2 - cntd.: There are zero service records, dealer or otherwise. No manual or other normal paperwork. RATHER ODD. So this is how a vehicle like this usually comes around. It was modded pretty heavily. It probably even had some extensive stereo work done to it, and the person was smart enough to keep all the original stuff to allow him to revert the car back to stock - though not too smart because he probably lost the manual and first aid kit, etc. he likely modded the car enough, that he couldn't and wouldn't take it to the dealer, as he didn't want there to be any 'modded notes or record' with the dealer computer system.

2 - even more: He likely services the car himself - not an issue at all, really, but when was the 30K service done, if at all? Have the TSB's that plague these cars been taken care of - prior to the standard warranty elapsing? this is likely why there is zero paperwork or records. If he didn't work on the car himself, he probably had a speed shop do it, and he wouldn't show that as it would be a dead giveaway that the car was messed with.

3 - Have you checked the car at all for possible missing items, like brackets or other possible engine bay items? Many get lost when things like SC's or Turbo's get installed. Maybe the seller even works at the dealer...which is worse...you'll never know what was possibly done.

You just have to be very careful when buying a car like that - even from dealer. If the car checks out fine - great! The dealers don't do things like compression tests or check for missing parts. They don't check to see if certain bolts or items have been removed or replaced - as most of that can be seen pretty easily. They don't check for fit and finish items, other than simply looking at them form a distance.

I would suggest you get the car to a 'friendly' shop and look at it closely. Look for unnecessary holes on the under cross brace - that's where turbo and SC kitted fuel systems are secured. Look for tie wraps and painted areas...those aren't factory. Look under the hood for loose fitting engine cover, intake tubes, or even out of order wiring, harnesses, etc. that don't have factory tie downs connected to brackets...NO TIE WRAPS OR LOOSE HARNESSES - they are ALL held down with factory wraps and hold down brackets. Look in the battery compartment - look for holes for ground cables, stretched out grommets from non factory wiring, etc. Look for bolts that are bright silver - like new, factory bolts are gold colored. This will tell you that when the car was possibly put back together, they lost some bolts and had to buy some from the hardware store.

I know in Cali - we have 3 days to take a car back with no regrets...I don't know if you have that ability...but I would do that in a hurry!!!

Just some friendly advice for ya!! I really do wish you the best of luck and hope you get other good value for this board and other members. In the best case scenario - the car was never modded and the sales guy got fired for the deal you got.

Rick

 

huh?

 

Thank you for the long reply. I don't think I was clear with my reply.

These were my two choices:

1) 2006 13,000 Miles - $26,100 (Used Car Lot Specializing in Like Cars. He knew what he was selling)
Car seemed to be in fine condition. Drove fine. There were no service records, no manuals. I checked the vin at a dealer, nothing. Car was nice, but wasn't my favorite color, didn't have aero package, and no nav (wasn't really looking for one). The biggest thing that worried me was that he could have sold this to the dealer for 2K more then he was willing to sell it to me for. Just seemed a little sketchy. For 13,000 miles, a couple small rattles coming from rear.

2) 2005 38,000 Miles - $25,900 (Infiniti Dealership, Certified)
Car looked new, few rock nicks on front of hood. Drove fine. Full service records, nothing but regular services. Car was perfect colors (for me), with the aero package and a nav system (not needed but a plus). And like I mentioned before, I just had a feeling about it, I fit perfectly in it. No rattles.

I decided on the second one. I felt more comfortable in it, and even though it had much higher miles and was older, i was more comfortable buying from an infiniti dealer then a no name car lot with no service records.

Again, thank you for all the replies.
Brandon

 

Per the OP "What worried me about the first one was there were no service records to be found, not even through a dealership (I checked), and no manual or other information in the car. And the fact the he could have sold the car to the dealership for 2K more then he was willing to sell to me. I wouldn't have had the faith in that car as I do for even one with much higher miles."

With trade in value at a dealer being anywhere from $24K to $29K, depending on condition, for an 06 base with 12K miles...that would mean, based on what was written above, that the OP could have gotten the car for $12k - $15K....

That's the context of my post. It was being offered for that price, as the car probably needs a lot of work, that isn't noticeable, that will likely not be covered under warranty, and a $12k - $15k savings makes up for that possible expenditure.

Yes -an 06 with normal miles on it seems like a great deal - but for 1/2 the going price, seems very fishy, though it could be the deal of the century! Many of the worry items can be easily checked for and verified though.

Rick

 

OK - got it now. a few typos can mean alot in a post ya know...

With the above now written - the only thing I would have done differently before buying, was to have the 06 certified at the dealer - if it didn't pass - no buy.

Rick

P.S. even though all my other posts on this thread seem to now be wasted/off topic, expect for this one the stuff I wrote is good for anyone to know before buying a used car.

 

overall if you buy a car from a private person spend the 200 for a used car check up.

I would have bought the lower mileage car but then agian the higher mileage car is exactly what you wanted. I think you made the correct decision. I would not settle for anything less than CB and when i found it i wouldn't go high mileage and it had to have black interior!