I test drove a 2006 6MT before I bought it and I had this problem:

When I was in 2nd,3rd and even 4th and pressed on the gas pedal to accelerate (without left foot on clutch pedal), the rpms shot way up without any power transfered to the wheels. After a few seconds, I would get power. Sort of like a slip problem or a lag problem.

Is this indicative of a bad clutch?

The car only has 30k miles on it and was previously owned by an older couple (Maybe they rode the clutch or had crazy kids).

This is a brand name delearship and claimed they did a 110 point inspection. My opinion is that this should have been discovered earlier and fixed so I did not take deliery of the car.

 

What you describe is a signature sign of a bad clutch, so yes, I would say that is very likely.

 

Yes. Classic bad clutch. Probably let the clutch out slipping it all the time, or who knows. It's not uncommon for the stock clutch to last only into the 30k-40k miles range.

 

Mine's at 76K miles and still going strong. OP, I don't know if you have any recourse against the dealership at this point since you've already taken delivery. If nothing else, you might just have to bite the bullet and replace the clutch. Hope you at least got a good deal on the car. Good luck...

 

NO delivery. Only refundable deposit. The manager on duty took the car out for a drive and agreed that the deal should not continue at that point.

I was test driving it before taking delivery.

 

If the dealer agrees to replace the clutch - what would you recommend - stock or other? Does an alternative to OEM have any effect on the warranty?

 

Good. From your original post, I thought that you already drove it home. I'm sure if they agree to replace, they'd go with OEM. I can't really recommend an aftermarket clutch as I'm still on the original. I'll leave that for others to respond to.

 

It's hit or miss. This is the only car I've ever had clutch failure so early, and there were issues with slave and MC, too. That one out of a dozen or more MT cars during the 30 years I have been driving. Normally I see 100k or more miles with a clutch. Personal opinion is the clutch is not strong enough w/re to clamping force for the amount of torque it is subjected to. Early G's had a high rate of transmission failures, they may have underspec'd the clutch a bit to save the transmission, since one is a wear item and the other covered under the 6 years/70k powertrain warranty.

It's possible it may have not been fully engaging. Anyhow can't blame it on the heavy clutch action, my JWT is much more positive. I also run a lightweight FW which cuts 2/3rds of the rotating mass over OEM, but it's not for everyone. Aluminum flywheels tend to chatter at idle, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Mine is barely noticeable and I love the setup.

Also beware OEM replacement - so far they (dealers) say your dual mass FW is bad, it cannot be resurfaced, and hit you up $1100 for a FW. Typical dealer clutch replacement total job is ~$1800-2000. The "key value line" level quality clutch that the car comes with is a little under $300 for the kit. By the time you add 4-5 hours labor (book) at dealer rate, you're out close to $2k. Not your "normal" clutch job!

I bought my JWT Clutch kit and flywheel combined for $800, it has already surpassed the original setup by 10k miles and is very positive. It's heavy and not for everyone, but boy does it engage well and the lighter FW will free up an already rev-happy motor. No regrets.

Re: Warranty - clutch is a wear item. Unless you can show defect it is not covered at all under any warranty. IF they agree to replace it, and it's their dime, they will undoubtedly go with the basic kit. I would be really interested to see how they behave w/re to the flywheel, most people I know personally have been hit up for a replacement.

My FW was in need of surfacing which you'd typically do, but according to the dealer, they can't do it. I was so disgusted with their price gouging for this and unrelated, trying to rip me off for $500 per rotor on my Brembos (I can buy all 4 for $800, not $2000!) that I didn't pursue it, I took my car, bought my kit and had the work done elsewhere.

Pics and a little more info here:

New JWT Clutch & Aluminum Flywheel

 

Getting scary!

Possible Oil consumption issues
Low clutch lifespan
Excessive 19" tire wear

Might just stay away altogether from G35. Sounds more and more like owning a BMW!

EDIT: BTW thanks for the lengthy reply. I appreciate it.

 

Without discussing a replacement they just handed you your deposit back? Are they hoping someone else won't notice and sell it to them?

Also as for OEM/non-OEM, don't bother with the dealership - they won't even warranty their work with non-OEM parts. So if they screw up the install and it destroys your parts a day after you pick it up, tough luck.

Also consider Motul or similar fluid. The G's with the slave outside the trans case (most) have the clutch line running right next to the driver's side cat, and overheating the fluid is common. The clutch then goes to the floor but won't return. Slave cylinder failure is also relatively common. Whomever decided to run the line right over the point where the header exhaust meets the cat should rethink their career in automotive engineering. Mine blew its seals and when I opened it up, the slave was cooked inside like I'd left it on a campfire - seals shot, blackened fluid, all in about 30k miles. Look in the second pic how cooked the heat shield covering on the line looks - it's right above the cat, and I mean 2" or so. Who runs a hydraulic line over a cat???

Later designs moved the slave inside the trans case which was a great idea for protecting it but a terrible idea for replacing it, now they have to drop the trans to replace a $30 slave cyl. I did mine myself, it didn't take long.

 

WOW! Awesome responses - thanks guys (maybe girls too)!

They will refund my deposit if I decide to back out and they said they will compensate me for driving there for nothing (over 6 hours return). It`s impossible for me to know if they knew in advance or not.

I still believe that the people I dealt with acted in good faith so far. Some other people at the dealership screwed up or were dishonest. I will never know of course.

Not a good way to spend a Saturday. Was expecting to have a G35 in my driveway tonight. Came back empty-handed.

 

Definitely a bad clutch... Mine was dying when I bought the car @ 17K, and I replaced it at 25K with a much... much nicer one

Don't worry so much about tire wear and OC, in reality not that many people have OC issues, the people who have it are just VERY vocal about it. (and rightfully so)

 

Well, that's a tough call. I bought my '04 new and expect like my 350Z that preceded it that maintenance costs were going to be significant over time. Pads and rotors for Brembos cost a lot more, running sticky Summer radials with RWD means you're going to go through some tires, and possibly need a second set if you live where it snows. So far that's really not much different than a BMW, no. Where I have seen people lose a lot of money is buying a used E46 M3 from the first year's run or so and dumping $3000-5000 into the motor when the VANOS went nuts and the engine was out of warranty.

Actually my Goodyear F1 19's are wearing much better than the Pilot Sport OEM tires, and far better than the 17" Bridgestones that came with my Z (140 wear rating on those tires).

I've had some other annoying things but the defects that would have hit my wallet hard were all warranty items. The power window regulators are another area where the failure rate is higher than it should be, possibly due to the frame-less window means the window moves down and up 1 cm or so every time the door opens and closes.

The people I feel for are the ones buying 2003-2005 MY cars with a good amount of miles but none of the expensive repairs like the clutch having been done. I know more than one person who bought into a used G not having a clue it was going to cost a lot more to fix than his 1990's Nissans. I race a 1991 SE-R. In total considering all costs it's not even close to my G for repair and maintenance, including several sets of tires and brake pads, rotors, etc. every year. That's car I completely flog and measure tire and brake wear in trips to the track, not miles!

Car drives great, has good power, great brakes, I like the handling (having made some changes) and after 6 years of ownership I can't say I've seen anything else it its price range, new or used, that I like better enough to sell it.

As for cost, well, I have to replace some seat rails in my G due to a crack in one, it will cost me $125 or so for the parts and I can do the work (otherwise the same parts cost $225 through the dealer and the total job $600). My bud's 1997 BMW E36 has worn seat rails and the seat rocks, on his car the equivalent replacement is an $800 job, most of which is parts (over $500). Honestly IMHO the only way to have hope for inexpensive repairs is to stay with lower complexity cars and ones with much more basic designs, smaller wheels, etc. None of the near-luxury segment is substantially better than the others when something breaks - Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, BMW, all of their $35k and up cars cost an arm and a leg to repair esp through dealer service.

 

I agree, from what I have seen since owning my G now for 6 years, the OC is a vocal minority and Nissan has been pretty good about finding the cause, it's also an issue that afflicts a narrow range of MY Cars. IIRC it was when they first changed over to the revup motors, so exclude 2003-2004, possibly 2005.

I don't lose any measurable amount of oil between changes. Tires there is a lot more selection in performance 18-19" tires that fit our cars now than there was in 2004, so there's no reason to get stuck spending $300 a tire on 19's because your only had 1 or 2 choices. Even my second set of Winter tires cost just over half of the first set I bought in 2005.

If I was going to buy one used, I think I would again either go for the 2004 MY for low cost and brakes, likelihood of clutch having been replaced, or I'd go for a 2007 as probably having the lowest rate of issues, last MY run many of these things were addressed. Nothing wrong with 2005-2006, just my preference. A lot will say 2005+ for the interior, that's a matter of preference.

All things considered the car is aging well now just passing 6 years and 60k miles, I'm not that easy on it, and I drive it 4 seasons living in CT. Lol, my worst problem to date was the Attack of the Mice, but that's a long story.

 

I recently bought my 03 6mt coupe and the clutch seems fine. All gears shift fine and no issues yet. I only assume that the stock clutch is still in there. The only thing that was done to the car when I bought it was it was lowered on eibach springs. Besides that, everything is stock