hey guys

i'm looking to buy my first car and because of my budget constraints and how much my parents are willing to chip in, i have a budget of about 15k, give or take a few hundred. i've been looking at used g35s b/c i want a sporty coupe that'll be fun to drive, but the ones that i've been looking at (no salvage title) generally have pretty high mileages, at least 50k, mostly around 70k. i wanted to ask what are the parts i'm looking at having to replace with high mileage g35's and how much it'll cost me for the parts (i can do the work myself in an auto shop), b/c money is definitely an issue for me
appreciate any helpful replies

 

are you talking in Canada or the United States, much different pricing. I am just completing a purchase and from my research you can easily get a 03 coupe with 45,000 miles or less for between 15-17K. What year do you want, if you want an 04 or 05 then you will have to take a car with between 50 and 70k like you said. I suggest trying to bump it up to 17 or 17.5k US and buy a 04 coupe with 45000 miles or less, it will be somewhat tough to find a car with these specs, but it shouldn't cost you any more then that.

 

It also depends on whether you plan to buy from a Dealer/Lot, or Private Party sale.

Last month I picked up a '03 G35c, only 13k miles and always garaged - never seen snow, for only USD$16,500 loaded with EVERY Option. But I was patient in looking, and know enough about cars to feel comfortable buying from a civilian.

The Economy sucks, there are lots of desperate people willing to give good deal$...

 

whaa^

i am in your same position.

what would you guys say is a better purchase? an 04 g35 coupe w/ 70k miles or an 03 w/ 64k miles? both are $15-$16k

 

One biggie is to determine if it's an oil consumption engine or not. I'd hate to be stuck with one if the warranty is up. But I can't think if way of determining a way to find out with a simple inspection or test. Only way is to observe the oil level over the course of a month. Not practical when considering a purchase. I wonder if an emissions test would indicate exessive oil burn with one of the emission values it records?

 

i'm actually not too worried about mileage b/c i'm not sure how much maintaining a g35 with higher mileage would cost
i'm wondering what kind of parts would need replacement after 70k miles
i.e. how many miles does the timing belt last, on average? i'm asking b/c if the parts don't cost much, like the timing belt, it wouldn't cost me much to replace if i do the job myself.s oi'd like to know which parts would end up need replacing?
thanks!

 

I just got my 04 g35 coupe 6mt fully loaded with navi last month. Im pretty sure timing chain is on the car so you dont have to worry about that. Im thinking of replacing the drive belts only because of mileage. im at 80,000 miles.

Just make friends with Nissan Dealership parts guy. They give me atleast a 10% discount on parts.

Such an awesome car....

 

You don't need to change the timing chain.

Things you will need to do probably:

Change all fluids - oil ($40), transmission, differential, etc
Spark plugs ($40)
Drive Belts ($38)
Maybe tires ($800), brakes and rotors ($250, more if Brembo)
Air Filters ($20)
Clutch (if manual)

The majority of things above aren't expensive if you buy the parts online and install/service yourself or through a private mechanic.

I don't think there are any major issues at 70k.

 

i had all my fluids and belts changed at 75k only cost me $200

 

I think it would be worth your while to look around for a little while and wait for a good deal, assuming you have that luxury. If you need the car now, you're kind of stuck. I looked around for about 2 months before I bought my G. It's a 2003 6MT coupe with all the options except nav and 28k miles. Got it for $15,500 from a private seller, which is definitely the way to go in terms of getting a good deal. I looked at a lot of dealers and they all mark the prices up a lot and some have outrageous fees that they don't tell you about (1 wanted me to pay a $1000 destination fee, which is a made up fee to begin with). IMO, low miles is way more important than a younger car. So you can get a great, low mile, older car for less money. Just look around for a bit

 

I concur.... patience will help you score the best deal.

You know your budget now its a matter of waiting and looking to find the right deal. If you are able to do pretty much most of the work needed you will save a lot of money. at 70k you wont have much to do, hopefully the owner of the vehicle did the 60k tune up in which you shouldn't need to do anything to the car.

70k is still young for these cars and ideally you shouldn't see any problems with this car sub 100k. If you wont be able to or aren't that mechanically inclined a G with some warantee left will help to comfort you.