So I searched the forums and couldn't find anything on what I was looking for. I'm pretty close to purchasing an '04 coupe with 98,000 miles. Everything is clean inside, a few scratches but otherwise great condition.
Just in case I take it to the Infiniti dealer and pay them to give the car a complete inspection. Apparently the transmission fluid, antifreeze, rear differential fluid and such hasn't been changed in a long time, possibly 98,000 miles. Checking the carfax and the guy's history, it doesn't seem he did any maintenance other than wheel alignment and oil changes (on time). If I buy it I'd get all this fixed immediately but,

bottom line if I buy this car based on the lack of maintenance it seems to have been given, should I expect the tranny and air conditioner to die soon? Too high risk of a buy? Thanks for all the other great info on the forum!!!

 

The air conditioner has nothing to do with the anti-freeze. That's freon, and it doesn't need regular changes.

Obviously it wasn't the best thing for the car to have been driven nearly 100K miles with out changing any of those fluids. Did it cause more wear? Definitely. Will it mean the car is going to die in the next 5000 miles? Probably not. Will the car die in the next 50,000 miles? Hard to say.

At this point it's all a guessing game. If you DO buy the car, I'd get the transmission, radiator, and diff all flushed. Also, it probably wouldn't be a bad time to change the timing chain. As I understand it, it's a good idea at 100K miles.

 

Not necessary. These cars are often driven into the ground and never have the rear diff and tranny fluid changed. If you take it for a test drive and everything feels in line ( no slipping in the tranny I'm guessing its AT) and works I would consider the purchase if the car is priced well.

 

I test drove the car and it felt smooth all the way up. I did notice some shaking with the brakes and found out the rear brake pads have about 2mm left on them and the rear brake caliper needs to be replaced. All the drive belts are damaged/cracked, brake fluid hasn't been changed, nor has engine coolant. The rear compression rod bushing were also bent and cracking, so that's a $500 fix only from Infiniti. The dealer quoted me $3000 in repairs, (tranny fluid, power steering fluid, air filter element, small oil leak, wheel alignment and fi abnormal tire wear etc.). I can do a lot myself and bring the cost down to $1000, but after all that it just depends on whether this car will last. The guy selling it to me would only go down $500, despite the issues.

No strange noises or anything from the engine, so I'm just worried if this car will suddenly give out and put me in the hole for a new tranny. Thanks for the quick replies!

 

You don't HAVE to change the transmission and rear differential fluid. I don't think mine has been changed for awhile either and my car runs fine.

They coolant/antifreeze.. you don't change out lol... you just add on to it when it gets low..

Brake fluid you can change yourself too. That'll take like 10 minutes.

 

It's a timing chain so it's supposed to last the life of the vehicle. Changing it out would be reallly costly.. nothing will happen if you don't change it.. it'll just get kind of noisy. At 100k it should be fine. I'm at 106k and mine doesn't make alot of noise.

The car WILL NOT die within the next 50k miles. That'd be absurd. Not unless you never changed the oil or like beat the crap out of it.

 

i would take it for the inspection just my .02

 

that cars not going anywhere

 

I did take it in for an inspection at the Infiniti dealer. That's how I found all of this out

 

the G35 has a great engine if it has no oil consumption issues you should be golden, but then again it all depends on the price of the car.

 

PM me with the VIN and your email address if you would like me to run an autocheck for you for more information.

 

I bought mine with 118k on it and bow have 140k in less than a year. I ended up having to do all of the bushings ball joints but also did wheels suspension and rotors. I ended up putting about 3500 in it but love the car. It looks like it had 50k on it after loving on it for a while. If you can wrench don't worry about the mileage if the car hasn't been beat to death.

 

Thanks, I checked carfax which had 14 entries, and just putting in the VIN into autocheck also says it has 14 entries, though I didn't buy it. Thanks for the offer! Good to know I'll be part of a great community if everything goes well with this car!

 

^ Id pick another car if he wasn't willing to haggle based on all of the repairs you said it needed.. These cars are too plentiful to get one overpriced with that many issues..

 

I was able to haggle him down to $10,000, just need to see how much repairs will cost over. Looks like $2500, so overall $12,500 for a 2004 98,000 mile 5at coupe. Now it's down to whether this is a good price or should I look for other coupes in the $12,500 range with better maintenance history.