I agree with GeeWillikers. Let him get a job and really earn the car, that way he will appreciate it so much more than as a gift.
When I was 22, my dad gave me his '99 Chevy Suburuban (0.5 years old at the time) as a graduation present that I kept for 1 year before giving it back to him and purchasing my first car. Even though the car I bought was probably >$25 K less valuable than the Suburban, I felt so much more proud to drive it around because I had it thanks to my own hard work.
While I'm sure you want to show your son how much you appreciate him, I would invest the money in something long-term for him, such as a house or bank/stock investment. In the long run, this will be of greater financial benefit to him and he will appreciate his self-earned ride far more than anything you would give him.

 

Wow, some of you guys....


He's asking for car buying advice. Not advice on how to raise his kid.

Besides, his kid just graduated College. He's past the point of learning a hard work ethic. He's moving on to the real world, and getting a car from the parents is an easing of the financial burden.

Buying a car for a kid, especially after College graduation is not uncommon at all. Shows they love him.

But talking about this issue is going off topic.

 

a G35 is much more classy than an evo or rx8. almost everyone i've spoke to regrets buying an rx8... i personally HATED it when i test drove it. the evo is more of a young kid car... g35 is more mature and luxerious and overall a better car for a college grad than the other two. someone said earlier.. imagine tossing the keys to your son... what looks better mitzu mazda or infiniti keys? and also imagine him getting out of an evo to go to a business meeting.. people wont take him seriously

 

Go for the G I had an 8 and not to bash it but it lacked torque and the constant worry if the car was going to flood or not was a pita. It handled great but that was it. I absolutely love my G and for the last 3 weeks I cannot stop grinning from ear to ear. The rotary horsepower at 238 is still not correct it is more like 220 or so. I would go with the G over the 8.

 

Thanks for the thoughts, especially good to hear from those in my son's age group. Tough call but I'm leaning more and more towards the G35. However, I'm a bit of an enthusiast. The RS has just as many creature comforts as my first car out of school sans radio (easily rectified). I figure he either gets something like that now or never. I agree on a lot of points made but let me ask this. It's 6:00 am Sunday morning and you've got 200 miles of back country roads to rip through. You've got a G35 and an EVO RS sitting in the driveway. Which one are you going to fire up?

P.S. Number 1 was on a full scholarship at a $30k/year school so I don't think I'm going overboard on the gift. As for long term, I've already got a very nice building lot set aside for him.

 

lol you just want this car for yourself. your son is just the excuse to get it

 

IS300TOG35 can you please send me pics of the taillight overlays you have on your car... im considering buying them and would love to see a few pics of them b4 i spend my money. i also have a DG.. email me @ mpopov@gmail.com plz

 

Damn, must be nice to be your kid, I didn't even get a congrats car for graduating college!

One of my friends is the eldest, and partied and phugged off, and his dad does very well. #2 kid, he did the same thing. #3 kid is a girl, and the last one, she aced school, got on the dean's list at college, and he bought her a G35, the siblings are jealous but didn't work hard enough for that kind of gift. If I had someone buying me a car, I'd definitely want in on the deal, wouldn't want to get something I didn't want. A surprise is nice and all, but figure out what he likes. Make him think you are buying it for yourself and want his advice, on what he thinks would be the dog's danglies. Good luck my friend.

 

Well, story goes that i'm graduating in June and I got a car as my grad present. Kicker is...i had a 30K budget (CAD), so really limited....chose a Honda Accord EXL fully loaded (had to choose a family car, cuz although i'm young i have 2 kids and am married). So drove it for a month and a half and it was a piece of s**t. The husband opted to trade it in for a G35 Sedan M6. So i was thinking of getting it for his bday, he was considering the RX-8 as well. I just figured trade in value of the Accord would be higher now, so i took him test driving, and he liked the G35. I think you should take him test driving, if you really insist on it being a present, just tell him its for you, cuz u want to get something nice for yourself, then ask for his opinion. But I just ended up telling my husband that I was going to get him the G35 for his bday, and i'm glad i went with him and let him choose everything that he wanted, cuz i was off by the color and model. So ultimately its up to you, if you can read your son really well, then you make the decision, if not, tell him the car is for you and take him test drive, it would be good bonding time as well.

Btw, another note on Mazda's are they are more expensive to repair and the quality of the car is not as nice as the inifiniti. I'm not sure if you already know this, but the G35 is based off of the Nissan Skyline in Japan....which rumours have it coming to Canada soon but for 100K, and they also use the skyline and now the G35 for racing in Japan, I think its down to the EVO or the G, but your son may grow out of the EVO in the next few years. The G is still a sexy, sporty yet sophistocated car. Seeing my 24 yr old husband drive it is definitely sweet