Anything I should look for that would indicate lack of maintenance or abuse? Car has near 32,000 miles. Should be good as new, right?

 

just fined out who was the previous owner.
that would let you know if the car was beaten on.

are you buying it from the dealership or a used car place?

 

If you really want to tell.............take a good HARD look in key places!

- Under the car at all four corners (look at suspensin linkages, etc)
- Under the car around the oil pan area (any leaks?)
- Rear diff (same as above)
- Engine compartment tells a lot as well (is it clean, any signs of oil or coolant)
- Brake rotors (are they smooth any rust?)
- PAINT (does it look to have been waxed regularily?)
- Wheels (look for curb rash, if extensive, you might re think?)

My 03.5 has 30K on it and is in near perfect condition. These cars are meant to be driven, as long as you take care of it, you should be good to go, 32K is still low mileage, you will have 28K left on the tranny warranty.

 

yes a dealership....it was a trade-in...

 

then whatever needs to be replaced im sure the dealership has done it already.
so no worries

and i agree with roadracer516

 

sorry, I'm kinda new to the G, but is the tranny a weak spot on the car? and thanks for the advice...I will look it over as well as i can....are there any noises or symptoms in the susp/eng/exh/trans/clutch/interior that might be there if abused or neglected, or does this car hide it's age/usage well??

 

Check the bottom of the front and rear spoilers for scratches. It would indicate if someone let the front drag on the ground in a low clearance situation. I found this out the hard way, will look on every future car I buy.

 

study the interior for food and drink stains, cigarette burns, and scratches... a person that doesn't care about how the inside of a car looks rarely cares about how the outside looks, or how well its maintanence is being kept up.

and always do a car fax... www.carfax.com -- all you have to lose is $20 bucks, or however much it costs.

 

I just made a similar purchase about 2 months ago ( i got an 03 6mt with 26k miles)...I checked most of the above things thorougly and went ahead and purchased the car. Upon buying it it had a problem with cold start up that did not present it self before I bought it....Infiniti did everything they could to make me happy because I was PISSED. They fixed the problem (ended up being something with the reciever that gets the signal from the chip in the key) PLUS they threw in some other stuff. LIKE - fresh paint on my rear bumper and trunk lid (took care of some key marks that were on the car when I bought it) and threw in the aluminum pedal kit. Moral of the story....if you think it looks and drives well GET IT. Infiniti has honored their waranty extremely well in my case.

 

i'de say do not just base your judgement off of age, I am 19 and I drive my car pretty soft. On the other hand, my best friends dad drives his 540i like a crazzzy *** maniac. so the assumption that an old person drives their car soft is bs. but whatever.

 

When driving the car, on a level road, do some hard braking with your hands off the wheel. See if it pulls signifigantly to one side. Also see how the car tracks when driving (hands off the wheel, where does it go?).

Check the hood to make sure it is aligned correctly. If there was a front end collision, you should be able to tell. Also, check to make sure the sticker is on the underside of the hood (tells you if its a new hood or not).

Check for any overspray on/around the body panels (might be new body parts).

Check out the car on a nice, sunny day. Sit in the interior and do nothing. Just slowly look around. People shopping for a car have a tendency to quickly glance over the interior, and may miss blemishes (maybe oil on the headliner, or a rip in the leather, etc). Press all the buttons too..

Good luck!