Today I took an extended drive in an 06 G35x with approx. 86,600 miles on it. It had the Premium Package B and the navigation system. The dealer allowed me to take it for about 3 to 4 hours to get an idea of what it was like to live with. I was mostly concerned with the mpg since I'm still in college so as soon as I drove off the lot, I went to a fuel station and filled up completely. I immediately reset the mile counter and trip computer on the nav. so I could get two calculations on the mpg. I traced my usual route from my house to my school and to where I work. Over the course of my test drive I covered 93 miles, most of it being highway which is normal for my everyday commute. The 93 mile figure was taken as I pulled up to the pump at the SAME fuel station. I pumped 3.191 gallons when the pump wouldn't go anymore. If you do the math, it comes to about 29 mpg. The nav. computer displayed 25.3 mpg. I traveled at an average speed of 73-80 mph on the highway w/o cruise control and a/c off and I have a medium foot which means I pull a little ahead of the other cars during acceleration. I know this isn't the most accurate predictor of overall mpg during the course of ownership but it was much better than what I expected.

On a side note, I liked the car very much but the tires were loud at times but I think they were firestone summer tires so that is to be expected. No persistent squeaks/rattles to speak of. What I really want to know is if $15,800 is a fair price to pay for a car with nearly 87K on it and nav. + Premium B. Please chime in.

 

if you're a college kid, don't buy a car with 86k on it. Who know's what's going to break. I would use your $16k for something with lower mileage.

 

I did a lot of looking and found a 2005 G35X with 32k miles for my wife last October and we paid $17k. It needed tires so make it $17.5k with new tires on it. I would not expect to get that kind of MPG as an average over several tanks of fuel. We get 17 around town and 23 on the highway.

 

if you are in college, you should buy something more reliable and cheaper to maintain car. Just my opinion, but if i was in college and my income was non-existent or very low, i'd drive a maxima for performance or a camry/corolla/civic for affordability.

but if you are dying to get a g35, then i'd look into a low mileage 05 with a clean carfax record. Should run you around 13.5k~15k depending on options. Also don't put too much emphasis on the oem nav, it sucks. I try not to use mine in fear of breaking the darn joystick. premium package is however preferred, since it only adds like $500 to the value of the car.

 

I see what you're saying. I'm used to having certain features in my car that I'm not sure I could live without in future vehicles. I would mostly use the nav system for the fuel economy info. Not that I put a lot of stock into what it says but I know seeing the little instantaneous mpg icon go up and down made me keep my foot calm and steady. In other words, my urge to give the throttle full wood was smothered by the reminder that this car has a 20 gallon tank and fuel prices are over $3.00 now.

And why do you say to buy something more reliable? I thought the G35x would require much less maintainence than the other car I'm looking at...a 2006 Mercedes C280 4Matic.

 

kbb.com private party books at 14,900.00 with what option you listed above with 87k miles rated in good condition. I would' nt pay more than book value out the door with tax/tag/title...etc...i would try to get it for some where around 13-14.5k, that would be a decent deal..Just keep in mind that used car's have a a lot of mark up, on average used car dealer markup could be anywhere from 2-5k in markup. Plus the G35 would cost less to maintain than the C280, and personally i think its more reliable as well. Good Luck with your purchase...

 

i got my 05 with new tires for 17.3 19k with everything out the door
it had 36k miles and was owned by someone that worked at the dealer.

 

You thought correctly, but we didn't know the comparison would be to a C280. Mercedes are pretty awful in the reliability department, so much so that I wouldn't even consider buying one, and would never suggest it to a college student. Repairs are frequent and expensive. The G35 is very reliable, and I'd put Infiniti as #3 overall just behind Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura. I think AlexNY's suggestions are pretty good, mostly because you can get those cars either for less money or with a lot fewer miles. I'd add a 3.5L Altima to his list.

I don't think you'd have any problems with a G35, provided it's been maintained well, and you continue to maintain it. But at 86K, you have no warranty left, so unless you have access to the service records, I'd pass on this particular G35. I just did a quick search on Autotrader.com, and there are plenty of 2006 G35x's out there with far fewer miles for about the same money.

 

Well, only you really know your finances and what you can afford while you are in college. While some of us here may offer advice based on our experience, it is you who has to make the final call.

When i was in college, i drove a $2000 Lincoln Mark 8. It was cheap transportation. I was working to pay for college and at times unexpected expenses would come up (like dropping a class and having to pay out of pocket to retake it next semester @ $400 per credit times 4). So it was great not having a carnote and dirt cheap insurance that 4/5 years. When i gratuated...I bought my first brand new car since my debt was low.

But enough of that. For fuel economy, you are looking at 21-25 MPG highway. Not really that great, but if you cautious and keep your foot out of it you can maintain it. The NAV display isn't really that great, but it does the trick. I use it once in a while in my car. When you add in city driving, look to get about 18-19 MPG realistically.

Maintainence/repairs are cheaper than a Mercedes. I just did an oil change on my mom's 2006 C230 Sport this weekend....It takes 9 quarts of synthetic oil and a $25 oil filter...cost me $100 in oil/filter alone.

My '06 has 55K miles...no real serious issues yet. Most of the usual things were taken care of under warranty...like axle click, comp rods, etc.

 

I run about 22 MPG with normal mixed driving. I barely got 25-26 on a cross county trip last year and would not expect that high ongoing. As for the car, I love my 06 G35x and the nav interface was updated for the 06 year only. The 05 nav looks like crap as I had and 04 FX35 and QX56 with that same nav interface.

I would look a bit more for something in the 06 year with lower miles if you must have factory nav. Search eBay. Believe it or not I found my car there from a dealer that was 250 miles away and I felt they spent more time describing the car. The car looked BRAND NEW with 45k on it.

I would say you can expect to take care of brakes and possibly rotors as this car is bad about warping rotors. If the fronts have been tuned beyond specs you will need to replace them. Other then that it is just general items (belts, etc).

 

I've been thinking about buying one online. I've found some nice looking cars on eBay and on autotrader but they're all across the country. I don't think it's wise to buy a car I havn't seen even if the seller has a long list of buyer satisfaction awards.

 

Yeah, I saw the car first before it was purchased, but I had a good idea that I would be buying it before I saw it based on what I could see via pictures. It seems that the dealers that do a lot of business on ebay typically put their nicer cars up.

Good luck.

 

Just my personal opinion - as I was in this situation myself a few years ago. If you're buying a $16,000 vehicle and talking about driving conservatively and not mashing on the gas pedal because you need to save gas money, it's probably "too expensive."

As my parents always said, whether it's a set of tires or a new transmission, you need to prepare yourself reasonably and have the funds to support yourself. So, if you're largely concerned with the few dollars saved by not accelerating hard, then I don't think an 86k mileage car is really the best option.

There are plenty of vehicles out there with premium packages that you can get for much less, pay less insurance, and be financially comfortable.

I sure know from spending all my money on a four year old Mercedes in college and being told it was too expensive and I said don't worry about it because it only has 28k miles on it. Well, when a single spring from the foot brake release popped out and the dealer charged me $875 just to get my parking brake to work correctly again, I didn't go out and party or have any fun for quite awhile. Point is, live within your financial means and pick up something you won't be concerned with. Not that the G35 isn't a reliable vehicle, but any vehicle with 86k on it has to be somewhat of a concern.

 

I think that there is stigma that European makes have poor reliability and Japanese makes are 'bullet proof.' as the owner of an Acura (read Honda in a suit), I can say that this is not true. I've had plenty of problems with my car; every car maker has an Achilles heel. Yes, Mercedes' reliability has not been flawless but the more sophisticated the car the grater the probability of something failing. I've spoken with owners of the year and model of mercedes I'm looking at and they say that they're pretty dependable. Many of them came from owning Japanese cars. My point is that we can't be hastey and make generalizations that apply misleading labels.

 

WTF!? That's insane.

To the OP, if I was you I would pick up an '04 or '05 with fewer miles for less money. Also, forget about the nav. It's a nice feature, but not a necessity. You can buy a car with nav once you're out of college and have a bigger budget.