I have admired the G35 since I saw it at the SF Auto Show before it was introdced. It embodied what I wanted in a car and it wasn't $50k. It was the first infiniti that I thought was not overdone. Unfortunately I had already purchased a new car just weeks before. The improvements made to the car since have been very good especially for the 2005 model year. Now that I am about to buy a new car again I am considering a G35. BUT now that Infiniti has hit on its hands they are over producing it and dealers are still loaded with 2004's. As a result of this strategy the G35 has lousy resale value compared to Acura or BMW. Does anyone know if Infiniti will limit production a little to improve resale value? When one considers resale value in the purchase equation the G35 does not look like the bargain I thought it would be at its inception.

 

I guess it depends on how long you want to keep it. The coupe is definitely doing better in resale than the sedan (third highest of all mass-produced cars if I recall correctly). But if you want to buy a used one, it's a steal. That's what I did. Got an '04 6MT a few months ago. The Acura will naturally have a higher resale since it's more or less brand-new.

 

Typically a large portion of resale value is driven by the residual on leases. That is where Infiniti gets a majority of its cars for resale - not from customers trading in their cars.

Infiniti actually has the highest residual value of any automanufacturer that I've found. In fact, when I was looking at leasing my G35x (right before the '05s came out) the G35x had by far the highest residual value of any other manufacturer, including BMW 330xi (4 percentage points lower) and Acura TL (4 percentage points lower). This should go a long way towards keeping the resale high.

And if you are REALLY worried about resale (which would lead me to believe that you keep you cars for a short period of time) then I would highly suggest looking into leasing - it removes all of the risk of a poor resale value, and like I said, their residuals are fantastic (which is one of the main driving factors in a lease). If you keep your cars for a longer period of time (say over three years), then resale shouldn't be a major concern since most cars (under $40k) become a wash after that period of time.

-Rich

 

Talk about perfect timing - there is an article on CNN today that says the Infiniti G35 won its class in terms of residual value:

http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/08/pf/a...ex.htm?cnn=yes

They also talk (briefly) about how residual value and resale values are related.

-Rich

 

Leasing is not an answer for me, cash is always cheapest. Leasing has some cash flow advatages but is it seldom works out cheaper when all is said and done. Infinitis subsidized residual values are very good. I would just like to see them build a few less to increase demand. Infiniti will not do that, one look at last months sales according to the 12-6-2004 edition of Automotive News; G35 6,057
I35 720
M45 123
Q45 129
FX35 3,123
QX56 1,399
Infiniti would be in deep trouble without the G35!

 

I don't know where you're getting your information, but most of the sources I've read (i.e., Consumer Reports, Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds) list the G35 as having among the highest resale values in its class. Do a little research before you make such a blanket statement as to the car's realse value.

 

The sedan resale isn't bad, it's not super good (like the Coupe is) but it's far from bad. The residuals are awesome as well.

 

Do you have a link?

 

ALG's 2005 Residual Value Awards

 

I was looking for something saying that the coupe has a higher resale than the sedan. Coupe sales are plummeting so I'd think the sedan, especially the G35X in the North, would have a better resale.

 

mule, just goto a dealer and look.

 

Well, I have to agree. I pulled all the 2003's from cars.com into a spreadsheet and crunched the numbers:

426 Sedans average price: $26,124
261 Coupes average price: $30,442

 

Here are the 2004's...

201 Sedans average price: $28,278
143 Coupes average price: $32,767