Well, I'm off and running with my new G. I'm still in the break-in period, but I have cheated a bit in getting her up to 4500 RPM on occasion. My thoughts of the car are still up in the air to be honest with you. I'll post some random stuff here and you can tell me if you share any of these feelings.

* fast, balanced acceleration in all gears. i would have appreciated more low end torque. Perhaps my feelings will change once I start reving her up to 5000 RPM following the break-in?

* handling is the best I've driven. Period.

* Premium package on the 6mt is only so-so. I love the MT, but a part of me feels like I lost the luxury feel by opting out of the automatic tranny. If I could do it without getting soaked by the dealer, I'd think long and hard about getting an automatic.

* Softness of the paint really has me bummed. This is almost a deal breaker for me. I understand that dings are a part of life, but the two dings I have look like paint mush, not traditional dings. Even with the 3M clear bra, the paint will be trashed after 25K miles. As bad as Ford is at making reliable cars, their paint is bullet proof compared to the G35.

* Interior is very classy

* 22 MPG on my second tank; up from 18 MPG. Switching to premium octane helped a lot

* Overall, I'm pleased with the G35, but not as much as I thought I would be at this stage. The paint issues have me concerned, and with the 3M needing 30 days to cure, I'm not going to be able to add Zaino before I'm peppered with dings. I wonder if I could/should zaino the "non-bra" areas now just in case? What could it hurt.

<sigh> Not sure what my problem is? My enjoyment level is good, but not great.

 

After having a 2003 Maxima for 2 1/2 years, I know all about the paint issues. However, take a look at Lexus, BMW, Mercedes, etc. Their paint is easily chipped as well. That is what happens when you paint without a lead additive. I just try not to ride on people's tails, especially on snowy days where they are dropping salt. It has worked for me in the past. It's just a way of life for me now. it's kinda like parking in the boonies when you go to the mall.

 

Wait until you are able to run the $hit out of it and you will never have thought of having an automatic again.

 

Got mine right off the truck with 7 miles on it... just hit 800 today after ~2 weeks.

Like others have said, today's painting processes yield a less durable paint - for all manufacturers. Not much you can do about it. Although, I would be curious about how long the paint itself needs to cure for optimum longevity, and how much adding a clearbra right on top of a freshly painted vehicle effects that curing process. My understanding is that today's paint processes need longer to fully cure, and still are "drying" for months after the vehicle is painted. One reason not to wax a brand new vehicle.

Anyway, I disagree about a few comments. For one, I don't think the torque is lacking at all. It's not a typical Japanese rev-happy engine where all the power is up high in the RPMs... I think it's a great balance of torque in the low range but still plenty of power across the rpm band. Keeping it below 4000 rpms (only first 300 miles for me based on how I break an engine in) still yielded a very drivable car with lots of power - that's the torque.

Secondly, I don't think the 6MT is less "luxurious" than the auto, but I purchased more for sport than luxury. If I wanted luxury instead, I probably would have gone with the TL. Nice car, cool interior and gadgets - couldn't stand the FWD. The handling of the G35 is excellent, and I am very pleased/somewhat surprised with the wet weather performance.

Thirdly, as for the interior and design, before I bought it I thought the G looked good, but a little funky and still just "average" for the interior. But now that I have spent a lot of time in the car, the design and interior has really grown on me - I like it a lot more than before - kind of strange. Most cars are the opposite - you find little things that you dislike. I am also very glad I opted for the stone interior instead of graphite - it really dresses it up - more "Audi-like" in my opinion - reminds me of the A4 I was cross-shopping.

I am very happy with the car - as happy as I expected to be. The lack of voice control over functions is no biggie, but I really do wish there was cellphone Bluetooth integration - this would be nice for me. I also wish the XM integration of the head unit was better, with more options for displyaing the information. Since these options are really a part of the nav/radio system, I wouldn't be surprised to see those upgrades within the next year or so... before the next redesign.

As for why you are not fully satisfied, I dunno. Like I said - I got exactly what I expected. Maybe you got too excited about the new car? I see a lot of people that come on forums and get all hyped up about buying a new car and the thrill of the purchase process, but once it's purchased... well, it's a bit of a let-down... that excitement is gone. I've noticed you've posted a lot recently, so maybe you were expecting more from the experience, or are missing that anticipation of something new. Who knows...

 

What happend to me is/was that I was heartbroken last night about my rock chip and my less than stellar repair. This chip was caused by a hunk of wood that "mushed" the new paint as opposed to chipping it. I know how to repair chips quite well, but the damn touch up paint (supplied by infiniti no less) isn't a perfect color match. At least the scuff is sealed and buffed out now, and frankly, I'm my own worst critic. If I didn't point it out to you I doubt you'd notice.

I too got mine right off the truck with 6 miles on it. I'm confident that once I Zaino the Hell out of her, the paint will perform better. Also, once I get a few chips I'll "deal with it" better. My problem is that I fell in love with this car early on, and I expect perfection. Like the other poster said, once I can comfortably take her to 5000 RPM I'm sure I'll fall in love again.

 

I posted something similar to this a week or so ago. Just my thoughts. I have a 2005 6MT in Lakeshore Slate/Stone Interior. 550 miles. Base package inside. Only option is Sirius. I am extremely pleased with my purchase. As I have said many times, I think I made the best purchase for under $30k in the world. I get more hooked on this car everyday. As you mentioned, I think the interior gets better every day. That is one thing that I was pretty worried about. I think it is excellent. I think the base radio is fine. I am so glad I didn't get a sunroof because it adds 1.5 inches of headroom and I might of opened it 2 times a year. Love the Xenons. Love the interior lighting at night. Love the gurgle of engine when I let off of it at 6,000 rpm and shift. ( I obviously have not followed the break in period at all) The size is excellent. The trunk is nice. Gas mileage is fine with me coming from a Chevy V8 truck.

Only thing I am uncertain of is my exterior color. I still don't know if I love it. I think I would of been better off with Diamond Graphite. Really not that big of a deal though. Also, the manual tranny takes some getting used to. I am still not that smooth with it. There is a little click after almost all gear changes. You really have to flutter the throttle whenever you shift to make it semi-smooth. You can't just let the clutch in and out like I did with my A4 or 325 and not worry that much about the gas. My wife is having a hell of a time driving it. it scares me because she revs the shi* out of it and then drops the clutch.

Oh, how can I forget. the DSC works wonderfully. We just got a big snowstorm in VA and the car was great. i went up a snow covered hill and then started to spin and I thought, "Oh Crap, what have I done I'm not in the truck anymore, I'm gonna slide into that car" and next thing I know the DSC comes on and I gently get up the hill no problem. It has helped as well when accelerating in the rain and pulling out in front of cars. Crucial.

I frickin love this car. Best car I have ever owned and I have owned A4, 325i, s60, Legend, 240 turbo wagon, and Grey Market Mercedes 230e. Also, better than anything I have test driven and I drove it all. It gets better every day.

 

I'm not trying to pick a fight but I hate when people do that. Try to justify a problem with our vehicles by saying other top brands have the same problem. I went through this crap over and over with my Titan, folks always try to justify the problems the truck had by comparing it to F150, Rams, Sierra's etc. Once again not trying to pick a fight

 

Oh BTW I know what you mean, I had a 02 6spd for 2 1/2 yrs myself. Should have never traded it in for that Titan.

 

I have 4,000 miles in 2 months. Before the car was broken in, it felt like a rocket ship (not shifting over 4k rpm). Once I broke it in, I opened her up. I was a bit dissapointed to find the engine sounds and feels like the VG30E in my 86 300zx. The difference is the power, the G has more obviously, however it seems in the higher rpms, mainly between 4k-7k, the engine screams, yet feels like its not going as fast as it could. I know the sound from the engine is suppose to sound like a muscle car, but it sounds like its screaming (not in a good way in my opinion, although my cousin told me it sounds good). I guess I am just use to smoother engines, like my 97 Maxima, that thing sounded much better through the whole RPM band. Don't get me wrong the car flies, but the way it feels when flying up in the high rpms sounds/feels like its struggling as the engine gets loud and rough feeling.

My only gripe with the 6speed, its tooo damn fast and shifting at low RPMs just to go the speed limit is boring. Makes me think, what is the point of having a bad *** car with a stick shift when i have to drive slow. Oh well, getting on the freeway onramps when no one else is around still gets my heart going