Hello all, I�m the owner of a very nice 2003 Infinity G35 sedan. It�s absolutely rust free, has unripped leather seats, is silver with a black interior. It�s an automatic with 160K on the clock and because I keep up with her, the ride quality is very similar to what I experienced when I bought it in 2016 (five years ago) at 79K. She recently got a new (made in Japan) factory radiator, new Continental extreme contact all-season tires (I run them all year and daily drive the car here in Maine) and a Mobil 1 oil change. She�s doing great. She was recently tuned and got the whole valve gasket job etc. Though I�ve not touched shocks and springs (they are stock and doing fine) I�ve gotten into other suspension components and she�s up to spec in that category.

Brakes are what they are, nothing special but they stop the car and I keep up with them. I also tend to engine brake using my trusty beloved triptronic shifter thingy so that helps prevent wear. The exhaust is stock except for a replaced muffler.

Otherwise the initial quality continues to hold up excellently. This is owing to the rust free nature of the car, that having had to do with it �growing up� in Seattle before I got her and introduced her to New England weather/salt. There are still no flaws in the paint and the chrome all looks so nice still. I have the typical glove box bowing but it�s minor compared to other more extreme examples I�ve seen. And again my driver seat is stock and not at all torn. I think we all know how well built these cars really are. I got no codes and everything works. Even my factory car mats are still nice. Which brings me to cleaning.



These cars clean up well and evacuate water remarkably well if you know what you�re looking for when drying your car. Absolutely no rust/rot anywhere along the bottom edges of this car or anywhere else for that matter. I still love my G and I�m pleased to own such a nice example of a nearly antique auto.

 

Issues: my stock headlights are terribly faded with oxidization. I don�t like it but I don�t quite know what to do about it. Suggestions?? The black plastic molding along the bottom driver and passenger sides is still very nice and not faded too badly. That same molding on the back of the car (too close to the exhaust) is spotted/faded but still semi-acceptable. Up front it�s pitted a bit still ok. I suppose any number of things could fail that have not during my ownership of the car. Alternator. Starter. Fuel pump. Those kinds of things. There�s a new battery in the car and I had to replace the gas tank when I first got her. There was a poorly patched slash in the tank that did not reveal itself to me until a month or two into my driving it. It leaked and to tow the car I had to get the fire department involved. All the jams and joints of this car look brand new and untouched. This car has not been monkeyed with and cut up by amateur wrench heads.

 

When the stock radiator started to fail in May, it was gradual and thankfully mild but it still made a mess of my clean (relatively like new) engine bay. It also started to (at least in my opinion) cause some mild electrical issues which manifested on the dash cluster with a few lights coming on but going off quickly and thankfully staying off. Now that the engine bay is clean and very dry again (no more belt whine at first/cold start) it�s back to normal and she�s really ripping up the road and running right. I was sure to replace it with OEM and rejected a made in China radiator that would have saved me a few bucks but cost me a lot more.

 

Nice sedan...

I use a cyclo polisher and menzerna intensive polish to clear up fogged headlights. Once per year seems about right. After polishing hit them with some UV protectant.

Rubbing in some silicone (either by hand or applicator) helps restore the black / plastic rubber.

 

I�ve not messed at all with the intake. Ran a K&N for a while but I�m back to a paper Fram. All my fluids are fresh and up to spec. I don�t bother myself at all with notions of oil consumption (it may and/or it may not drink heavily I dunno) but I change oil regularly/appropriately. But I don�t be checking the level, ever. I had a SHO where daily oil checking/adding was a chore and I�m done with all that. My engine roars. And makes no suspect noises whatsoever. Tranny fluid is a mystery I guess too but I had that changed recently. The transmission itself gives me no cause for concern but like Gilbert Grape�s brother, it could go at any time. I got blue Nissan antifreeze in there all ready for the winter. I guess it leaks a little oil but I�d never know it because the engine diaper catches/hides leaks and I don�t smell any burning oil which is nice. My AC blows icy cold air which is also nice because it�s a heat wave here now. Moonroof works perfectly. The front side window mechanisms are showing some wear. Driver side glass can be clacky/noisy going up or down and clearly it needs attention, something loose/rattly in there.

 

Thanks for that! 👍

 

I have had my body shop do two sets of headlights: my 2006 sedanX (RIP, insurance value death) and 2006 coupe with projectors. The sedan's were crystal clear at four years when it went to salvage; the coupe is sitting at four years right now, and also crystal clear.

They remove the headlights, polish, and then spray them with auto body clear (which an auto body shop is always shooting). I could not be more pleased with the outcome...once and done!

 

196k on my '04, paid $5000 cash for it in 2016 with 132k miles. It was a one owner, well documented car, even the maintenance log was filled out. Regularly serviced at the dealer. Still has the original clutch, engine uses a quart every 4000k miles or so, the same as when I bought it. In 5 years and 64,000 miles, I've replaced the radiator, the VIAS solenoids because they were leaking pretty bad, brake pedal sensor and the valve covers. I've done more to my Accord in the same time period but to be fair, that's my daily driver. A/C blows cold, still shifts great, headlights I polish and seal every so often (less now that its garaged) but picked up a second set I'll have retrofit and then UV PPF applied. Did replace the driver's seat for $100 from a wrecking yard because it had a tear in it.

Did a lot of mods but it took an Uprev tune to really tie it all together. Runs great, wife says I have to keep it forever because we went on our first date in it.

 

Get the 3m headlight restoration kit, the one that requires the use of a drill. Tape off around your lights, polish with the kit until they sparkle like new. Then paint the headlights with a 2k clear coat like this one that I use, lasts about 4 years before it starts to yellow again.


As for the black plastic, use a product made by Rustoleum called "Wipe New" it's an acrylic based product, tape off around the components you are applying the product to. It WILL ruin the cloth towel you use to apply the product.

It's crazy how well this stuff works and it lasts for YEARS... all that oxidation grey haze on your black plastic trim will be gone. I have only ever used it on exterior plastic.

 

I�ll definitely look into these detailing products. Evidently they have a wipe for foggy/oxi headlights as well. As for the rest of the car at 160K, my steering is still tight and acceptable to me. There are no knocks or embarrassing noises. I�ve always found the ride to be a little stiff. I wonder how much improvement I�d get by replacing all the factory shocks/springs. I�ll be in for another brake job again soon, maybe before the winter kicks. They�re fine but even with engine braking they wear out fast. I wonder why this is the case.

My biggest effort is daily (summer) cleaning with a power washer and towel dry in the sun. My G might not be the most this or the most that but it�s definitely one of the cleanest examples you�ll ever see inside and out.

 

I'd stay away from the headlight wipes, the oxidation is a surface layer that needs to be physically removed. The 3M kit has various grit of sanding discs that you use to remove the oxidation.

 

Solid advice, thank you. 👍

Here�s more of my �bionic cheetah� in the wild.

Those are the White Mountains of nearby NH.

 

Cleric, which 3M headlight restoration kit are you referencing? I've seen a few, and one of them comes with very small sandpaper pieces.

I was thinking of buying the sandpaper, polish and clear coat separate from the package and doing it myself, but I've read dozens of opinions on the different grits of paper to use.

 

3M part number 39165

Don't bother with the packets of the chemicals they send in that kit, you just want the adapter for the drill, the different grit of sandpaper and the final grit polisher disc.

I think the kit uses a 400grit and 800 grit. The polishing foamy is probably a 1000-2000 grit. The trick is to keep a spray bottle of water handy, you MUST WET SAND HEADLIGHTS or you risk burning the polycarbonate.

I just like that kit because the sanding discs are just the right size, my larger DA sander is too big to get into some of the crevices and being on a drill motor it's a lot more of a precision tool than a DA orbital.

That 2k spray I linked earlier is a single use can, once you break the seal it's got a limited shelf life of a few hours since it's a 2 part aerosol. Follow the directions, yes it requires you to shake the can for like 10 minutes which is a pain in the ***, use a timer.

Clean the headlights thoroughly when you're done polishing, water first then when it's dry finish cleaning with isopropyl alcohol, then use the 2k clear. There is enough sandpaper in the kit to do 4 total headlights so if you have another vehicle that needs headlight restoration plan on doing them as a pair since you end up with enough 2k clear to spray about 8 total headlights. Last set of vehicles I did was in 2018 and I did 3 thin coats and both vehicles still have excellent looking headlights. Other cars I've done in the past seem to get about 4-5 years before yellowing again using the same products and methods.

 

This is a good example of what to expect with age, my 2000 Sierra 2500HD, the headlights were yellowed so badly you couldn't see the lamps anymore, I polished them spring of 2018 (almost 3.5 years ago), they're ALMOST starting to yellow again if you look at the picture closely.