wow thats a bummer. had a similar problem once but it turned out to be some loose lugs. if you took it to the dealer and they cant find it im sure its more than that.
good luck

 

I have previously spoken about the 2003 I35 I had with a front end vibration. They changed tires, wheels, had factory screened tires put on etc. They finally adjusted the slider mechanism on the steering rack. It was better but not like it should be. Then, after several months, it started again. Infiniti consumer services would not let their factory engineer address the problem again and told me to file BBB complaint(first step in Lemon Law in Florida). The dealer was playing the factory game but fianlly admitted the car was a defect. They provided me with a service ticket saying the problem still existed. However, my arbitrator had some type of a medical condition and his hands shook badly, even when resting on the steering wheel. I lost arbitration. The dealers service manager and service writers were amazed. I filed Lemon Law. The dealers GM asked me to come in as I threatened to subpoena the whole service staff for testimony. He sold me a new G35 at 50.00 over invoice and I took a 750.00 hit on the I35 plus whatever I had already paid. In essence, I would estimate that becuase of the give and take process, I probably really ended up paying about sticker with all the pros and cons of the deal. But, I was out of the car and did not have to deal with any type of court system as you never know what kind of decision you will get in a court. The dealer told me he should be able to get me a courtesy disbursement from Corporate to help with my financial loss and troubles. It never happened. My next car will be a lexus or toyota. Infiniti and Nissan are dead to me. My G35 has been pretty good but I don't want to support a company that won'r support me. Corportae would not even help me in the way os a satellite radio..or anything. In fact, they told me they don't reward people that file BBB against them...imangine that, after they refused me of having the engineer look at it one more time since he never examined it after the first time. They don't care about the truth, it is all about the win.

Good luck to you.

 

Stan, I sincerely hope you get this crap resolved. It definitely takes away from the normal new car experience. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Well, I spoke to Consumer Affairs, not much to do but give another dealer a crack at fixing it. Holman stone-walled me last night after they did not call me back, I just showed up in the GM's office with my wife (in case I needed a ride home).

I'm waiting to hear back from the owner of Holman. But more than likely it's lawyer time... what a hassle...

 

Stan, read my post. Hope you have better luck than I did.

 

Thanks. I did read your post... and I'm bracing for a similar experience...

 

Well, it's over. They took the car back and let me go. Good thing, too. I followed the advice of going back out on the highway and getting it to happen again and put it into nuetral.

The theory being if the vibration continued then it's not drive-train related, likely the hubs, or something. But here's the thing, I put it into nuetral, and it stopped.

I don't know what was messed up, the tranny, the drive-shaft, something in the AWD system, etc... I'm just happy to be out of the car.

What an ordeal, too. The dealer was horrible. They only let me go after I threatened legal action, quoted their sales manager and service guys, and threatened to show up with Fox News (I have a close friend at the local station), and had to call Infiniti North America to call the owner of the chain of dealers to get them to agree to let me break the lease.

Holman Infiniti in Maple Shade, NJ <--- Avoid like the plague...

Now I just gotta go get a car cuz they sold my trade this week, and I'm carless... a very expensive, and very trying lesson...

 

Wow-sorry for your terrible experience.

You might try Douglas Infiniti in Summit-I've never had a bad experience there (3 Infinitis over 12 years). Two salesmen I know are Gil and Jamie. Good luck. What happened with the value of your trade?

 

What was the VIN Number on that G. I'm sure that they will try to sell it to somebody else.

 

The last 6 digits were 307115.

I hate to say it, but I think I might be soured on all things Infiniti/Nissan as a result of this experience...

I've had 2 Acuras, and 2 BMW's, never been treated like this... Heck even the Ford dealer treated me better...

 

Who could blame you? Back in my Flock of Seagulls days, I somehow managed to go ape and buy an '88 Olds Calais Quad 4 5-speed about two months after GM started making them. Understand that in those days DOHC 4-valve engines were still something of a novelty. The fact that Oldsmobile allowed you to pair the first American-made one in over 10 years with a manual transmission revved me up.

Fast forward two years: Worst car experience of my life. Bar none. The thing was a $12K money pit that sucked every last dime of what little college-boy money I had from me. (I still remember the paint peeling from the hood and roof in big chunks, like the car had a bad sunburn. And mechanically, it was a disaster. GM's "limited warranty" was indeed just that; it seemed to specifically exclude nearly all of the dozens of things that went wrong with the car. Their lawyers are still laughing.) Traded it on a '91 Sentra SE-R (the original, thank you very much) and never looked back. To this day when I even vaguely consider buying an American car, particularly a GM vehicle, I get the shimmy-shakes and break out into a sweat. That car and that experience with GM killed off any chance I'll ever buy an American vehicle again.

So yeah, I understand your negativity toward Nissan/Infiniti and your dealer. It's a shame. FWIW, you can take one guy's slightly biased opinion as follows:

1) '91 Sentra SE-R 5-speed: Bought new in '91. Drove until October 2001 and put 90K miles on it. Had one thing break on the car, the starter solenoid. Other than that, I didn't put a dime into it but for routine maintenance. Original clutch was tight when I let the car go. Made two trips to the dealer early on to cure rattles and squeaks; a few minor recalls all taken care of painlessly.
2) '98 Altima SE 5-speed: Wife bought new in '98. Drove until March 2002 and put 40K miles on it. Temperature gauge broke on the car; fixed under warranty. Other than that, routine maintenance only. No recalls.
3) '02 Altima 3.5 SE 5-speed: Bought new in '02 with way too many miles on it. Drove until last week and put 28K miles on it. Clutch/flywheel/throwout bearing replaced at 4000 miles due to bluing/hotspots attributed to knucklehead testers playing Speed Racer before I bought it. One dealer trip to cure rattles and squeaks. Other than that, routine maintenance only. Various recalls taken care of somewhat painlessly.
4) '02 G20 Sport 5-speed: Wife bought new in '02. Currently driving; just passed 30K miles. One dealer trip to cure rattles and squeaks. (Sense a Nissan/Infiniti trend here?) Four-wheel alignment performed last year after I got cute and took a "shortcut" that was really just a big hole. Other than that, routine maintenance only. No recalls.
5) '05 G35 6MT sedan: Just a babe. Nothing has blown up yet. No rattles or squeaks yet, the first car since the '98 Altima that is tight right off the truck.

It doesn't take a lot of smarts to see my experiences with Nissan/Infiniti have been overwhelmingly positive. I've had excellent luck with their products. Take it for what it's worth. I've listed my experiences anecdotally so you can see that at least one living person out there (actually two counting my wife) has gotten what he's paid for and then some. I know that's tough to give a damn about after you've nearly had your heart and wallet ripped from you bodily.

Whether you slide over to Toyota/Lexus or Honda/Acura, good luck to you. But my guess is that lightning has struck for you on the Infiniti side of things, and if you made the gamble on another G35, you'd get a good car.

If you do chance it and your second X bursts into flames driving home from the dealer, remember this: You do not know me and there's no reason to come after me or my family. I'm just a guy on the Internet.

 

Me too. I agree with JKWright with my previous good experiences with Nissan first (remember the Stanza?) and then Infiniti.

But who could blame you if you bolt.

 

Well, I guess I'm not down on the specific cars of Infiniti/Nissan so much as the corporation itself. I feel like I don't want to give that company any more of my money.

I'm sure I drew the short straw on this one. It happens. I've read the reviews of the car, and they are overwhelmingly positive. And I did love the car, just not the vibration problem. And I drove others on their lot in the diagnosis/battle part of this whole experience, and they were fine.

Had the dealer been willing to work with me, and not attempt to further rape me, by getting me into a new G35X no questions asked (or more money out of pocket) I'd have one in the garage right now- no doubt.

My real bone to pick with anyone in all this, is Holman Infiniti, not the specific model or make. Having had 2 BMW's and 2 Acuras and having those dealerships just bend over backwards to make it a positive experience for me, I guess I got spoiled on good service.

I truly do not have anything against Infiniti/Nissan, as a make, or against any specific model- just my dealer experience. And in today's car market, with so many other options out there, 1 bad dealer has likely turned off 1 family to the make for a while.

More than anything, it has also to do with the fact that the next nearest Infiniti dealer is about a 1 hour's drive for us, as well. It's not like Ford ( quite literally 4 within 10 miles of us) or even Acura (2 within 8 miles) or BMW (2 within 8 miles)... that makes it even harder to motivate to reconsider another Infiniti any time soon.

Anyhow, you guys have been great, very helpful, very insightful, and I really appreciate it. Never let it be said that this online community isn't anything but a great bunch of folks.

I appreciate all your help and comments during this ordeal. I will continue to check back time from time, and see how everyone is doing.

Thanks again, folks!

 

But a Lexus or Toyota if you are ready to give up some sport form more luxury and reliability. I to am soured on Infiniti. My G35 happens to be ok but my experience with my 2003 I35 was terible. I felt like consumer services did not care about me as a customewr. They basically told me they can't satisfy everyone and expect to lose business. That is some business model they have. For a very small courtesy disbursement, or maybe helping my with sat radio installation, I would have been satisfied even thpough I lost considerably more than that would have cost them. They just plain suck.

 

G35sedanman,

Sad to say, I suspect all manufacturers are pretty much with that state of indifference. My other car is a MB, based on my personal dealing with MB Customer Service and others on a MB forum - - it is the same old crap! My $0.02.