Walked off the lot with a spankn' new Graphite G35x. This is my first foreign car... ever. After 5 american made cars and trucks I was tired of all the rattles and squeaks. I also decided to be a first time leasee. I think this car has great power, handling, ride comfort. My other choise would have been a TL but I have been reading those forums for about 2 years now and Acura can't get their build quality up to par. That is why I went with Infiniti.
So are there any do's and don'ts with this car that I should be aware of?

My main concern is octane? Yes I RTFM and I see that it says mimimum of 87 but recommends 91. Well, there is no such thing as 91 where I live. The dealer told me that it should run just fine on 89. Has anyone mixed 93 and 89 on a religious bases? I don't drive like a race car driver so I don't need "maximum" performance. I don't think 89 will ruin the engine, but hey, this is a lease anyway.
I didn't get the premium package, and the regular stereo is just fine for me. I really like that it plays mp3s too.

 

jackal2001 welcome to the site and congrats on the new ride. You are really in for a treat if you've never had Japanese before. I can't go back myself.
Best thing is to stay on the forums for a while and you'll quickly get filled in on dos and donts, mods etc. Ask questions as they arise and you'll get answers.
If you're in a snow belt that's when your car will really shine with a good set of winters. Some othere posters have said it is awesome. If not just enjoy the extra security of the x.
you should be fine with the 89 but mixing 93 and 89 will work to average out the 91 if that's what you're looking for.

 

Thanks for the info. I won't be doing any mods since this is a lease and would be a waste of money. I just hope this car proves to be "better than the rest".

 

Copngrats on the new 'X' bro and welcome to 'Driver.
89 should work, but if it were me, I'd mix 89 and 93.
C.

 

Welcome jackal and congrats on the new G. The earlier model G's had issues with creaks and rattles, hopefully they remedied that in '05.

 

You can say that again...oh, were you talking about cars???

 

Hah, center console, both rear windows now, passenger b pillar and the passenger front door....they rattle and creak like a mother

 

Hey is your name skeleton crude or were you just talking about food ??

 

Ummmm, food...yeah, that's it...food.

 

Ahh, man don't tell me all that. I don't want to hear about all those rattles. I thought the G was better than the TL in the rattle dept.
The only thing that "knocks" is my key fob on the dash.
Also I noticed they have the tow hook just laying in a bag where the spare tire sits. I think I heard that thing slide around with a thump when I hit the gas. I will velcro that thing down somewhere.
About the only thing I had time to do is make a couple MP3 CDs. I am on vacation next week so I will have time to read the manual and play around with the car.

One thing that the dealer told me is the car will lock the doors automatically after a certain amount of time. This has never happened since I leave my car unlocked in the garage. I don't have any premium package either. I think he locked the doors at the dealer and forgot about it, then we came back and he said, Oh it locks the doors automatically. If the price of gas was under $2, I would be out driving around.

 

Jackal,

Congrats oin the new ride. I PM'ed you on the TL site yesterday. I drove the TL and G35X today. While I still like the styling of the TL a bit better, the paint and engine on the G is superior. I also didn't like the torque steer on the TL.

Where'd you lease from? I went to Field's in Glenview and they were very nice.

I also liked your color the best. What interior did you go with? I'm leaning toward the wheat (light grey).

 

Same here. Bring it to the dealer and they'll fix it for you, or they'll try. It looks like they have a TSB for it. The front passenger side stopped but the driver side, I started to hear it again right when I got on the freeway . I'll have them take a look at it again when I have the time.

 

Sorry,
I am off all this week and don't usually check the forums at home.
Anyway I got the graphite/graphite , sunroof, splash guards, trunk mat. That is it. Sticker $34,440. I paid somewhere in the $32,600 or somewhere around there. I hate dealers and they rape you no matter what. I am one of those people that just doesn't give a rats *** about a couple dollers. Just give me the car. I am in Bethlehem PA and there is only one local dealer. The next one would be about an hour away in NJ. If there were dealers every 10 miles I would have haggled about price. So far, no problems with the car. A O K
Oh I forgot to mention that one thing I didn't like about the tl with the torque steer is when you are going around bumpy corners and hitting the gas, the car tends to hop. It felt real jumpy almost like the car didn't want to stick to the road. Well that is what you get with FWD.

 

Jackal2001, you mind telling how much is your down and how much you pay monthly on your lease? lease terms etc?

As for the earlier question you have. It locks from the outside ONLY if you pressed the UNLOCK button on the alarm by accident instead of pressing LOCk when you walk away.

 

In my case, this is my first completely foreign car. Drove a 67 Impala in high school, 75 Nova through college, then a 88 Nova (aka joint project between Chevy and Toyota), then 95 Tauras (which, except for having to replace an engine under warranty, was a nice size for me), and not I have both a F150 and the G35.

My hope is that, by the time I need to replace the G35, that Infiniti will make them here in the states, since Nissan makes many of their cars here. Designing for reliability is a general advantage of the Japanese car companies.