I would rather wait another year and buy a used '03 for $17995.

 

There's a lot of negative and positives about Salvage cars you can argue...

But I heard that a salvage car will never, ever run the same as a car that was clean.
As far as smoothness, handling, or whatever.
I've never compared 2 cars, one salvabe, one not..vs eachother

Any have feedback on this? Just as far the way the car would "feel"?

 

I do understand this sentiment, but the 03's had more problems statistically, less power, etc than the 05's, and if I am going to modify it some anyway, why buy it in perfect shape since you never get full price again after you modify it? It is a risk, but what can I do to minimize the risk as much as possible, and what things can I not fix..can you ever change the title back from salvage? these types of questions.

 

I've also heard that insurance rates on Salvage cars can be higher.

 

You will definetly have a hard time getting a bank to finance it also.

to answer Nirvana's comments. The only real problem with the '03's are the brakes. if your going to modify it to go fast then you should be thinking about a bigger front brake kit anyway. As for horsepower, it has been proven quite a few times with dyno charts that the differences in horsepower was marketing rather than anything substantial. While the 05 6mt has 298, it does it at the expense of torque.

Really you have to ask yourself, why would you want to take a 4 door family car with a V6 that is already at it's limit, drop all kinds of money into to make it fast when you could take a faster car and do the same and in the end have a faster car than a G35?

 

I for one am curious to see how this pans out. Keep in mind many of us bought this car over its german competition because of it's value statement and it's rock-solid dependability - so getting into the fixer-upper business is not what any of us wanted.

Good advice to maybe just buy used, the power output is the same regardless of what Infiniti says.

 

while that may be true as far as hp, it now comes with a nicer instrument/console area, awd is only 2k4 or 2k5, brakes are better as you mentioned, I will get automatic anyway, no need to finance at that price, have a credit card with a high enough limit and 2.9% until I pay it off. I mostly like the interior upgrades in the new model...oh and yeah I like the keyless and upgraded handling of the new sports package. I do thank you for the insurance heads up, definitely had not thought of that!

 

I have a body shop and also rebuild cars and sell them. I've been doing this almost ten years. My point is you can be driving a badly wrecked G35 or any car for that matter CLEAN TITLE even and not even know it! I have fixed cars for insurance companys and other people that I would not touch if buying for myself. The difference is clean to salvage goes like this (simplified version of course) 2005 G35 $10,000 damage = repaired= clean title. 2005 $15,000 damage=salvage.

 

Yeah, I checked the florida site for titles, and if it is wrecked and insurance or a company buys it before it is fixed, it gets a salvage title if it is worth over 1500, if it is fixed by the owner/while in owner posession I could not follow exactly all the diferent things that happened. But that is interesting.

 

I know that opinions are like...well, you know...everybody has one. But, from my experience in the car business, you will not save money in the long run buying a salvage-title car. First, at the very least it can be a bottomless money pit. But the real problem is that if you buy one, plan on keeping it forever because no reputable dealer will ever take it in on trade for another vehicle, and if they do they won't give you a third of what the car is worth. Most dealers won't trade for them, because nobody wants to buy a salvage car...or most don't anyway. If you plan on keeping the car until it turns to a pile of rust and rubber in your driveway, fine. If you ever plan on trading or selling it, you are wasting time and money.

I wish you luck if you still intend to buy one, but there are many pitfalls.

 

If you have plenty of time and good reliable friends go for it. My previous car I still drive is a 1993 Volvo. I blew my timing belt and its an interference engine, so I had to replace the engine with a salvage. Well its been an experience, the engine was warrantied for a year, however all the electrical stuff was not. 1k in repairs over the past year to fix all kinds of electrical failures on the engine. It randomly stalls out on me, and has electrical demons (typical Volvo though). I would stay suck it up and wait, I did, when my car died before I replace the motor I weighed jumping in a G at the time and decided to just buy a salvage engine and essentially redo my car. 2 G's later it was running good enough to get me around, I saved my money. So I graduated college and got a G after I had gotten established at work and etc. Moral is be smart about it, just because something is a deal isn't necessarily the best. And as far as salvage title and stuff, dealers wouldn't give me anything for mine bc of the salvage engine doesn't match up with the VIN or something, just goin to drive it till it dies. And as I read before insurance could be more, so weigh in everything before you make your decision and make sure your gut feels right about it, because once you start your stuck with it, and salvages can be money pits. One other thing is on my G I got the sunroof, splashguards, and a mat. I skipped the other crap bc I didn't need it and it wasn't worth paying for it, so if you can save a few thou. by giving up a power tilt wheel that is always an option.

 

go for it salvage cars are a great investment...but just dont try to fix the un-fixable lol...good luck to you

 

^^^ Whatever he said.