04 vs. 05 g35 sedan comparison!
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Joined: Dec 2004
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From: San Francisco
Good info. My wife has the 2004 G35x. I do like the G35's with the 18" & 19" wheels. Her's came with the crappy/narrow 17" wheels.
I'm hoping to sneek some mods on to her car...hehehe. Do you think she'd notice a set of 18" w/ 275/35/18" on the rear?
I'm hoping to sneek some mods on to her car...hehehe. Do you think she'd notice a set of 18" w/ 275/35/18" on the rear?
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 266
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From: DeSoto, TX
Cheap is cheap. The pre-'05 interiors were bashed repeatedly in the press and by prospective buyers like me for their sea-of-plastic design. The rest of the car was brilliant by and large, though, so for many performance purists it wasn't an issue.
For me it was. I came from an '02 Altima 3.5 SE, so I know all about cheap plasticky interiors. I bought the car anyway because I liked the performance and the price point just like many of you early G35 owners. Nothing to be ashamed about. I just decided to wait on buying my $30K-plus dolled-up Nissan sport sedan until they addressed the Altima-like interior. I was tired of the plastic, see.
Guys, don't be so defensive about your earlier Gs. Mpgxsvcd didn't mean any offense I don't think. Are you happy with your car? Do you love it to death? Then who gives a d@mn about what '05 owners like me say about your interior. Enjoy, men!
For me it was. I came from an '02 Altima 3.5 SE, so I know all about cheap plasticky interiors. I bought the car anyway because I liked the performance and the price point just like many of you early G35 owners. Nothing to be ashamed about. I just decided to wait on buying my $30K-plus dolled-up Nissan sport sedan until they addressed the Altima-like interior. I was tired of the plastic, see.
Guys, don't be so defensive about your earlier Gs. Mpgxsvcd didn't mean any offense I don't think. Are you happy with your car? Do you love it to death? Then who gives a d@mn about what '05 owners like me say about your interior. Enjoy, men!
"Now all of a sudden everybody thinks their interior is better than the 05'."
Where do you see that. After seeing a 90 sentence paragraph with the words cheap over and over, show me one post where someone is trying to convince anyone that the 05's were inferior to the pre 05? I see over and over again 03 and 04 owners saying that they think the 05 are better overall even if they have thier nits and picks with them...as anyone would with any car they are so intimate with. Then a bunch of 05ers come in here and say - YEAH I waited for the 05 because there was a sea of plastic but, again, why the defensiveness. Get real and stop playing stupid.
The 05's have some nice improvements and the original post was a transparent and purposeful slam with some snikkered apologies afterward. All you 05ers should be very happy you have what you paid for - as should the 40 thousand people who bought the 03 -04's who have plastic - that looks great in the premium package and thank god doesn't have ORANGE PEEL for a good 3 yards in the center console. Now don't get all defensive now.
Where do you see that. After seeing a 90 sentence paragraph with the words cheap over and over, show me one post where someone is trying to convince anyone that the 05's were inferior to the pre 05? I see over and over again 03 and 04 owners saying that they think the 05 are better overall even if they have thier nits and picks with them...as anyone would with any car they are so intimate with. Then a bunch of 05ers come in here and say - YEAH I waited for the 05 because there was a sea of plastic but, again, why the defensiveness. Get real and stop playing stupid.
The 05's have some nice improvements and the original post was a transparent and purposeful slam with some snikkered apologies afterward. All you 05ers should be very happy you have what you paid for - as should the 40 thousand people who bought the 03 -04's who have plastic - that looks great in the premium package and thank god doesn't have ORANGE PEEL for a good 3 yards in the center console. Now don't get all defensive now.
Originally Posted by JKWright
Cheap is cheap. The pre-'05 interiors were bashed repeatedly in the press and by prospective buyers like me for their sea-of-plastic design. The rest of the car was brilliant by and large, though, so for many performance purists it wasn't an issue.
For me it was. I came from an '02 Altima 3.5 SE, so I know all about cheap plasticky interiors. I bought the car anyway because I liked the performance and the price point just like many of you early G35 owners. Nothing to be ashamed about. I just decided to wait on buying my $30K-plus dolled-up Nissan sport sedan until they addressed the Altima-like interior. I was tired of the plastic, see.
Guys, don't be so defensive about your earlier Gs. Mpgxsvcd didn't mean any offense I don't think. Are you happy with your car? Do you love it to death? Then who gives a d@mn about what '05 owners like me say about your interior. Enjoy, men!
For me it was. I came from an '02 Altima 3.5 SE, so I know all about cheap plasticky interiors. I bought the car anyway because I liked the performance and the price point just like many of you early G35 owners. Nothing to be ashamed about. I just decided to wait on buying my $30K-plus dolled-up Nissan sport sedan until they addressed the Altima-like interior. I was tired of the plastic, see.
Guys, don't be so defensive about your earlier Gs. Mpgxsvcd didn't mean any offense I don't think. Are you happy with your car? Do you love it to death? Then who gives a d@mn about what '05 owners like me say about your interior. Enjoy, men!
No offence to anyone on this forum but the only thing i would love to have from 05s is the interior.
I personally think with the aero kit 03-04 look better than the 05s.
I personally think with the aero kit 03-04 look better than the 05s.
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 23
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Originally Posted by callawayc7
Wow, a lot of people getting a little defensive here. 
Like someone said, "if you like your car, that's all that matters." BTW, you're crazy if you think the interior of the 05 is not better. When I bought my car, I could have bought a 2004 model and save a lot of money but I passed because of the interior.
Seems like last year, everybody love everything about their cars EXCEPT for the interior. Now all of a sudden everybody thinks their interior is better than the 05'. Now tell me again who's trying to justify their purchase?
Like someone said, "if you like your car, that's all that matters." BTW, you're crazy if you think the interior of the 05 is not better. When I bought my car, I could have bought a 2004 model and save a lot of money but I passed because of the interior. Seems like last year, everybody love everything about their cars EXCEPT for the interior. Now all of a sudden everybody thinks their interior is better than the 05'.
Now tell me again who's trying to justify their purchase?Last edited by dfw1972; Sep 1, 2005 at 09:34 AM.
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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 900
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From: Vancouver
Gee guys, unless you had a design of this thing, please don't take his comments so personal. Most of these things are subjective and a matter of personal opinion or preference.
And it is natural that the early models had a leg up on the IS and the 330 since those 2 were a couple of years into the cycle. Now WE are a couple of years into the cycle and THEY are new. It's a leapfrog thing. That doesn't make any year THE CHAMP.
Cherish the love Baby.
And it is natural that the early models had a leg up on the IS and the 330 since those 2 were a couple of years into the cycle. Now WE are a couple of years into the cycle and THEY are new. It's a leapfrog thing. That doesn't make any year THE CHAMP.
Cherish the love Baby.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 266
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From: DeSoto, TX
Originally Posted by SixFive
... and thank god doesn't have ORANGE PEEL for a good 3 yards in the center console. Now don't get all defensive now.
Just curious. Lend me your thoughts such as they are.
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 9,054
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From: Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico
Originally Posted by JKWright
I don't think we will. At least I won't. But what the heck are you talking about? The term "orange peel" is a paint-quality term. There's no painted plastic on the center console. There's real-but-too-easy-to-dent brushed aluminum or real-but-kinda-plasticky-looking rosewood. There's rubberized, color-impregnated plastic underneath. There are various aluminum or plastic *****, buttons and switches. But I don't see any painted trim.
Just curious. Lend me your thoughts such as they are.
Just curious. Lend me your thoughts such as they are.
The paint quality term is being applied to the texture of the dash and console. But not about paint. It's the dimpled texture of, well, an orange. My dash has it, as I think they all do. But while I have the ever so smooth plastic console, the newer model has the brushed AL on the rubberized, color impregnated plastic console that looks like the texture of an orange. I thought there was too much before and while I like the real AL, there's not much covering the console revealing the texture I obvisously don't prefer.
Originally Posted by inTgr8r
hmmmmm
swap for an '05....
naaaahh
swap for an '05....
naaaahh
Originally Posted by mpgxsvcd
04 vs. 05 g35 sedan comparison
I took my 05 g35 sedan in for maintenance the other day. I purposely asked for an 04 sedan as a loaner so I could compare it to my car. They Gave me an 04 g35x Sedan. Now my car is a g35 with sport and premium packages which the 04 did not appear to have but both cars are automatics. The first thing you notice about the 04s is the dark underbody trim. When the G35 first came out I liked that but now that I have seen the 05s I really think the body colored underbody looks better. You also notice the difference in the taillights and the front air dam. The 04 front air dam just doesn’t look good with the horizontal slats. Personally I love the 05 front and rear end even though there are a few people who don’t like it. The new front end was enough to get me to buy the 05 by itself. However, once I got into the 04 I realized how extensive the interior changes were for 05 models. The first thing I noticed on the 04s interior was the cheap plastic interior. I understand why everyone thinks the interior of the G35s is so cheap. The problem is that the 05 models actually look quite decent. Now they are not up to the Acura TL or RL levels but they are simple and still stylish at the same time. I think the 05 G35 gets an unfair reputation for inferior interior quality because the older models were so bad. It is almost like the 05 model doesn’t get any credit for the extensive changes that Infiniti made. For example the 05 models have a nice aluminum trim on the center console. The 04s just have a huge mass of plastic. There are also a few subtle things that I noticed about the 04 G35 that I really didn’t like. For instance, the hands on the analog clock looked cheaper than the ones on my sons watch that he got out of a gumball machine. I thought that the analog clock was one of Infiniti’s signs of Luxury? Thankfully the 05 model has hands that at least appear to be high polished metal. The 04 also had very cheap and difficult to use radio buttons on the steering wheel. The 04 buttons were much shorter than the 05 buttons so it was actually quite difficult to operate them. I also hated the instrument cluster on the 04 model. It was very hard to read in direct sunlight and it just seemed like it was too small. Another thing that they changed was the automatic gear shifter. It looked very cheap and dare I say American in the 04 G35. Now it looks better but who was the idiot who decided to put a piece of metal on top of it? The gear shift in my car can get incredibly hot on these warm Carolina days. Enough about how the cars looked the real difference is in how they drove. Now the 04 loaner was a G35x without the sports package that my 05 has so it is not a fair or straight up comparison but I will let you know what I thought anyway. First off the 04 loaner had 17” very thin Bridgestone Turrenza tires. Are those things actually approved for use on a vehicle? They were Horrendous! Every time I would go around a corner even at safe normal speeds I would hear squealing from the tires. My 05 has 18” Goodyear NCT’s I think. Whatever they are they are quite good. I would prefer the Eagle GS D3s that I had on my 330i but these will do. As far as the engine goes. I noticed a HUGE difference! The 04 just did not pull like the 05 does. Now there are many factors that could have affected this so I am not sure if it is a fair comparison. For instance, the 04 was a loaner so it probably had 87 octane gas in it. It also was an awd model so it was heavier. It only had 9300 miles on it so it was still relatively new but past the so called break in period. In any event it was just plain slow compared to my 05. I also noticed that the seats were terribly uncomfortable in the 04. It was like I was back in 6th grade sitting on those hard plastic school chairs. There is no way I would have ever bought a car with those seats. I didn’t realize that they had changed the seats for 05? The suspension was also pretty bad in the 04 sedan. This is probably because I am used to the sport suspension in my car but it was just too floaty for my tastes. That was about it. I really think that the 04 cars were decent cars for their time which was only 1 year ago but the new 05 is so much better that you really can not compare the two cars. I really hope Infiniti continues to improve on their cars like they have done. With the new Lexus IS350 coming out the next generation G3?/G4? Series cars will have to be much better to keep pace. In the meantime I have my 05 back and I love every minute I drive it! Although they broke the face plate that they were trying to fix so back to the dealership I go. Maybe I will get the 04 G35 RWD drive this time. That should be a bit better comparison for performance than the 04 G35X was.
Here is an 04 interior picture for comparison.
https://g35driver.com/rides/spec/pix...1086986797.jpg
I took my 05 g35 sedan in for maintenance the other day. I purposely asked for an 04 sedan as a loaner so I could compare it to my car. They Gave me an 04 g35x Sedan. Now my car is a g35 with sport and premium packages which the 04 did not appear to have but both cars are automatics. The first thing you notice about the 04s is the dark underbody trim. When the G35 first came out I liked that but now that I have seen the 05s I really think the body colored underbody looks better. You also notice the difference in the taillights and the front air dam. The 04 front air dam just doesn’t look good with the horizontal slats. Personally I love the 05 front and rear end even though there are a few people who don’t like it. The new front end was enough to get me to buy the 05 by itself. However, once I got into the 04 I realized how extensive the interior changes were for 05 models. The first thing I noticed on the 04s interior was the cheap plastic interior. I understand why everyone thinks the interior of the G35s is so cheap. The problem is that the 05 models actually look quite decent. Now they are not up to the Acura TL or RL levels but they are simple and still stylish at the same time. I think the 05 G35 gets an unfair reputation for inferior interior quality because the older models were so bad. It is almost like the 05 model doesn’t get any credit for the extensive changes that Infiniti made. For example the 05 models have a nice aluminum trim on the center console. The 04s just have a huge mass of plastic. There are also a few subtle things that I noticed about the 04 G35 that I really didn’t like. For instance, the hands on the analog clock looked cheaper than the ones on my sons watch that he got out of a gumball machine. I thought that the analog clock was one of Infiniti’s signs of Luxury? Thankfully the 05 model has hands that at least appear to be high polished metal. The 04 also had very cheap and difficult to use radio buttons on the steering wheel. The 04 buttons were much shorter than the 05 buttons so it was actually quite difficult to operate them. I also hated the instrument cluster on the 04 model. It was very hard to read in direct sunlight and it just seemed like it was too small. Another thing that they changed was the automatic gear shifter. It looked very cheap and dare I say American in the 04 G35. Now it looks better but who was the idiot who decided to put a piece of metal on top of it? The gear shift in my car can get incredibly hot on these warm Carolina days. Enough about how the cars looked the real difference is in how they drove. Now the 04 loaner was a G35x without the sports package that my 05 has so it is not a fair or straight up comparison but I will let you know what I thought anyway. First off the 04 loaner had 17” very thin Bridgestone Turrenza tires. Are those things actually approved for use on a vehicle? They were Horrendous! Every time I would go around a corner even at safe normal speeds I would hear squealing from the tires. My 05 has 18” Goodyear NCT’s I think. Whatever they are they are quite good. I would prefer the Eagle GS D3s that I had on my 330i but these will do. As far as the engine goes. I noticed a HUGE difference! The 04 just did not pull like the 05 does. Now there are many factors that could have affected this so I am not sure if it is a fair comparison. For instance, the 04 was a loaner so it probably had 87 octane gas in it. It also was an awd model so it was heavier. It only had 9300 miles on it so it was still relatively new but past the so called break in period. In any event it was just plain slow compared to my 05. I also noticed that the seats were terribly uncomfortable in the 04. It was like I was back in 6th grade sitting on those hard plastic school chairs. There is no way I would have ever bought a car with those seats. I didn’t realize that they had changed the seats for 05? The suspension was also pretty bad in the 04 sedan. This is probably because I am used to the sport suspension in my car but it was just too floaty for my tastes. That was about it. I really think that the 04 cars were decent cars for their time which was only 1 year ago but the new 05 is so much better that you really can not compare the two cars. I really hope Infiniti continues to improve on their cars like they have done. With the new Lexus IS350 coming out the next generation G3?/G4? Series cars will have to be much better to keep pace. In the meantime I have my 05 back and I love every minute I drive it! Although they broke the face plate that they were trying to fix so back to the dealership I go. Maybe I will get the 04 G35 RWD drive this time. That should be a bit better comparison for performance than the 04 G35X was.
Here is an 04 interior picture for comparison.
https://g35driver.com/rides/spec/pix...1086986797.jpg
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 245
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From: Chicago, IL
Blah-blah-blah. OMG. What is it with the '05 owners? Talk about a superiority complex. Actually, I drove an '05 while my car was in for service. The difference was so minimal that the thought of actually posting a comparison never even crossed my mind at the time. The only difference I really noticed and cared about was a little lower, more pronounced exhaust note. That's it. The car felt no faster and didn't handle any better. It's basically the same friggin' car. Get over it.
'03 to '05 are all basically the same, save some subjective cosmetic differences - mainly the revised console and painted lowers. Sheesh, at this rate, I can't wait to see how sh*tty the '07 owners will be.
'03 to '05 are all basically the same, save some subjective cosmetic differences - mainly the revised console and painted lowers. Sheesh, at this rate, I can't wait to see how sh*tty the '07 owners will be.
Originally Posted by kysrsoze
'03 to '05 are all basically the same, save some subjective cosmetic differences - mainly the revised console and painted lowers.
1) A different center stack
2) Different door handles and fractionally different door panel design
3) Brushed aluminum accents on the doors/center console instead of painted titaninum plastic (which Acura uses on the new TL) or unpainted plastic.
4) A slightly front seat pattern
Overall, it's the same looking dashboard layout with the same grade plastics. It's the same headliner. Basically the same seats. The same steering wheel and center pod. Don't act like the 05 interior is like a Lexus because it's not. It's a step up, but overall it could be a lot better. However it's still not a bad place to be even though it's a bit too futuristic looking. Compared to other Nissan's, the G35 interior Lexus-like even the 03/04 interior.