In April I unloaded my leaky POS Passat wagon for a high milage 2003 G35 sedan. It has everything except for Aero and HIDs. One important thing for me was getting the dealer to do a 60k service for "free" and new tires. We were done for well under $20k before the trade. I should have gotten some touch-up paint for rock chips...

Everything feels tight and true except for an occational squeak. I'm not an audiophile so the stereo is fine by me. I'll be doing a brake job around mid-winter. Overall, I'd say that it is good bang for the buck and I trust the car to last for a while. This is the most fun I've had since my SHO.

 

You going auto or 6mt?

 

PS - Jeff, just wait until you get to deal with the typical g35driver forum member. You'll be in endless debates about grounding wires making 15WHP and whether the intake helps or hurts performance. Much like when DaveB joined, I'm actually excited to see how you deal with it.

 

Hi Brian. I'm going auto. I think the G using the Q's 5-sp auto is a big plus.

I'm staying well away from those debates. Not trying to educate from ground zero again. I'll leave it to Dave. hehe

 

Sometimes it's just too hard to resist.

I do wish this community would grow more; I guess most of the enthusiasts buy the 350Z or the Coupe so we're a limited crowd in here.

On the other hand, I do prefer that they've split up sedan and coupe forums here.

 

Well for tech stuff, it's easy to visit the Z forums or coupe sections. Those Z dudes are hardcore! I can't believe the stuff they do to basicly a new car.

But I do really like the seperate sedan forums. Especially for the wheel/tire information.

 

So is there any easy ways to examine if the engine is healthy? ie.. remove a plug? Check oil level is easy. etc......

 

Don't you have an OBDII scanner? If so, plug it in and give it a run. VQ's by nature have fairly loud injectors when you've got the hood up. Do the screw driver listen test on the injectors and heads. The VQ35 isn't as smooth as the VQ30, but it's still pretty dang smooth. It should idle steady. Honestly, these motors are pretty much bulletproof and extremely reliable.

When test driving, make sure to drive the car for at least 5 minutes to warm up the tranny fluid because if you go WOT with cold fluid, the power is slightly detuned and shifts aren't terribly smooth. You'll find that during part-throttle, the auto shifts the 1-2 very early on and when the car shifts into 3rd, you'll probably feel this odd turbo-like surge in power. I don't know why Infiniti tuned the fly-by-wire system like this. When manually shifting, make sure to firmly tap up/down. Just a light tap of the shifter may not fully engage the electrical contacts therefore the tranny may not do what you want it too.

I think you'll enjoy it. The only thing I really miss is that direct connection you can only get with a manual. When punching it from a 40mph roll in second, there's that very brief lag of the torque converter slipping before the power is unleashed. One thing I don't miss is that annoying driveline lash you get with FWD.

If you can, find a nice little winding road where you can leave the car in 2nd at around 30mph. Then punch it through the turns and take notice how the chassis squats down and really settles in. Steering tires that aren't being driven by the engine truely does feel different and more controlled.

 

I sold the Alex Pepper obdII version because I wanted the Auterra. Good idea though. I'll have to get the pc version off ebay. Thanks Dave

 

Not me. I can't hardly wait to be educated on the ins and outs as well as the precise details of the G35 Sedan. Do I need to review my old Maxima's service manual, the mods and performance results ahead of time?

Ops! I did have one question. Are you looking for a 03 AT Sedan with a Type 1 or Type 2 engine?

DaveO
03 Doggie Door AT Sedan w/mods

 

Haha.....Maxima lover. Don't let ChicagoX find out.

 

[QUOTE=DaveO]Not me. I can't hardly wait to be educated on the ins and outs as well as the precise details of the G35 Sedan. Do I need to review my old Maxima's service manual, the mods and performance results ahead of time?[quote]

If you wish. I didn't

tYpe Russ motor

 

As far as I remember, Jeff doesn't possess x-ray vision aso I doubt he could see the slightly different windage tray. I guess he can only go off of the build date.

 

I have a noob question, i'm also in the market for a g35 sedan auto. I've seen a couple of 03 sedans but there was a difference in the trunk, one sedan had the infiniti emblem and letterings in one small rectangle, while the other has the infiniti across almost the whole lower trunk lid? I guess my question is which one is the 03 and 03.5? thanks =)

 

That's an 03.