I've had my 07 G35S 6MT since June and am a little overdue for my review. It's a slow day at work and I just read another initial review. I hesitated to do my review within the first weeks of ownership because let's face it, those reviews are too affected by the honeymoon period of car ownership.

Anyways, here are the facts:

I bought my 04 G35 6MT Sedan with Premium, Sport, and Aero in January of 2004. At the time, it was the nicest car I had ever bought, and my first new car. Throughout its ownership I had regretted not getting the Coupe. I felt the sedan at the time looked boring and no where near as attractive as the Coupe. I thought the interior was average and it was moderately quick but still lacked something in the performance department. I don't know what it lacked, but it lacked something. It felt a tad slow and the engine was almost lifeless (albeit moderately quick, it appeared to blow its proverbial load by 4k RPM). The interior was tolerable but developed rattles quickly.

Anyways, on to the 2007. I was most excited about the new interior and gadgets. I had told myself I'd wait for the G37 coupe to come out before I decided if I wanted the sedan, however, I saw pictures in some of the magazines of the Coupe and knew immediately I wanted the sedan. I purchased this one with Premium and Nav, and got the exact color/option combo I wanted. I had a bad experience with my dealer (Austin Infiniti), actually they weren't too bad in the beginning, but they didn't own up to some of their post purchase guarantees. Regardless, I bought my first G35 there and swore I wouldn't buy from them again, and now I am confident I won't buy from them again.

The 07 G35 just shines compared to the 04. There isn't one thing about it that is worse. I didn't expect much difference from the VQ35HR, especially since I also owned a 2004 Nissan 350Z with the 287HP engine. However, I was wrong. Despite the engine still being rough and raspy, it really moves. It no longer tops out at 4k RPM, it just keeps galloping to redline; reminds me of an Audi S4 in how it develops power (just not as smooth). Handling is improved without sacrificing ride quality, VDC works a lot better, and the driving position/seats are much better.

The interior, nav, radio, bluetooth, etc. are all superb. The nav is unbelievable and is absolutely worth it, especially at $2,000 and you get the music box. The Bose stereo is FAR improved and is actually pretty good for a premium sound system. Still not perfect, but pretty darn good.

The exterior is a million times better. The sport package with the 18s and the "better" front-end make a huge difference. The car looks classy yet sporty, and in my opinion looks better than the G37 and better than all the cars in its class.

In all categories it's better, my only complaints are the rough around the edges engine (at high-revs), a few areas of the interior that are still "cheap", and a far from good clutch.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend the car, and I still enjoy driving it.

The car sounds great too. The FX/Z/G Coupe exhaust is so annoying now, the 03-04 G35 sound was almost non-existent, and the 05-06 sedan was too boomy. The 07 Sedan just sounds great (except past 5k RPM where the engine starts going nuts), but under that it sounds great.

 

I agree, I'm at 8000 miles and you hit the nail on the head.

Car still gets tons of looks, especially at stoplights, people seem to really like the 18" wheels and the wrap around headlamps.

 

I know I've only had mine a little over a month now, but having also owned an '04, I thought the '04 was a great car right out the door, but the '07 makes that car look cheap, the '05 was better, but not this much better! I'll be comparing it more as the time goes by. This is the first car I've had in a while that had no issues right from the beginning!

 

My car hasn't been to the dealer yet, although it needs a few things, none of them are critical enough for me to be bothered with the hassle.

1) Window seals
2) Bluetooth phone resets voice tags every once in a while
3) Keyfob swap

 

My car hasn't been to the dealer yet, although it needs a few things, none of them are critical enough for me to be bothered with the hassle.

1) Window seals
2) Bluetooth phone resets voice tags every once in a while
3) Keyfob swap

 

you can't really complain how the interior looks a little cheap or anything else that might look cheap.. but in my opinion i think its great and compared to the price were paying for a mid size luxury/sports sedan, the g35 gets the best out of it.

 

I could not agree more, looks lots better than 05 but some interiors do look cheap for me too.

 

What looks cheap?

 

The plastics on the bottom of the door (around the speakers) are hard. But thats it really.

 

Yeah the plastic on the bottom half of the doors is ridiculous. I'd consider it poor quality on a Nissan Versa let alone a G35. Fortunately the top half of the door is pretty nice.

The interior LOOKS a lot higher quality than it actually is. That's why most reviews don't catch it, but I recall one of the first big magazine reviews said, "There are still a few cheap feeling areas around the interior, but it is an improvement" or something along those gists.

At the time, I thought they were out of their minds (only having test driven the car), but a little time in the car and you can tell there are a few areas that standout, but more or less it's a GREAT and SOLID interior, it's just not an Audi.

The problem areas in ALL details are:

1. Lower part of doors is absolutely horrendous
2. Glovebox belongs in a car costing no more than $13,000
3. Trimmed areas flex if you press down with your finder (you can hear it flexing).
4. Some trim pieces don't line up exactly; only perfectionists are bothered by this, and well most cars have this sort of problem.
5. The sunroof's black accordian looking piece doesn't stay on (common problem fixed by dealer with glue); still a bad design though
6. The exterior trim around the windows has problems (not really an interior problem, but you can HEAR it from the inside)

That's really it. Also, that's a REALLY nit-picking list. I'm sure I could find problems in ANY car's interior, but it is CHEAPER in areas then the A4, 3 series, Benz C class, and Lexus IS.

What's weird are some of the materials are REALLY high-end. The trim pieces themselves are great, they're just not assembled on the center stack real well. The rubbery dash material is great, the buttons on the dash are AWESOME, the leather around the steering wheel is great, the leather inserts on the doors are great.

Overall the interior is VERY GOOD, but I'm still perplexed how those bottom half doors got through the approval process.

 

Also, it's not only that they're hard, it's that they're thin as paper and have this really cheap bumpy finish on them.

 

Brian,
I bought the exact same car at about the exact same time - January 2004. And from the same Austin Infiniti dealer. I know it is off the subject, but what problems did you have with them? I am looking at buying a 2008 6MT sedan and maybe from the same dealer. Thanks.
P.S. I am trying to decide whether to buy it this month or wait for other models next year.

 

My problems with Austin Infiniti have been the following:

1) I bought my car in January 2004 (actually leased it) and made a deal on a Saturday evening for a car getting in on the no tax on lease special from Infiniti. They located a car that met my specs and they ordered a transfer. The car was going to be in on Thursday and ready for pickup. We agreed on a price and a trade-in price. Everything was set. On Thursday I go in (this was like the 29th or 30th of the month now) and I go into finance and the price has changed by about $1,100. The finance guy says that it's because I'm getting the no tax special that the price changed. I said BS, we had a deal on $750 over invoice plus the special. He then proceeds to talk to me like I'm retarded about how the dealer has to pay the tax. I said, "No that's a spiff from Infiniti USA and doesn't affect your bottom line on the sales price". He told me I don't know anything about the car business and proceeded to tell me that's the best deal they had. I took a 30 minute timeout and realized that if I waited another day or two and lost the tax deal it'd be more expensive, so I bought it anyways (plus they over-appraised my trade). I felt really screwed.

2) On my second car (2007 G35S), I was forced to buy from them because they had the ONLY 6MT with the options I wanted anywhere in the country. I looked to buy in Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas with no help. I even looked in Southern California and no success. I made a good deal for the car given its rarity at the time. I think I managed $2,200 off sticker which I was happy with. However, the car had damage to the rear bumper which they promised to "fix as new." I also documented a few other blemishes and they agreed to fix them. I had the bumper fix in writing but not the other blemishes. I took the car in and they did the WORST job in the world of fixing the bumper. I complained and they stopped returning my calls. I'm too busy to go down there to argue, but it's still on my list of things to do. The paint doesn't match, it came back with scratches in different areas. Other things that were annoying about that experience was that twice during the loaner car duration, they called me and sold the loaner car I was driving and I had to return it and get a new loaner car. One time they came and swapped cars out at my office but it was still a hassle for me.

3) Also, when I finally got my car back, it came back extremely dirty. It had been parked under a tree and had bird crap all over it. How would you return a car to a customer in that condition? In addition, the bumper looked like crap. Also, the sunroof black accordian thing was broken, and they didn't fix it or even mention it. Also they made no attempt to fix ANY of the blemishes I documented.

4) Finally, despite my hate for Austin Infiniti, I referred two friends there (who ended up buying G35s from other dealers within a week of me sending them there), and both times I got reports of horrible experiences. My neighbors waited there for 90 minutes and were promised a great deal. The deal they got on a regular run of the mill G35 was $500 off sticker, and this "killer deal" was only because they were trying to clear inventory before their big move to a new facility. They quoted my g/f's brother sticker price on a car they had on the lot. Anyways, I don't recommend anyone buy from them.

Another thing, when I was talking to dealers in Dallas and San Antonio, both of the dealers told me the guy who runs Austin Infiniti is basically a crook and a shady business man. They have heard tons of complaints about Austin Infiniti.

Anyways, the only reason they got my second sale were they were the only dealer with the car I wanted/needed. I don't even want to go in there for service because I despise the place so much.

Good luck!