Hello All, I wanted to take an opportunity to introduce myself. I hope to provide some meaningful insight to the forum. Like most new members I’m sure I’ll be full of more questions than answers at first, but assuming I end up with a G35/37 I’ll plan on sticking around and try to be useful.

I’m here because:
18 months ago, based on my wife’s “inputs”, I sold my motorcycle when we started our family. My caveat to the edict was that I was getting a convertible to replace it. So, I sold my WRX and bought a VW Eos. I’m probably the only guy in America that sold his station wagon and bought a 2-dr convertible at the same time he started his family.

Long story short:
- Getting my 18 mo. daughter in and out of the 2-dr is killing me
- The Eos is slow
- Fwd and open diffs suck
- The VW is my first auto trans and I’m bored out of my gourd driving it
- No matter how bad I want it to be, a convertible is not a viable replacement for a bike

So, I want a RWD/AWD sports sedan that’s available with a manual and costs less than 40K. That only leaves about 5 options. The G is more refined than an Evo or STi, and has a decided performance adv. over the Legacy Spec-B or BMW 328i.

****SORRY THE INTRO RAMBLED HERE’S THE REAL THREAD TOPIC****

Like many, I’m in the 08 vs. 09 debate. I see little advantage to the changes being made. Adding 14-24hp and ~2lb-ft balanced by some extra weight and a higher price don’t strike me as anything to get excited about. That may be different if I were considering a 5/7AT but I know I want a 6MT. Despite this, I think I will wait for the 09; possibly for different reasons than most.

I believe there’s a financial trade-off to the good deals on model year-end cars. If you’re buying (don’t think this applies to leasers), then consider the following: If you buy an 08 for $4000 off MSRP you’ll be driving last year’s model in 1 month. To clarify the point, in 13 months you’ll have a “2-year old” car. Blue Book and wholesalers don’t care if your 08 was purchased in 7/08 or 9/07. It’s still a 2-yr old car and (barring mileage differences) will be worth the same. This means you eat the same depreciation in 1 month as the guy who bought the same model 11 months earlier at a price near MSRP. Unless my logic is faulty, I’d be willing to bet you just lost most, if not all, of your $4000 discount. I guess the message is, beware the hidden costs.

Nobody told me about this stuff; it just came to me as a realization recently. That means I could very well be full of crap , so I thought I’d see what the community thought.

 

I think you are reading too much into it.

I would get an 08 G and be done with it. But I think your family would be much better off with an FX35.

 

So:

• A G is also not a bike, it's a fairly fast sedan. If you want the bike feel, you need something like an M3
• You're absolutely right on the one-year depreciation, and most people don't think about that. Make sure your discount is beyond the depreciation (you can check '07s)
• I personally don't care about the change to G37 - I like the car as-is, so...? If you're buying soon, you'll likely pay full price for the 37 (although look around, some dealers will deal a bit. I bought my '07 a week after they arrived, for about $1,100 off sticker)

Good luck!

 

That's a valid point for most drivers. High mileage drivers are a little different. I drive 25k a year. For high mileage drivers, I think going with the older model at the end of the model year makes more sense.

I just bought an 08. If I drive for four years, in June 2012, it will have about 100k or 25k a year. If I waited until Sept. and bought an 09, and drove it to June 2012, it would have about 94,000 on it(25k a year=2083 a month times 45 months). That works out to over 31,000 a year by your logic. I would argue that being over 30k a year sounds much worse than 25k a year. Plus add in the deep 08 discount vs. close to MSRP for an 09, and I think for high mileage drivers, it makes sense to get an 08. If you can live without the extras the 09 has.


Just my 2 cents.

 

Thanks for the replies y'all. I appreciate the inputs.

Andrie, while you make a good point in terms of utility, I know I want a car and a MT so I'm not even considering the SUV route. My wife's Pilot gets us by when we need that much room.

G35Now, I think what I meant to imply with the bike discussion was that I realize now that no car will ever serve as a bike replacement so I might as well have something more utilitarian than the convertible. I must, for the time being, just accept my bikeless fate My expectations of the G are performance and fun akin to my not-entirely-stock WRX but with considerably more creature comforts and a quieter ride.

winste, I see your point about high mileage drivers. Fortunately, I only put about 9K mi/yr on my car so I think the depreciation consideration remains valid in this case. I also have reason to believe that I'll be able to get a good deal on an 09 when they come out, but I think the details of that are grounds for a different thread.

 

Agreed. I think the 09 G37 performance diff will be negligible. The next G to get me really excited would need either the VK50 from the new FX or a slightly toned down version of the GT-R's twin turbo.

You're definitely right on that. My dealer has a leftover 07 Serengeti Sand (very unpopular color) G35S with nav, prem and tech packages. Sticker is 39,890. It seemed tempting, then I realized KBB, NADA will consider this a 2 year old car in a few months. Unless the dealer would sell it to me for about 25-27k it ain't worth it.

I disagree. My friend Steve is in the exact same position as you, except he's a hardcore Jeep guy. Gave it up and got a Tahoe which I know he's not happy with. My point is I don't think a G35/7, as much as I like them, will fill in for the raw performance of a bike. Buy a new bike then sit down with the wife and have a talk.