Hi,

Due to our car being flooded during the hurricane Sandy, we are purchasing my inlaws 2008 G35 and driving it about 800 miles home. They are elderly and use the car very little, and we arent very confident in their maintenance practices. They have had it 3 yrs and put about 4k on it, but that is mostly from myself and other relatives driving it while in town for holidays. Car has 23K on it. Figured Id have it serviced before I left. No Infiniti dealer near them, so I called a Nissan dealer. $700 for a 30K service, which basically sounded like flushing all fluids and changing the battery. Preposterous. Any ideas on what I can look for or do besides changing the oil and flushing fluids, which Ill probably due at Midas for a fraction of $700. I enjoy driving the car, but that's about the extent of my knowledge of it! I suppose there is a possibility of the car still being on warranty, albeit slim. Thanks

Ed

 

I wouldn't let Midas touch the tranny. SCRATCH THAT, DON'T LET THEM TOUCH IT. PERIOD.

To be honest if it has 23k and its the "drive to church on Sundays" car u might as well inspect the tranny, coolant fluid before considering a flush.... prolly still good.

Engine oil, is a given. Brake fluid is prolly still good too. Power steering u can do on ur own for 15 bucks, and at a later mileage. 23k is way too early.

To be honest doesn't sound like the car needs any work, unless ur in laws drove it like those valets did on Ferris bueller's day off.

Oh... definitely change out the engine air filters. It comes in 2. 15-18 bucks a pop Nissan OEM, or 7 bucks each for Wix at rockauto.com

Inspect the brake pads visually, but to be honest 23k should be fine... unless it was all city driving. I got 35k+ on my pads and its all highway.. not even 50% worn out.

 

the car will prolly love a good long drive where it and driver can "stretch its legs alitte" I would check the potentcy of the antifreeze, and make sure its good to at least -20*F other than routine fluids, you should be gtg!! and maybe the cabin air filter also....

 

I agree with the other replies but if Nissan was going to actually perform a complete transmission flush, coolant flush, oil change, transfer case,front and rear differential drain and refills and a new battery for $700 I would say that's far from unreasonable.

And if it was brake fluid and power steering fluid too it's a steal. But it is too soon unless you want to be sure at 4-years.

 

Its not unreasonable at all... but still think he doesn't need it cause the car should be ok with 23k miles

 

Well, to be honest, I doubt you'd HAVE to do a thing to the car for it to be able to complete a little 800 mile jaunt; heck, it will love it. If you are asking about resuming a maintenance schedule for yourself now that you're taking ownership of the car, then yes, certainly you should go through the particular maintenance items, but I don't see why that all has to be done just to make a little drive home. Once you're all warmed up and rolling on the highway, you're actually putting the easiest miles on the car. Stop and go in the city if far worse than a nice long drive. Maybe your available servicing options are more favorable where you live as opposed to where you're picking up the car from. GO ahead and give it a quick oil change and get it home. Then, I would start by reviewing any available receipts for maintenance that may have been done outside of a dealership. Then try contacting the service department at any Infiniti dealership and ask for all recorded maintenance history for the car in their system. Based on that, you can re-establish a maintenance routine in a more thoughtful a well considered manner than just a knee-jerk reaction. I would agree with others that you should be careful with tranny servicing choices, but I disagree about potentially skipping a brake fluid flush; after 4 years it's due by time alone, mileage has nothing to do with it.
.02

 

Thanks All. Im picking up the car in rural TN and bringing it up to CT. The Infiniti dealers grow on trees up here. Thanks again for the input

 

Yea the car will be fine to drive home. I would definitely NOT worry.

And +1 on not letting anyone but Nissan or Infiniti/a certified indie shop touch your transmission. It is a delicate piece of equipment and a bit temperamental.