I'd probably end up trading it in if I have to pay $8200 or sell it for parts and buy another used vehicle. You're paying more than half of your vehicle's value at that price.

 

Completely agree. There is no way I'm paying $8200. First things first, try to get Infiniti to cover repair. If that fails, bitch at the dealer, make them come down in price, see what they would give me on trade in etc. etc. weigh my options.

Backup plan, I got a guy who will not upcharge me on the engine. So I can get the job done for $4k it appears. Of course I'm in a small amount to the dealer already and I will probably have to tow the car to the other place.

But yes, not paying $8200!

 

Trade in? It's not going to be worth squat with a broken motor

 

I wish you luck with convincing Infiniti to pick up the bill. This is dangerously close to warranty expiration.
If I was in your shoes, I'd exhaust all my options trying to have infiniti pay for it before involving personal finance.
This is absolutely unacceptable. There is no way they can justify this as a normal wear and tear, this is a critical failure and manufacture should be responsible.

 

Are you at Luther Infiniti or Lupient Infiniti?

 

That depends on the dealer. Sometimes they will let you trade it in as good condition if you buy another vehicle from them. Infiniti Corporate might be able to help.

My friend had a totaled BMW (he was at fault) and he was able to trade it in at the dealer as good condition for a new BMW. His insurance lapsed so they didn't pay for anything.

 

Thanks Joker!

Yep, I'll keep the pressure on them as long as I can. I was joking that they should just pull a few marketing dollars to cover this as the story of catastrophic engine failure at 85k miles isn't a good one and only needs to scare off a few buyers (let alone losing a loyal Nissan/Infiniti customer) to add up quickly. Where as the story of this being rare/freak occurrence and standing behind your product goes a long way in the other direction.

Wannabe, I got the G over at Luther in Bloomington (where I purchased it). I know too many people personally that have had nothing but trouble with Lupient so they have yet to earn any of my business.

 

Luds: Talk to Rudy at Luther. Just mention to him that you know Janik Mahlen (thats me) he will probably laugh hahaha. And if anything, make your case a little more visible within the dealer. I know that dealer all too well including all the managers haha. My name even gets brought up in the weekly meetings.. for better or for worse who knows hahahaha. I bring them lots of customers though and usually stop in when Im home to chat or drive cars on the lot haha.

 

Good call. I ended dropping an email to Rudy just asking for his help to see what he could do. One of those, com'on, we both know this is complete bull and should not have happened. He called me and we spoke briefly, and he's going to reach out to infiniti and see what they are thinking. I don't know if there is much he can do... but he was at least sympathetic and agreed this didn't add up. He said he had never seen anything like this happening before.

Fingers crossed...

 

I am tempted to call Rudy and tell him to work some magic for ya haha

 

Well, just heard back from Infiniti Consumer Affairs and they said they will do nothing for me. Not a good day.

 

If the cam broke, you wouldn't be able to drive the car. I bet it's more like a broken valve spring, bent valve or something (previously mentioned). In that case a broken spring wouldn't require a new engine

 

I had the same thing happen to my 2007 G35S 6MT w/ 77k miles. Same experience in every way...suddenly started to run rough and when I checked the engine code, was told that I had a bad cam position sensor. Drove the car home, then to the dealer (albeit, at no more than 55 mph), where I was told that I had a broken intake cam on the driver's side. At that point, I was quoted $13,500 for a new long block and install or they could get me a used engine w/ 65k installed for $5400. The service manager told me that they couldn't open a case with Infiniti, but that I could myself. Infiniti was not willing to have any kind of dialog on the subject and stated that it was out of warranty and they wouldn't be able to help me at this time.

I purchased the car last Dec. and understand that I'm not the original owner, but it was only 3 months and 7200 miles outside of the powertrain warranty when the damage occurred. I did my research on both 2nd gen G35's and this particular car and made my purchase based on my findings. My experience is that they will not stand behind their product...even when the service history shows that the car was well maintained at the dealer.

At this point, I've purchased a used engine w/ 42k miles and have an install scheduled for next week...I'll have roughly $4000 in the repair IF all goes well.

I have a hard time believing we are the only 2 guys to have this problem, considering that the course of events is SO similar...

 

trs,

I'm sorry to hear you are in the same boat. Sounds like exactly what happened to my car. The dealer didn't say what cam, but I'm sure it was an intake cam as I would have had backfiring and all sorts of other issues if it was an exhaust cam.

When did you order your engine? LOL, I think you just snagged the same engine I was looking at!

Yeah, like I said earlier, I found a guy who will do this for about $4k as well. But between what I owe the dealer, towing, etc. I think this will be more along $5k when I'm done. I'm with you that this must not be isolated incidents. I'm very disappointed that they will not stand behind their engine. I'm done with Nissan after this.

 

I actually bought the engine on eBay from a place in FL about a week ago. I was able to work a deal on the labor rate with my local dealer, so I'm just having them handle the install. Its more money than I'd like to spend, but I think they'll stand behind their work better than Nissan is standing behind its product.

Its truly frustrating that corporate has no interest in why the camshaft in one of their engines would suddenly snap at such a low mileage. I have the camshaft out of my car and it has little to no wear...other than the fact that the end is sheared off.

One of my oldest friends is the GM for the 3rd largest Nissan dealer in the country. I called him for some advice in handling my negotiations with Nissan Customer Care and he offered to talk to his rep to see if he could help. The rep spoke to his connections at Infiniti and was told that I was out of luck, because I wasn't the original owner...apparently that doesn't matter, since you're not receiving any good will, either.

My previous car was an Acura CL Type-S that I drove for 8 years. The original transmission was replaced under warranty at 26k, then had to be replaced again at 110k. Acura acknowledged that there was a problem with their transmissions and took care of me. I paid $500 out of pocket and drove away with a 3 year warranty.

End of the day, I love everything about my G35, but I will never buy another Nissan product, because of their customer service. Its nearly time to replace my wife's Accord and the plan was to lease a new Maxima, but I think I see a new Accord or TL in our future.

Hopefully, some other poor souls will come out of the woodwork that have had the same issue and maybe something can come of this. Keep your receipts...just in case.