Hey guys-

So I drive an 08 G35x with 118k miles.....with that being said, I've recently taken my car to the Infiniti dealership in Louisville, KY and asked them to tell me what all I need to get done to my car to get it running the best it can.

Here are some notes:
- On rare occasions, sometimes my car doesn't start the first time.
- Whenever I turn, I can hear the sound of the wheel rotating (like a romping sound), so I automatically assumed it was the front left wheel bearing.
- When my car is idling, I can hear the belts rotating and kind of making a very light 'squealing' noise at times.

So, anyways, I asked them to quote me on everything that needs to get done......and boy was I thrilled to see the estimate of $3,000. (sarcasm).

Here's what they gave to me, I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if all of this is actually needed, or are they just trying to get every penny out of me. I understand that it's a luxury car, but I'm not too sure about just dropping $3,000 more on a car that's worth $11,000 (especially while in college!)

Please let me know what you all think, as I am not that educated when it comes to cars. Any help will be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!

 

Depends on your service history. If they never got done then you should prob do them, but not necessarily through infiniti. Shop around, see if you can do it yourself, just make sure you use the correct fluids. But its up to you to decide on how much you want to put into your car. If it were my car all this would have been done at 90k. If it were my car and were truly tight on money I would inspect these myself and decide what needs to be done depending on age of fluid and condition.

Do the air filters and cabin filter yourself - Save $150
They are only pulling your CEL code, who know how much more it will cost to fix. pull the code yourself and save the $130 fee to use towards whatever needs to be repaired.
Air induction cleaning sounds like throttle body - you can prob do this yourself and save a couple hundred. Or check your throttle body and if its not Caked in carbon leave it alone.

The quote doesnt really address the starting issue or your squeaky pulley/belt. Wheel bearing sounds like is needed but maybe shop around to make sure that price is good (some might say you ought to do these in pairs). Check the condition/age of your serpentine belt and change that if its needed. I always find it hard to figure out which pulley is making noise but you might be able to tell by inspecting yourself.

I'll let you decide if you really need new tires right now, maybe you can ride them out longer.

 

if you plan to keep the car 3+ more years, I would get them done.

As stated by G Force above, you could do that air filter and cabin filter by yourself.

The wheel bearing and hub assembly is like $100 each, so that $577 figure seems a bit high... might wanna get that done elsewhere.

out of that list i would do:
Tires, alignment, air filter, cabin filter, wheel/hub assembly, and drop a bottle of Chevron Techron fuel injection cleaner.

Others:
I would get the fluids exchanged if you are planning to keep the car for the next 3-5 years.. if you did them yourself or took them to a cheaper shop, you would probably save half.

Also, see if they have a 10% off coupon on service on their web site.. i always use those

 

Wow, that's pretty insane! lol.

Diagnose check engine light - You can buy an ODB scanner and download Torque do it yourself. Bring it to Autozone/AdvanceAuto and they probably do it for free. 130.00 Saved.

Mount/Balance new tires - I'd possibly do that depending on the brand and what not. New tires alone for my coupe are at least 800. I have 19" though.

Alignment - Does your steering pull, steering wheel off-center, etc... I bought a lifetime alignment at Firestone for about 180. I know it's double what the dealer wants, but I do a lot of DIY, so it was worth it for me. I'd get that done if it's been years, potholes, etc....

Cabin Filter - Order a replacement for 20 bucks, drop the glovebox, replace, and your good to go. About 30 minutes with a screwdriver. 100 bucks saved.

Air Filter - Replacement Fram at PepBoys for 10 dollars. 70 Dollars saved.

Induction service - I think this a scam by the dealership to be honest. Normally, you use this special machine attached to the fuel rail to clean everything. You can't do that on the G and an Infiniti tech also said they don't do that either. Buy a can of BG44K off eBay and stick that in your gas tank. You can try cleaning the MAF and throttle body, but if you're MPG is fine and car is not running bad I'd leave it alone. Cleaning the throttle body wrong can mess up your car.

Brake fluid - I'd do that, but you can find it cheaper than that. If you DIY about 10 dollars for fluid a little more if you buy a tool. My mechanic charged 60 bucks to do that on my Audi, because I didn't want to mess with it.

Transmission Fluid - You can DIY this as well it's like changing the oil. While it's cold unscrew the drain plug, measure the fluid (I used a juice container), and put back in the same amount. I do this about 4 times in 50 mile intervals. Fluid is expensive about ~10 a bottle and if you do it that way about 100 dollars. I would do this though if you haven't had it done. Matic S/J and I used Idemitsu Type J without issues.

Coolant Exchange - Another DIY about 30 bucks in fluid and one or two hours of your time. I've done this about 5 times on my different cars and it sucks getting air bubbles out. I bought a new tool called an AirLift that I haven't got to test yet. I definitely wouldn't pay 170 for it though.

Rear Diff- Another DIY, takes a hex bit, crack the top screw, crack the drain screw, drain, and pump a bottle or two of gear oil back in. Need a tool to pump fluid up, which anywhere from 10-20 dollars and fluid itself is like 15 bucks. Not worth 120 dollars....

Transfer Case/Front Diff - I don't have those on mine, since it's only RWD, but similar scenario to above with different fluid. I would not pay 360 dollars to change front/rear diff and the transfer case. But I would do this service myself or find another shop.

Wheel Bearing - I'd get that replaced. You can DIY the front ones buy a replacement hub and bearing assembly from RockAuto.

That's my thoughts at least if I were in your shoes I'd DIY all of it.

But, if I had to PAY I'd do the following:

Do the ATF fluid exchange, but at Nissan NOT Infiniti (You know you'll get the right fluid.)

Shop around for brake, coolant, diff, transfer, front, and wheel bearing.

The other stuff you can do on your own.

I wouldn't mess with the throttle body or MAF unless it runs bad now.

 

A lot of those you can youtube and do it yourself. Since you're not too experienced there's some things you can take to a shop.

The CEL will need to be diagnosed and you pray it's nothing serious.
Tires, considering it's summer, you can get away with for a bit longer. I'm sure it's not as worn out as the inspection says it is.
Cabin air filter is a very easy DIY. Youtube is your friend, even I pulled it off. And when I say that, I mean it.
No idea what the air cleaner element is referring too, if it's the engine air filter. Honest to god, you just unclip, remove, insert new one, reclip. There's a youtube video of a guy going it on a 07+ G within 30 seconds.
Brake fluid I cant comment on.
Auto tranny fluid, get a Nissan dealership to do it, or a mechanic that specializes in Nissans. Make sure you do a DRAIN and fill, NOT a flush. Flushes have been known to crap our trannys out.
Coolant you can do yourself as well, just pay attention to the tutorials online. It's not worth getting a shop to do it imo.
Diff fluids, if you're gonna take it to a mechanic for the tranny. May as well get these done too.
Wheel bearing... Not sure on this.

Just my 2 cents, looking at it from a car noob POV. Youtube and online DIY are your best friends. Eventually it'll turn into a life skill for the future as you get older. If you have a friend who's good at this, call him over and work on it together. Once you learn things such as changing brakes and oil on your own. You'll be saving a lot more money for yourself to spend on eskies

 

Definitely do the easy one by yourself like replacing air filter.

You can also try to go to a Nissan dealer for a quote for the mechanical items that needs service.

And if you have not keep up with the maintenance for a long time or service history is unknown, then consider that you are just making all the service item all together at once, instead of doing them separately over the years.

 

If money is tight and you can't DIY then I would get the check engine light checked at Autozone for free and get the wheel bearing replaced (indy mechanic who is likely cheaper). My wife just had wheel bearing changed on her Subaru. The retail price of the bearing was $250 but it was only $400 total to replace it so that price is ridiculous.

 

Wow, so much help. I was going to ask something similar... I will YouTube next time as well.

 

Thanks everybody! I really appreciate it.

 

From the inspection Infiniti gave you it appears you haven't take good care of what you drive! How many miles has it been since you had your car serviced? You could save a lot of $$ by having an independent mechanic perform what's needed. (that's most everything) Go to www.thetirerack.com for tires, they sell at wholesale. All you need to do is have the tires mounted. Take care of what you drive, it will pay you back with reliability!
Gary

 

I see you went to Sam Swope Infiniti off the highway. I went there for a seatbelt warranty replacement and they noticed my CEL and low fuel light... To which they offered $80 to read my Code and $300 to look into my fuel issue (I was just low on gas).

If you don't see bearings on the service history they would likely need to be replaced around 100K. Belts need to be tightened, and as for the starting issue it could be as simple as the throttle bodies.

 

Of course I take good care of my car. I get the routine maintenance done all of the time. I've had the car since it was near 90k miles, so I've actually had to have a few things fixed since getting the car - my cats went bad so I just went to test pipes as well as a few other minor issues. As far as missing out on maintenance, I haven't. I'm just at that point to where I've had it for nearly 30k miles, so I understand that I need to get a lot done. It's just hard because I don't have a car lift or anything to do these repairs myself (besides the filters). I just wish it didn't cost an arm and a leg to get new fluids. I know I'm good on tires, so that knocks down the total quote to $2,000. I just feel like if I pay that, I still might need more.... Like do I need spark plugs? New belts? I'm a car noob....
And I also question taking it to an independent mechanic because it's not Infiniti or Nissan themselves, so I just feel like it wouldn't be the best work. Is that dumb?

 

I agree with most of what had been posted. GET IT DONE. The next thing (maybe a year down the road ) will be bushings. But I'll bet the brake fluid has never been changed (very important!) and the transmission fluid too. If they have never been done, ALL the fluids are way out of service interval. Don't be surprised if when you fix the wheel bearing that it turns in to a CV joint repair.

 

Any well trained independent mechanic can drain/fill your fluids, replace the wheel bearing! Check with family & friends about who they use or ask the local auto parts store employees if the know of a good mechanic for your Infiniti. I suggested independent because they won't be in business unless they do an excellent job! You don't need to pay stealership prices!
Gary

 

I would say you could shave off 50% of the cost doing those things yourself. Most of that stuff is necessary. I have a similar car with similar mileage. Youtube and the all these guys here with their knowledge have helped me save lots of money. Fluids First, I was quotes roughly $500 for ALL fluids : PS, BRAKES, FRONT/REAR DIFF, TRANSMISSION, COLLANT AND TRANSFER CASE BY A LOCAL SHOP.