Hey everyone. Just picked up my new G35S yesterday. Black Obsidian on the outside, graphite on the inside (not the best combo for South Florida, but who cares?). Premium/Nav/Tech and the factory spoiler (which gets a lot of hate, but I love it). No pictures yet, I'll put some up soon. I'm one who thinks cars look and perform best from the factory, so there won't be any modding except for maybe some very light tinting and possibly painting the calipers red or silver (anybody do this and have pics?).

I originally was going to go for a Journey with nav, but I got such a great deal on this one ($40,539 OTD, which was just $100 more than MSRP) that I couldn't pass it up. Best value for the money, and the technology and features of this car blow that of my other car (2003 Mercedes G500, which I will be keeping) out of the water, even though the Mercedes cost double the price. First impressions on some of the cars features:

Navigation
I have nothing but praise for the navigation system. I'm a navigation system geek (I even like to use them when I clearly know where I am going), and I'm not going to lie, the user interface and features of a factory nav play an important part in the buying process for me. I have never seen such an amazing nav system in any car. It is ridiculous. First nav I've had that will say street names, and the various screen/map options are amazing. The way it shows highway exits and lane guidance? It's ridiculous.

Voice Recognition
The voice recognition has worked almost flawlessly for me, a far cry from older systems. It's really amazing how accurate it has been. My one complaint is that I like to use the "Where Am I?" screen, but there is no voice command to go it.

Music Box
Just awesome! I've already burned seven CDs onto it. It really makes the 6-disc changer in the trunk entirely useless. The user interface could use some improvement, but it's an overall great feature.

Technology Package
This car isn't replacing anything, so I wanted a good luxury car at a reasonable price. I was originally going to forget about the Tech package (as well as getting a Sport). Boy, I'm glad I didn't. The AFS are something I thought I would never notice, but I do, and they're great. The backup camera feature is something that in only two days I've already found to be a great tool. You think it is gimmicky, until you have it, and then realize it's not. Haven't tried the cruise control yet. Dealer said to wait a while until it has more miles.

Complaints
My only complaints in the 155 miles I've put on it in 48 hours are just minor annoyances. The controls are backwards! (at least compared to what I'm used to. This is my first car that isn't a Mercedes-Benz). The wiper stalk is "upside down" and the next track/radio channel button is backwards (shouldn't it be "up" for next track and "down" for previous?). Also, when I lock my key in the trunk, it doesn't pop back up. Do I have to turn this feature on? Also, I don't mind the aux port and one of the power outlets being in the glove compartment, but it would have been nice of the designers to include a groove or sorts to allow you to close the centre armrest fully and use a plugged in item (like an iPod). Seems like something that was obvious, I don't get why it was left out. Also, the owner's manual says to use the cigarette lighter (I didn't even know they still made these) port only for the lighter and not for other things. Do I have to follow this? Can I really not plug in my iPod and cell phone at the same time?

Other things
This is my first car with a sunglass holder(!), such a simple thing that I love. The gauges and violet accents...amazing. The very subtle white stitching on the graphite leather gives a perfect contrast. The rear middle seat is useless, but Infiniti did an awesome job with the rear centre armrest. This car's interior and value are what really sold me. I was on the fence between this and a 328i coupe, but the 328i coupe's interior might as well be from 1998, and iDrive is clumsy and annoying. Also, I'm very surprised to see this car has been turning some heads. I was driving in Miami Beach on my home from dinner, and the car definitley got some looks and one "hot car" shout out (which was shocking, because in Miami Beach Bentley Continentals, Lamborghini Gallardos, and Porsche 911s are so common, nobody gives them a second look).

My complaints are all very minor, and sans the "backwards controls", I was aware of them before I bought the car. I love it, it's going to be a fun three years.

 

Congrats on the car, post some pics when you get a chance.

Regarding your complaints, i think the center arm rest does have a small groove for wires (my gf plugged in her ipod and showed me the groove. It's not large enough to complete stop any compression of the wires, but its better than nothing. I have a 6MT, maybe the armrest is different if you have an auto.

 

The center armrest/console in the 5AT is about twice the size as the one in our 6MTs. 5ATs have a pair of side-by-side cupholders with a flip down cover to conceal them behind the shifter which then leads to the larger center console. Our 6MTs have a pair of front-to-back cupholders with a sliding cover to conceal them on the right side of the console with the hand e-brake located on the left side with the little mini console located right behind it. Since 5ATs don't have a hand e-brake, there's more room for a larger armrest/console in the car.



As for the original posters comments regarding the "backwards controls" I know what you mean. V35s and FXs have the direction of the seek/next/previous button setup in the opposite manner than our V36s are setup. However once you use the screen to navigate the music box or CD (i.e. scrolling to select the tracks you want) you realize why Infiniti changed the direction of the controls for '07. With the screen in front of you down for next and up for previous becomes much more intuitive.

 

First and foremost - CONGRATS!!

A quick comment on the steering wheel controls for the music - it kind of makes sense when you think about how the tracks are listed on the display...
TRACK 1
\/ \/
TRACK 2
So pushing DOWN would move it to the next track. But yeah, it feels backwards.

ALSO - have you zoomed in to see the building footprints?? VERY cool.

 

what dealer did u buy from? i am in south florida as well

 

congratz man!!! i live in South florida too..you should check out the Florida G35 Club thread

https://g35driver.com/forums/florida-g-club-68/

were gonna have a meet this friday at Tower Shops you should stop by and show off the new G.

good deal on the car, I got mine for 41,500.00 at warren henry of davie, good to see were in the same ball park