Well the time has come for me to buy a "responsible" daily driver. The racecars just wear me down to much.
Ive been looking into manual G35 sedans as they seem to hit all the right boxes for me. Fun, RWD, manual, seat 4 pretty easily. Any comments or concerns on these? Any other suggestions for vehicles? Id thought about a truck but they all hold value too well around me.
I had one as a daily about 10 years ago. I loved it, but it was not without issues to check for, including accelerated inner front tire wear, and worst of all, oil consumption. Mine was an '04 and this was in the years where that was an issue. It was going through about a quart every 200 to 300 miles. No smoke, no leaks, nothing but consumption. I'm not sure how you check for that other than taking the seller at his word. It does not affect every car. Mine was an automatic, and I would not rule it out. It worked particularly well in this application. If it hadn't been for the oil consumption, I would have kept it longer than the 3 years I owned it. It was definitely a nice car.
In reply to racerdave600 :
Oil consumption is an issue. I drive around 5-600 miles a week.
I've seen a bunch with severe rust issues, my buddy bought his new and never drove it in the snow although it did see salt and his had a fist sized hole in tge drivers floor and a subframe so rotten that it had to be replaced at 100k. Just be on the look out if you're in the rust belt.
It's a 350Z in sheeps clothing. The oil and tire wear issues are model year specific. Plenty of Z and G's out there with 200k + on the clock. Older higher mile cars might have some wear items like wheel bearings and ball joints. the drivetrain seems pretty rock solid.
My wife drove an '07 G35X sedan for 10 years. Only consistent issue was rear brakes. Went through pads every 20-30K miles. The wife took them down to metal-on-metal once. Had a rear caliper freeze on the slide pins a couple of times. Never understood why they had such a decent diameter rotor on the back, only to wipe about 2/3 of the available surface with the pad. I know the rears do much less of the work, but that seemed a bit ridiculous.
G35 is the new improved P71.
I've put almost 1k on my 04 6MT sedan so far, so I can answer a few questions.
There's a link in the front suspension (compression link) that can wear quickly if not replaced with the updated design. Get a catch can! Mine's been really well maintained, but I am getting a little bit of blow-by so I'm ordering a catch can tonight. Front tire wear can be a slight issue, as can rust in salty climates.
THAT BEING SAID:
You CAN make decent NA power out of these! A 5/16" plenum spacer has been documented to add 10 WHP (!) for $125 (!!) without needing a tune (!!!). RevUp engines have the MRev lower plenum for more power, and a proper intake and non-resonated zip tube make more of a difference than most people think. They drive great! The driving experience is basically exactly what the internet says an E39 540i/6 should drive like. Pretty sharp in the corners, and can just eat up interstate miles. Keep in mind that everything from the steering to the clutch, and even the shifter is heavy so they must be operated deliberately. Most things that bolt up to a 350Z bolt up to these cars. And not in a "Mustang parts bolt up to a Crown Vic" way, more in a "Civic and CR-X parts are interchangeable" way. The Bose stereo is still awesome, and chances are that everything will still work flawlessly! It doesn't take a whole lot to make these cars pretty much perfect (ARK coilovers, Stillen intake and zip tube and Blox plenum spacer, 350Z resonator for a mildly sportier sound, sway bars, tires).
They are a hell of a lot of car for the money, and they will STOMP a 3-series in a straight line. It's not E28 M5 amazing, but it's so much better than a Maxima that you'll probably love it as a daily.
I would like to ask a question in this thread. How is the automatic transmission? Is it enjoyable or is it just like any other transmission?
Trackmouse said:I would like to ask a question in this thread. How is the automatic transmission? Is it enjoyable or is it just like any other transmission?
It's not bad, but it definitely feels like top-notch circa 2004. There's a lag between shifting up in the manumatic mode and the actual upshift, although it's not early-00s Mercedes levels of bad.
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