Learn me the ways of the G35 Sedan

My girlfriend/wife needs a newer car. Automatic, air, airbags, ect.

I've been passing this one everyday to work. Went by and talked to the guy at lunch. 2004, 120k miles, runs, drives fine. I looked under the hood and saw that there is overspray on some rubber, so it's had a respray or touch up. Crumple rails looked intact. Driver's interior door pull is ripped and the guy said it would be repaired in the next couple of days. Dash has some small cracks. Wheels are a mess (gonna get some stock wheels if I do get it), but seeing all the dings in the lips of the wheels makes me worry about suspension bushings and arms being bent. Seemed fine when I drove it.

Once again, not for me. I am content in my little sipper Civic with hub caps. Her dad has been saying he would help with the downpayment for us, so I want to make sure that this would be good for her.

Suggestions, comments, ect would be appreciated.

Oil consumption problems (I think they all have it to a certain degree) and if I remember right there is a camber issue which is an easy fix.

They seem to be excellent cars. All the infiniti products seem to be pieced together a little better than their nissan counterparts.
They're still kind of a B to work on, being basically a nissan, but I'd recommend it.
And they look fantastic completely stock.
They hold value pretty decently well, they get sort of decent mileage, especially for a performance oriented v6, and they are pretty damn nice inside for the price point.
Again, they are put together better than the nissan product, and appear to have fewer big problems.
Less oil cooler o-rings, for one.
Essentially every nissan 3.5 car after 50k has a leaking oil cooler o-ring.
it isn't expensive to fix or difficult, but it is annoying.
I have only seen a couple g's come in with the same problem.

93EXCivic wrote: Oil consumption problems (I think they all have it to a certain degree) and if I remember right there is a camber issue which is an easy fix.

do they have the same alignment/tire wear issues the early z33's have?

Outside of issues with the car itself, financing a used car from a buy here pay here lot seems like a terrible idea. But feel free to ignore me, I just butt in some times when it's not my place. :-)

Oh, but the 3.5 sure can hustle a car, that's for sure.

My dad had a 2003 with a six speed. It had 160,000 miles when he traded it for a G37. He replaced the brakes, tires and shocks. He never had an oil consumtion problem. I should have bought it.

In reply to dculberson:

That is my argument as well. I'd rather buy a used car cash, but just don't have the money to buy a decent car anymore.

I was looking at one of these a few months ago and got tale after tale of high oil consumption with higher mileage VQ35s.

Considering the crazy low price, I figured that was exactly what was going on with the one I was looking at and passed.

I've said this before here...I loved my '04 G35, but it wasn't without problems. The biggest by far was oil consumption. Around 1 qt every 2 to 300 miles. It didn't smoke, leak, or have any visible signs, but it did use it. It's the reason I ended up getting rid of it. It also would wear the inside of the front tires, even though the bushings were perfect and alignment was perfect (see 350Z for similar issues). Stiffer bushings helped, but nothing outright cured it.

Other than those, it was absolutely perfect, and a joy to drive, even for a big sedan. No other real issues either, but the oil consumption was simply too much. I did much reasearch, and it seems that some have it, some don't. No one really can definitely say why it appears, but I have theories. Even on cars with engines replaced under warranty, some had the problem return after several thousand miles. It's a crap shoot on what otherwise is a fabulous car. There was a class action lawsuit forming on the issue.

Definitely quiz the owner about oil usage.

1 gallon per 1000 miles is like burning premix 32:1!

We bought an 07 Sedan a few months ago and have been loving it! We have the beefier VG35 engine, and it's a hoot! A friend has an 04 G35x and his only complaint is that it eats OEM brakes and rotors like candy. No Oil issues, but it's recommended to change it every 3K miles on time. You should be able to get an OEM set of wheels on the list pretty easy to replace that bling.

Drive and enjoy!

I like the car from a driving perspective. Seems pretty reliable over all from everything I've read.

That said, I'd never buy a used car from a used car lot. Why not just buy direct from the owner and pocket the markup? If the car was any good, couldn't the PO just sell it direct and pocket more money? I just don't trust used car dealers. Actually, I don't really trust new car dealers either but trust used car dealers less

I've maintained one for a while, and it gets neglected.(owned by a friend)

Few things: they eat brakes, they all do, just plan on changing often.

The auto trans does not have a filter in some models. Be weary if it is the stock fluid at 120k. Drain plug drops approx 3 quarts, should be more than 7 quarts in trans, so you must be aware if "changing trans fluid." Dip stick is behind engine in bay with bolt holding it on.

Oil dip stick is notoriously difficult to read, making potential oil burning problems worse, and you can kill it easily.

The air dam under the engine has 50,000 bolts, or so it seems. I like air dams, don't mind having to drop them for oil change, but this one has way too many fasteners.

That is all.

Wonderful car.

amg_rx7 wrote: I like the car from a driving perspective. Seems pretty reliable over all from everything I've read. That said, I'd never buy a used car from a used car lot. Why not just buy direct from the owner and pocket the markup? If the car was any good, couldn't the PO just sell it direct and pocket more money? I just don't trust used car dealers. Actually, I don't really trust new car dealers either but trust used car dealers less

Bingo. They're the bread & butter of the brand, and there's a bunch out there - go private sale and you can quiz the owner on oil consumption. The dealer will not know.

Like Racerdave I've posted my experience with an '04 G - it was all good from new to ~100K with a bunch of track days thrown in too.