Ok lots of G35 learn me threads out there. Now which one, G35 vs Panther?

Cruising CL and it came to my attention that G35 sedans with an auto is in the same ball park as a Panther platform car. (including challenge budget pricing if you're willing to ignore certain issues) Once this current financial fiasco I'm dealing with is over, I would love to pick up something that gets better mileage and is comfortable for 3 adults to ride in vs my ex cab full size, or SWMBO Sentra. While the Sentra will work in a pinch, let's face it the back seat isn't really made for adults, and my truck well. It's a vinyl floor manual window truck, who's AC just broke 2 weeks ago. (that will be fixed shortly, as it's too damned hot in FL for no AC)

So if given the choice with similar miles, price point etc? Pro's/cons? I love the sound of the VQ engine. Yet the Panther is bigger with V8 torques. SWMBO hates the Panther(ghetto mobile/old person ride) her opinion of the G35 is that a proper Z car doesn't have back seats. So No biggie, it's for me.

Points I'm looking at are, big enough for 3 or 4 adults to be comfortable in (think, 60+ year old's as passengers besides the wife and I), enough power to get out of their own way for passing, occasional AutoX runs, fair mileage.

And go!

Panther is the easy path. I agree with the ghetto comments though but look at the pictures in the "I've had enough" thread and look at the pictures. A nice set of wheels very quickly and thoroughly changes the look into a cool cruiser.

friend of mine bought a G37 sedan for his wife. She has yet to let him even hold the keys she loves the car that much

G35 are pretty cramped but are much more reliable. I don't remember doing any work on them, ever, except for brake and suspension maintenance, and even that is pretty low-key.

I have yet to see one come in from the wild with two identical air filters. It seems like people don't notice that there are TWO airboxes, so only one filter gets checked/replaced.

If you're autocrossing and the people aren't super big, G35. Great parts support, predictable chassis, and the aftermarket is growing even more now that amateur drifters are starting to get their hands on them.

This really comes down to how much you care about the performance. There's a huge difference.

Thanks guys. On the G35's it looks like lots of the cheaper cars have transmission issues like no reverse. Googling no reverse issues leads to valve body issues. Reman valve body looks like 600 plus. 5 solenoids in there at ~60 piece plus seals says a $600 reman may be the way to go unless I just need to save 150$, though if I can diagnose which noids are bad, it might be a flip opportunity. Just have to look around and read some more.

Reliability wise, the Panther may be the way to go. Though a big part of me wants that uncorked VQ howl.

Vigo wrote: This really comes down to how much you care about the performance. There's a huge difference.

Quite a bit honestly. Though the biggest issue that concerns me is being able to pass on our 2 lane backroads around here without the ricer flyby run-up. Handling and spirited driving would be nice for the road trips back to WV to visit SWMBO family. The desire for a quiet cabin, and not being beat to death after a 12 hour drive lends itself to the bigger car.

Given the choice, I'd pass on the Nissan for one reason.

It's a Nissan.

Their engineers are a special kind of stupid when it comes to designing anything. They apparently went to the German car design school, but thought they could make maintenance worse, so they did.

I've had to turn wrenches on three of them. They all sucked in different, but spectacular ways.

Give me a Ford any day of the week.

In reply to Toyman01:

SWMBO current car is an 06 Sentra. I can attest to that. Food for thought. Plumbing in a fuel check valve this week for the hard start issue. It's ridiculous that I can't shut the car down run into the store and come back out on a hot day and the car takes 10 seconds of cranking to start. Known issue, but even while it was under warranty "we can't do anything for it".

In reply to Toyman01:

I love how opinions can be so different. Fords are my least favorite thing to work on other than German cars, and I think most Nissans are put together pretty straight forward. But, to each his own, right?

Honestly I like both of these cars, even though I'm obviously not a Ford guy. Back seat on a G35 isn't super big, and the interiors on the early ones don't seem to age well, so maybe the Panther is better for you? I am a big VQ fan, though, so for me the choice would be obvious.

Pass on the G35 and look at V8 Infinitis.
This will give you the options of Q45, M45, M56(which will be out of your budget) but the others are quite possible.
These V8 cars will also offer more back seat room since the G35 is a bit cramped. The mpg of the V8 will not be much more than a point or two worse than the 3.5L since the 3.5L is pretty know for poor mpg.

Open yourself up to the Lexus V8s also.

Tip: when searching Infiniti on CL also be sure to search Infinity too since 30% will be misspelled.

Assuming the Ghetto comment is about poor people owning Panthers- there's some logic that one can conclude about that thinking.

Poor people buy cars just like the rest of us do, which is to say, they buy what they can afford.

Therefore, IF Q35's and Panther's cost the same to buy, the fact that poor people don't appear to have them means that they can't afford to own them. Whereas Panther cars- they can afford to own them. In other words, "cheap" Q35's are not likely to be that cheap.

That's the conclusion I make from it.

I've mentioned before that there are some great deals out there on Lincoln Mark 8s. We ran one as an Aristocrat in The Challenge and it was surprisingly capable right out of the box.

I'm not sure how well the 2dr will work for you but this also seems to be the thing that keeps the Lincoln Mark 8 so highly overlooked.

Sample:
Clean '98 with 55k miles asking $3,900

Cobra-like, 32 valve V8 engine putting out 300 hp and independent rear suspension. They come factory with air shocks and there is a popular swap to coil springs (which this listing alreay has done.)

'98 with 156k asking $2,500

Tip: when searching CL for these, put in the keyword "Lincoln Mark" Do not put in the number. This will bring up all the Lincoln Mark 3 through 8 but you can easily sort them and this then avoids the issue of some people writing "8" and others writing "VIII"

No input on the actual topic. Change a few letters in the title and we can be having a discussion about soviet vs nazi tanks.

G35s might not break, but when they do, it's Soviet Russia, and they break yooooou.

Everything on a panther can be replaced for less than $50.

alfadriver wrote: Assuming the Ghetto comment is about poor people owning Panthers- there's some logic that one can conclude about that thinking. Poor people buy cars just like the rest of us do, which is to say, they buy what they can afford. Therefore, IF Q35's and Panther's cost the same to buy, the fact that poor people don't appear to have them means that they can't afford to own them. Whereas Panther cars- they can afford to own them. In other words, "cheap" Q35's are not likely to be that cheap. That's the conclusion I make from it.

LOL She used to live next to a ghetto. And Just about every car coming in and out of there was a P71. They were seriously everywhere. They were trashed, beat, non maintained, and Donked. Or a squad car.

I honestly think Panther is your friend here even though that seems antithetical from a performance standpoint. Aftermarket coils, HD Bilsteins, 1" Addco sway bar, and basically your choice of rear-end ratios turns arthritic grandpa who sits on the couch into grandpa who still waterskis and has a 28 year old wife.

Panther?

Panther chassis, P71, Crown Vic, Marauder, Grand Marquis.

I was wondering why you guys were getting so serious about one of these:

Not necessarily related to the specific point of this thread, but how much can you tow with a p71?

Hmmm maybe the Lexus LS is a good compromise between the reliablity and not being "ghetto" (whatever that means) lol.

In reply to cmcgregor:

Pre 2000 cars are rated for 2000 pounds. The newer ones are rated at 1500.

Personally, I'd tow a lot more than that, but that's just me.

I'd skip both and go Lexus LS. G35 doesn't have enough luxury IMO. Same with P71. If you want to arrive fresh and have lots of interior room definitely Lexus LS400.