So in my quest for a second car, I just noticed a tv ad for the new 04 Infiniti G35 4 Door Sedan. It has the new flip up dvd, leather ect. I was gonna get it black on black leather, limo tint windows, and maybe some 20s on it?? Whats everyone think? Anyone have any experiance with Infiniti?? I remember the biggest mistake ever was me buying a saturn for my first car when i was younger, it was a start up company then and it was a bad car, and dont want to take any risks. The car looks nice, and I have always thought that infiniti was sort of a top of the line sedan, under lexus and benz ect..

I've heard some good things about the sedan, but a guy I met bought a loaded coupe and traded in a 330ci. He had the Infiniti 3 hours before going back to the dealer and asking to pay $1000 dollars just to get his car back. He complained about the Trans. and some electrical problems. The dealer gave him his car back for free and unwound the deal. I know a girl with the 4door who has never had a problem. The new redesigned BMW 3 series is coming out soon, and will be very cool as another option. There may also be a M3 sedan once again.

The G35 is obviously a very popular car... I do like it, but here's my take on it.. Are you set on the sedan, or you think you might consider the coupe? The coupe really is pretty nice, and rear space is really adequate.. Headroom iusnt really good but legroom is OK.... Now take in mind my opinion because I own another infiniti and I wouldnt say things bad unless I thought it was bad...

First off, I drove a 03.5 coupe, with an automatic... Had a lot of options...

The good
1. The exterior styling is very good, everything about the car is attractive.. The one I drove was red so thats good..
2. Interior is very nice... I didnt like the seat buttons on the set, if you were larger you might hit the buttons with your leg... Non issue for me though :D . Leather is of top notch quality, one I drove had 35k on the clock and it was just showing minimal wear... Dash felt a little cheap with the brushed "plastic" but Id say easily on par with competition.. The seats are a little firm for my tastes but VERY supportive. I like it when I can get a grove going...
3. Driving felt nice. Theres a LOT of low end power, high end power is adequate but kind of disappointing.. It just kinda runs out of steam.

4. The VQ35DE engine is VERY reliable and is also very popular, so aftermarket support it already very big...


Infiniti is not a start up company.. They've been running since 1990 (same as lexus)...


I might also consider an M45 for that money, as they are nice cars as well and lots more power......

Infiniti is the most reliable car that you could get. My dad got a 98 with over 200k miles and it is still fine without any problem.

Clickart, what kind of infiniti did he have??? Q45?

i work at infiniti

the o5 g35 is coming out and is redesigned ;)

if you have any specific questions just ask and i can answer them for you....

Is it a big change for 05??? Also, how are the mpg for both 04 and 05??

I've been lurking on this board for awhile - just haven't posted because I didn't feel I had anything to contribute until now...

G35 = Krap

I bailed on my 03 Sedan w/Sport package. 16, yes that's right 16, trips to the shop... :rant2:

I know 4 other owners and to a Tee we have ALL had the same problems without exception. The list is long and scary.

Transmission
3 CD players
Countless electricals
Brakes SO bad Infiniti will replace them free for the 1st 36K. Thats 3x...
Automatic Transmission won't shift out of park.
Faulty sensors left & right
Noisy AC
Suspension turned to mush after 1st 15k...

One of my friends just won her lawsuit against Infiniti. They refused to honor the Lemon law in Arizona... :rant2: Guess they learned the hard way.

Buy one if you love the J30's because that's what you'll get as a loaner when your car is in the shop 16 times in 2 years...

BTW - my 16 trips are LESS than any of my other 4 friends. Best part is every incident is a KNOWN problem. They also rarely have parts because there's such a run on the faulty items.

Oh well... car looks sharp - no doubt about that, but honestly you couldn't give me another one even if it was free. It's an insult to Japanese automaking & quality.

I bailed & got an 04 Escalade w/ 24's :thumbsup:

99 skalaid whats your responce being that you work for infiniti??

Sorry to sound so bitter... It's just that the last 2 years really disappointed me. No car is perfect - especially these days. If I was the only one having the problems I would chalk it up to bad luck. The problem is I'm not. My experience, bad as it was, was still better than my friends.

I think the sedan looks sharp and the coupe - WOW! One of the best looking cars I've ever seen. But the headaches outweighed the fun. Nothing worse than thinking "what next" every time you turn the key.

For past Infiniti owners: I agree - the previous generations seemed to be really well built. There's tons of loyal Q45 and J30 owners out there who still won't part with their rides. That says a lot.

Nice alternatives: New Acura TL - looks great & oozing technology. Caddy CTS. I test drove one for fun. It was quieter and had a more natural driving position than my G35. You could also really feel the 270 ponies. Had a nice response when you accellerated. BMW 3 series - 330?

Drove a few Audis with a friend. A4 1.8T, 3.0 and 2.6T They were nice but I wasn't crazy about the interiors. 1.8 needed a bigger "T" IMO.

Also - have you seen any decked out 300c's? Your black on black with Limo tint & 20's would look killer. Yeah it's a Chrysler, but supposedly they used the Benz semiauto transmission and obviously have a whole new engine/drivetrain config with the Hemi and RWD combo.

I guess it depends on what you're going to use the 2nd car for. You can get some nice Porsches used for under $50k. There's lots of choices out there.

He got an QX4. They don't make those anymore. JD Power rated Infiniti as the second most reliable car with Lexus on top of the list.

I've been lurking on this board for awhile - just haven't posted because I didn't feel I had anything to contribute until now...

G35 = Krap

I bailed on my 03 Sedan w/Sport package. 16, yes that's right 16, trips to the shop... :rant2:

I know 4 other owners and to a Tee we have ALL had the same problems without exception. The list is long and scary.

Transmission
3 CD players
Countless electricals
Brakes SO bad Infiniti will replace them free for the 1st 36K. Thats 3x...
Automatic Transmission won't shift out of park.
Faulty sensors left & right
Noisy AC
Suspension turned to mush after 1st 15k...

One of my friends just won her lawsuit against Infiniti. They refused to honor the Lemon law in Arizona... :rant2: Guess they learned the hard way.

Buy one if you love the J30's because that's what you'll get as a loaner when your car is in the shop 16 times in 2 years...

BTW - my 16 trips are LESS than any of my other 4 friends. Best part is every incident is a KNOWN problem. They also rarely have parts because there's such a run on the faulty items.

Oh well... car looks sharp - no doubt about that, but honestly you couldn't give me another one even if it was free. It's an insult to Japanese automaking & quality.

I bailed & got an 04 Escalade w/ 24's :thumbsup:
That is a bad example...

If you see and analyze OVERALL, they are VERY reliable... Thats also why you have a warranty... I dont understand why people bitch about things being unreliable under warranty, sure its inconvienent but earlier failures= better later in life...

I like the 300s as well!

Please do not start with the 300s again, I dont know if anyone on this post saw the Escalade vs 300 thead....hahha... If I wasnt 6 foot 4 I would have a porshe(bad spelling) and cant stand the 300, mainly bc of the chrysler name and its a second string luxury car. If it was a lexus or mercedes I would have one right now.

I've been lurking on this board for awhile - just haven't posted because I didn't feel I had anything to contribute until now...

G35 = Krap

I bailed on my 03 Sedan w/Sport package. 16, yes that's right 16, trips to the shop... :rant2:


Transmission
3 CD players
Countless electricals
Brakes SO bad Infiniti will replace them free for the 1st 36K. Thats 3x...
Automatic Transmission won't shift out of park.
Faulty sensors left & right
Noisy AC
Suspension turned to mush after 1st 15k...





:hmm:

well i dont know how to start off with a reply


if you had a 03 then you had the automatic transmission then, the 04 you could get a manual transmission sedan. Not sure the problem with you automatic transmission, but if you ever added any other fluid than the NISSAN MATIC J fluid then that was the problem. There are no recalls on the transmissions or service bulletins, so you got me on that one.

next you say you went threw 3 indash radio with the 6 disk indash cd changer. My assumption on that would be that you were using burned disks, that happens all the time with the indash changers, the burned disks are just slightly thinner than the actual CD's. the difference is so small that you might not be able to tell by eye, but it is there.

If you could be specific with electricals then i could go with that, nothing really common that comes to mind. Once you get the timing sensor's updated you should be all set along with the brake switch.

Brakes....you wrote

"Brakes SO bad Infiniti will replace them free for the 1st 36K. Thats 3x..."

:hmm: They arent BAD as you call them, the brakes are oversized for the weight of the car. YES they wear out YES their is a 36K warranty on the brakes, but that is because the brakes stop the car better than any car in it's class. BY alot. So i ask you this...... would you like to have average brakes like everyone else... or brakes that are the best and stop the car in a faster, shorter time :hmm:

Auto tranny wont shift out of park, no idea, did you put your foot on the brake first?

faulty sensors left and right..... i mentioned them before

Nosiy ac.... turn it down one notch you probably have it set to max fan speed and your complaining about how loud it is.... :rolleyes2

Suspension is under warranty and the only issue is that it can PULL to the right. no idea on that one...

i am not trying to stick up for infiniti, i just work there, and i deal with these cars on a day to day to day basis. Just trying to give an ACCURATE idea of what i see on a day to day basis....

oh and by the way

:welcome:

99... Good post, I think you were being reasonable nad objective... :)

Excellent post as no one is trying to get into a flame war and I don't want to hijack the thread. I'll just reply to a few basic things.

I used many burned CD's. I always have in several cars and the G was the only one with the problem. You bring up a good point though. Maybe I should be careful since my Lade has a Bose system in it too. 3 Units in 2.5 yrs is a lot though.

The won't shift out of park issue was strange. It did it randomly. My dealer said they'd seen several like that but no one could track the problem. Working the brake & steering wheel wouldn't release it. Their recommendation was to carry a flat head screwdriver and use the manual release to the upper left of the shifter to get it out.

Brakes performed awesome. Almost as good as my old Porsche and that's saying a lot. The issue is brake life. I came in for my 1st brake job at 18k miles and the dealer was floored I got that much out of them. I shrugged it off until my next one came 11k later followed by my 3rd about 12-14k after that. Crazy. The issue is the super soft pads. Yes they help stop it quicker but the life and the ungodly amount of dust they create really make it a toss up as to whether or not it's worth the extra 10ft to stop. Imagine how bad the complaints had too be for Infiniti to decide to cover brake jobs for the 1st 36k miles on all their cars. That's a huge expense and was not part of my original warranty. It's called damage control in the PR world.

AC noise is a very well known problem esp with first models. There's an issue with the fan and there is a SB out for it. There's also one for the "blows warm engine compartment air" even when the system is off. Fun on a 108 degree day in AZ.

I wish I had a better experience with the car. The dealer was always great. Never an issue there. I loved how it drove and looked. I just couldn't live with the reliability issues.

I would say I just got a bad car except for the fact that my friends all have had worse experiences. The one who sued Infiniti could write a book. I felt sorry for her. Infiniti was condescending, belligerent and went to the mat with her even though she easily met the lemon law guidelines. In the end it actually went before a judge and she won. Way to build customer loyalty...

Hopefully the ones rolling out now are free of problems. Like I said - I LOVE the way the coupe looks! It would make an awesome 2nd car if I hadn't had the experience I did. Only time will tell. Until then I'm happy driving my Lade although I'm getting a little tired of my daughter watching Spy Kids 24/7 in the back ;)

So hetrain - have you test driven anything lately? Are you going to put other people in it and what's your price range? Lots of fun stuff out there.

Dont have a specific price range... So far I have looked at a new Range Rover, a H2, i just had to go see a 300 but never thought of getting one... I also looked at a used E class mercedes, and am gonna go look at a Infiniti this week...

99... Good post, I think you were being reasonable nad objective... :)
I see that you're spreading the joy of Infiniti on here too.
I finally found the place, wes

The 04 G35 is a very nice car ,IMO. Read good reviews about it in Motor trend and car & driver.

I had a neighbor who had 300Z that went 300K with nothing but tires and brakes! It had a completely digi dash and it was a goundbreaker as far as electronics.Why did I mention it: Given the fact that today's Nissan(Infiniti) g35, and the 350z are constructed using the same basic components(they won't tell you that)and engineering tolerances, the same reliabilty results should be comparable to my neighbors with a g35. Enter the x-factor. She was 50 with a mechanicaly inclined husband who treated that car like a baby. I am quite sure I could mechanicaly demolish that same car (even with the factory service intervals) since I always drive my cars like I stole them. AZscor ,sounds like drives like I do, buy your Brembo +1 eradispeed rotor upgrade and install a WOT AC compressor cutoff. High RPM kills a compressor. Just my opinion.
BTW: 99,You sound like an Infiti Rep. And could somebody tell me how to Hijack a Thread?
SS

BTW: 99,You sound like an Infiti Rep. And could somebody tell me how to Hijack a Thread?
SS


not sure if that is a compliment or not :hmm:

and hijacking a thread is when you go off topic about something and someone else goes off topic and so on.... :thumbsup:

get a CTS! you wont be disappointed with it. it has power, great acceleration, good leather seating and you can get the navi. mine doesn't, but i wish it does. check mine out with 20's maybe it will change your mind.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/478170

Thought id chip in on infiniti being an ex owner

I loved my 96 G20 and at its time consumer reports i belive rated it beatter than corolla or civic when it came to reliability ....

It had its faults , the suspension was detuned from the europe spec and i belive thats what caused the car to oversteer on a heavy set into corners .....its bad when a front drive car oversteers before it understeers .....otherwise stellar handleing ,a screamer of a 4cyl ,good tranny (outside the 5th gear popout issue) and eletrcial gremlin free ....


id say become a member of a G35 forum thats pretty heavy on members and keep tabs here with the cts guys and note the failures you see on each car , thats how i do my research

how is nico doing on g35 memers wes?

There arent a lot of G35 guys, its a pretty barren area of NICO... Most goto G35driver.com ..... Great forum there!

Too many damn people drive the G35, so I lost interest. I'd prefer a CTS or M45.

Too many damn people drive the G35, so I lost interest. I'd prefer a CTS or M45.

Funny.. down here , you see way more Z's than you do G35's. :suspect:

The CTS is becoming a common sight here too, but fortunately Cadillac designs are so unique that it doesnt matter.

Dont have a specific price range... So far I have looked at a new Range Rover, a H2, i just had to go see a 300 but never thought of getting one... I also looked at a used E class mercedes, and am gonna go look at a Infiniti this week...

Uhh... do you have ANY idea what you want? How did you go from a G35 to a Range Rover??

If you are looking at a Range Rover, then get that, I see no question between that and the H2, but if you have that kind of cash, and you want a G35 type vehicle, then get an M45 or a CTS-V. Though I cant tell what on earth you are looking for. Then again, a new Range Rover costs 70k, just plop down another ten and get an E55 AMG.

The parts costs and repair frequency of a Range might be a problem (compared to any other full size truck)

I know a guy that works on range rovers for a living, and he said they are a PITA.. However, if its new, shouldnt be an issue... Just dump before warranty is over, british engines are notorious for leaking fluids!

things may be diffrent now with other peoples engines and money ....took em almost 40 years to get rid of the buick 215 v8 ...damned engine was in everything over there

I know a guy that works on range rovers for a living, and he said they are a PITA.. However, if its new, shouldnt be an issue... Just dump before warranty is over, british engines are notorious for leaking fluids!

They use a BMW V-8 engine. They are designed like Vega engines, aluminum bore that is coated. Any sulfur in the gas destroys the coating and once this happens, the engine is toast.

i thought everyone would have learned from GMs mistake on the vega...maybe that 215 is a beatter engine ......Wasnt it teflon they ran on the vega ?

BTW saw a cosworth vega today .....

Nikasil... Ewwww.....