My new G ride
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Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,379
Likes: 24
From: Florida
My new G ride
After less than 3 weeks from the accident (refer to original thread here), I finally found my ride to replace the gone-but-not-forgotten ES.
Here she is... 2003.5 Infiniti G35 5AT sedan (Brilliant Silver on charcoal interior)
I purchased this beautiful car from a private seller near Daytona Beach for $18K. It only had 41,290 miles at the time of purchase (nice to have a non-high mileage car this time around). All maintenance has been kept up to date as far as oil changes, tire rotation, and the 30K service. Never been in an accident, and no dings, dents or scratches. The G35 is pretty much in tip-top excellent condition, inside and out, and drives very nice!
Now, things I like about this car:
- The 5-speed automatic transmission. It shifts quick and smooth with no interruptions or hesitation
- Exhaust tone. Sweet-sounding with a definite race-like tone to it. I love it when the G35 goes from 1st to 3rd
- The overall sweeping exterior design. Very attractive especially looking from the front and side
- The sport suspension. It's readily tuned to take on the tough and curvy roads around town. I absolutely love the handling and steering feel; it's so good even in stock form
I drove a GS from another seller when I was car-searching, and apples to apples, the GS suspension certainly can't compare to the one from the G35
- 260hp 3.5L V6 engine. Nuff said
- LED tailights and 3rd brake light, and HID headlamps
- Instrument cluster and center console light up in orange like the BMW gauges
- All auto-function windows
- Steering wheel audio controls
- Spacious headroom and legroom in the rear
- Simplified wood trim touches on the door panel handles and gear shifter
- Driver seat automatically moves forward/back in position when key is put in/out of ignition
- Bose audio system (mfg'ed by Clarion). Bass is noticeable on this system compared to the Pioneer stock ones on the Lexus. Great sound quality and clarity.
Things I dislike so far:
- Two-piece remote control key fob. Why didn't Infiniti think about the ease and convenience of the one-piece master key design made by Lexus?
- No trunk key hole (trunk is operated from either the trunk switch in the cabin or the trunk button on the key fob)
- Lots of plastic material in the interior. Makes me worried about its durability and keeping it scratch-free.
- Biggest issue now: The in-dash 6-CD changer is not working!
Probably a jammed CD or CD-R from the seller. I've been told that this is a very common problem on the 03-04 G35's. Good thing this car is still under basic factory warranty for another 4 months, so I can get the unit replaced at no charge from the dealership.
Overall I believe I made the right purchase even though I had considered getting a 02-03 GS300. This G35 met my requirements as far as number of miles, condition, service history and price. I've read that the Infiniti/Nissan reliability is not as high as Lexus/Toyota but still better than the majority of the car industry. I'm looking forward to keeping this car for at least a year, then we'll see what happens (new car models have been coming in left and right). Not ditching Lexus at all, just giving it a break for now as I plan to get back into the game not too far in the future!
Cheers,
Doug
Here she is... 2003.5 Infiniti G35 5AT sedan (Brilliant Silver on charcoal interior)
I purchased this beautiful car from a private seller near Daytona Beach for $18K. It only had 41,290 miles at the time of purchase (nice to have a non-high mileage car this time around). All maintenance has been kept up to date as far as oil changes, tire rotation, and the 30K service. Never been in an accident, and no dings, dents or scratches. The G35 is pretty much in tip-top excellent condition, inside and out, and drives very nice!
Now, things I like about this car:
- The 5-speed automatic transmission. It shifts quick and smooth with no interruptions or hesitation
- Exhaust tone. Sweet-sounding with a definite race-like tone to it. I love it when the G35 goes from 1st to 3rd
- The overall sweeping exterior design. Very attractive especially looking from the front and side
- The sport suspension. It's readily tuned to take on the tough and curvy roads around town. I absolutely love the handling and steering feel; it's so good even in stock form
I drove a GS from another seller when I was car-searching, and apples to apples, the GS suspension certainly can't compare to the one from the G35- 260hp 3.5L V6 engine. Nuff said
- LED tailights and 3rd brake light, and HID headlamps
- Instrument cluster and center console light up in orange like the BMW gauges
- All auto-function windows
- Steering wheel audio controls
- Spacious headroom and legroom in the rear
- Simplified wood trim touches on the door panel handles and gear shifter
- Driver seat automatically moves forward/back in position when key is put in/out of ignition
- Bose audio system (mfg'ed by Clarion). Bass is noticeable on this system compared to the Pioneer stock ones on the Lexus. Great sound quality and clarity.
Things I dislike so far:
- Two-piece remote control key fob. Why didn't Infiniti think about the ease and convenience of the one-piece master key design made by Lexus?
- No trunk key hole (trunk is operated from either the trunk switch in the cabin or the trunk button on the key fob)
- Lots of plastic material in the interior. Makes me worried about its durability and keeping it scratch-free.
- Biggest issue now: The in-dash 6-CD changer is not working!
Probably a jammed CD or CD-R from the seller. I've been told that this is a very common problem on the 03-04 G35's. Good thing this car is still under basic factory warranty for another 4 months, so I can get the unit replaced at no charge from the dealership.Overall I believe I made the right purchase even though I had considered getting a 02-03 GS300. This G35 met my requirements as far as number of miles, condition, service history and price. I've read that the Infiniti/Nissan reliability is not as high as Lexus/Toyota but still better than the majority of the car industry. I'm looking forward to keeping this car for at least a year, then we'll see what happens (new car models have been coming in left and right). Not ditching Lexus at all, just giving it a break for now as I plan to get back into the game not too far in the future!
Cheers,
Doug
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Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,430
Likes: 0
From: ON
Hey, nice job. You'll enjoy it. Couple things - the cd jamming up isn't uncommon, odds are he lost a cd-r in there like you thought. It's an easy fix under warranty. Second, the interior, while plastic-y as hell, is actually quite durable; one of the best in this price class imo. So ya, it's ugly but it'll last. Cheers.
Cheers.
Lead Lap
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 517
Likes: 0
From: VI
Hey, nice job. You'll enjoy it. Couple things - the cd jamming up isn't uncommon, odds are he lost a cd-r in there like you thought. It's an easy fix under warranty. Second, the interior, while plastic-y as hell, is actually quite durable; one of the best in this price class imo. So ya, it's ugly but it'll last. Cheers.
Cheers.although i cant confirm that the cd jamming is a common issue, it should be a straight forward fix/replacement under warranty.
the interior comments were straight on. plastic yes, but very very durable.