If there is nothing wrong now keep it and start putting away 3 to $400 a month in savings. I assume your 03 is paid for?TimelessClassic wrote:Hi All,
I have a '03 Coupe with 112K miles that I bought new and have maintained it very well. I didn't skimp on any repairs, other than on things like outside light bulb, etc.
Do you guys think it will go past 200K miles? 250K? I am wondering whether it might make financial sense (in terms of maintainance costs, reliability, etc) to sell it and buy an '07 or '08 Camry for a little more but with much less (50K or less) miles.
Thanks!
Yes it's paid for. Are there any repairs and/or maintenance that I HAVE to get done at a dealership? The car is no longer under warranty and don't want to pay dealership markups.telcoman wrote:If there is nothing wrong now keep it and start putting away 3 to $400 a month in savings. I assume your 03 is paid for?
If any major repairs crop up you can then decide whether to put money into it or purchase another.
changing oil every 3 to 4 k miles is the best way to reach your 200k mile goal.
My G will be getting its 42nd oil change this coming week as warmer weather is expected in a few days.
Good luck
Telcoman
tollboothwilley wrote:With the auto tranny you should consider putting an external cooler on. It will maximize the life of the trans.
I have 163K miles on my 2003 right now and still strong as ever. I'm sure I'm getting more power out of my car than most people with half the miles. These engines are strong and seem very reliable. The trans can be had for fairly cheap if you ever have an issue as well. Just not at the dealership.
drain/fill trans every 30-40K miles
regularly change oil
differential oil swap every 50K miles
I change my spark plugs every 50K miles or so.
Here is a photo of my plugs at 106.6k milesmike.strong wrote:tollboothwilley wrote:With the auto tranny you should consider putting an external cooler on. It will maximize the life of the trans.
I have 163K miles on my 2003 right now and still strong as ever. I'm sure I'm getting more power out of my car than most people with half the miles. These engines are strong and seem very reliable. The trans can be had for fairly cheap if you ever have an issue as well. Just not at the dealership.
drain/fill trans every 30-40K miles
regularly change oil
differential oil swap every 50K miles
I change my spark plugs every 50K miles or so.
I am just curious why do you change spark plugs at 50k? (maybe gas mileage?)
According to my m45 manual they will last 105k. BTW I am not 100% if G has platinum spark plugs.
No! I buy whatever oil is on salemike.strong wrote:wow.
For you 250k will be piece of cake. Do you use synthetic oil?
Do you track your car?
Coincidently, my car overheated on the road 2 weeks ago. It turns out there was a crack in the radiator and the coolant leaked. So I had a new radiator, radiator cap, hoses and coolant installed. No engine damage and runs fine now.gwoods wrote:Oil changes IMO are the most important, wear should not occur until your oil gets dirty.
Coolant flush is #2 and making sure you never overheat the car. I'm still on my original coolant.
Mine is an automatic.lovemypathy wrote:If you have manual transmission and maintain it religiously, 200k is easy. The 3.5 is a pretty bullet proof engine.
23 years??? Wow!Kendahl wrote:If properly maintained, modern cars will last an astonishingly long time. I got 23 years and 180k miles out of a first generation RX-7 before giving it away. We still have a 13 year old Subaru with 208k on it. I expect it to last until at least 250k.
Since your car is out of warranty, you can save money by taking it to an independent shop. Just be sure their policy is to fix it right rather than dirt cheap. For example, there's a lot more to a brake job than just slapping in new pads.
Make sense that you are using mineral based oil.telcoman wrote:No! I buy whatever oil is on salemike.strong wrote:wow.
For you 250k will be piece of cake. Do you use synthetic oil?
Do you track your car?
Latest Pep Boys circular has oil on sale for $13.99 for 5 quarts of Pennzoil with a filter.
I don't believe in using expensive synthetic oil as I change oil about every six weeks. I've never gone over 4k miles on oil
There's a reason why they have machines for this.mike.strong wrote:I am just not sure why do you have to flush AT fluid...Infiniti dose not have AT filter just a tin metal cover inside.
Also they have drain plug. I would never flush my AT via machine. If I do the flush I would open the drain plug, let it drain, than "unplug" AT return hoes and just run the engine until the new fluid is starting to come out. Some one has to add the fluid for you. Than you take all that fluid and you place that in the plastic container. You have to fill exactly how much you have flushed out. That is 100% SAFE FLUSH.
Or my favorite just drain and fill with 3 Q of AT and do that within 150 miles interval. So first time you drain and fill 3Q. You drive for 150miles, you drain and fill 3Q and so on. I am not sure how much AT fluid G35 has but M45 has about 11Quarts.
So you are saying that the high pressure machine flush is better?asoomal wrote:There's a reason why they have machines for this.mike.strong wrote:I am just not sure why do you have to flush AT fluid...Infiniti dose not have AT filter just a tin metal cover inside.
Also they have drain plug. I would never flush my AT via machine. If I do the flush I would open the drain plug, let it drain, than "unplug" AT return hoes and just run the engine until the new fluid is starting to come out. Some one has to add the fluid for you. Than you take all that fluid and you place that in the plastic container. You have to fill exactly how much you have flushed out. That is 100% SAFE FLUSH.
Or my favorite just drain and fill with 3 Q of AT and do that within 150 miles interval. So first time you drain and fill 3Q. You drive for 150miles, you drain and fill 3Q and so on. I am not sure how much AT fluid G35 has but M45 has about 11Quarts.
Doing the way you described will wash the clutches away.
mike.strong wrote:
I am just curious why do you change spark plugs at 50k? (maybe gas mileage?)
According to my m45 manual they will last 105k. BTW I am not 100% if G has platinum spark plugs.
mike.strong wrote:I am just not sure why do you have to flush AT fluid...Infiniti dose not have AT filter just a tin metal cover inside.
Also they have drain plug. I would never flush my AT via machine. If I do the flush I would open the drain plug, let it drain, than "unplug" AT return hoes and just run the engine until the new fluid is starting to come out. Some one has to add the fluid for you. Than you take all that fluid and you place that in the plastic container. You have to fill exactly how much you have flushed out. That is 100% SAFE FLUSH.
Or my favorite just drain and fill with 3 Q of AT and do that within 150 miles interval. So first time you drain and fill 3Q. You drive for 150miles, you drain and fill 3Q and so on. I am not sure how much AT fluid G35 has but M45 has about 11Quarts.
biggie wrote:Hadn't noticed, but does the AT not have the cooler on the bottom part of the rad?
What else is involved in a brake job, other than new pads and rotor? Thanks.Kendahl wrote:
Since your car is out of warranty, you can save money by taking it to an independent shop. Just be sure their policy is to fix it right rather than dirt cheap. For example, there's a lot more to a brake job than just slapping in new pads.
Replacing the brake fluid and bleeding the brakes.TimelessClassic wrote:What else is involved in a brake job, other than new pads and rotor? Thanks.Kendahl wrote:
Since your car is out of warranty, you can save money by taking it to an independent shop. Just be sure their policy is to fix it right rather than dirt cheap. For example, there's a lot more to a brake job than just slapping in new pads.
Thanks. The dealership changed the pads and rotor but told me the brake fluid doesn't need to be changed. I'm not sure they bleed the brakes.telcoman wrote:
What else is involved in a brake job, other than new pads and rotor? Thanks.
Replacing the brake fluid and bleeding the brakes.
Follow the steps in the FSM
http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/G35/Coupe/2003/br.pdf
Telcoman