Need ya help q45 experts.....found a 1997 q45 with a new engine (130k on it) for $2600 asking price. Only catch this far is that the throttle body position is bad. I am no car expery by any means but if anybody is in Baltimore,Md area to take a detailed look at it to help me make a wise decision is more than welcome.

First off I am suspicious that it has a new motor. These motors last 500k or more, so someone didn't take very good care of it. And when they say "new motor" I am sure it is a remanu'd one, not a new one. So the fact that the throttle position sensor is bad tells you that they used plenty of the old parts.

This isn't much money, but then again the range on a 97' is probably $1500 for a car with tons of miles and MAYBE 5k for a cherry pampered one with 80k.

The things you're going to have to look at are under the hood if the knock sensors and coil packs were replace with the new motor or if they are original. If original budget $600 to fix that. Then suspension, the struts and shocks if they have not been replaced are shot. There are very few options for new struts and shocks, OEM are super expensive and the aftermarket has nothing unless you want to spend $1200 on coil overs (which isn't a bad option as you get new everything). The rest of the car should be soild for another 75k at least.

If I were you I'd either take this to an Infiniti dealer or to a local trusted mechanic, at least get them check the car over...this might cost you $75 to $150 bucks, but then you at least know that you're buying a car for $2500 bucks and then you need to spend XXXX on it immediately and XXXX on it in 1-3 years.

All depends on your cash restoration kitty. $5K, minimum.

A tps is a relatively simple and cheap fix. $2600 is a good price if the body of the car is in good shape and the interior isnt mauled. I would just be worried that somone is telling you that the tps is bad when the issue may be with something more serious. I would grab a buddy to go with you to see the car, during the daylight if possible, and also bring an OBD scan tool with you that you can use when you test drive the car. That will helo to verify if the issue is truely related to a tps. Could also be that the tps is not properly adjusted within correct spec.

Looks like charmessence isn't coming back to the thread.

Well I bought a '98 t with around 198K miles on it for $1500, but that's about half book value.

In six months I've put 25,000 miles on it with just tires and rear brakes replaced. However, being a late 90's Nissan underneath, it has all the typical Nissan issues- bad cat converter, bad knock sensors, extended hot crank times, plugged up EGR and dried-up valve stem seals.

That last one is what ruined the cat and stopped up the egr passages since it gets rid of a quart of oil in 1000 miles.

Otherwise the thing's a tank. I stick regular gas in it, good oil and filter, cheap tires and brakes and drive the wheels off of it. It's pretty, paint's nice but the cheap vinyl parts of the interior are failing.

Would I buy it again? No. All of the above issues, plus uncomfortable seats and it rides too stiff for a luxury car. No, it's not FIRM, it's STIFF.

You bought an abused car plain and simple. Knock sensors and coil packs are common on those cars. Dried up valve stem seals? Never really heard of that. Aren't they Viton on the VH41DE?

As for a stiff ride the suspension is controllable by a switch on the lower left of the dashboard.

Ha...my car was FAR from abused. I bought it from the second owner who purchased it as an off-lease in 2002 with 39K. They are both retired, live in a $300K house with a river view outside Chattanooga.

It stayed garaged it's entire life and his wife drove it most of the time to her job as a hospital administrator. Oil change sticker said it had just been done 1K before I bought it and the records went as far back as they owned it. It also had a handicapped tag on it.

So..no...aren't playing the "bought a poor abused Infiniti" card.

I didn't think an Infiniti and a VH41 should smoke at extended idle either but this one does even though the engine is clean as whistle inside. Plenty of power and runs whisper quiet but it likes it's oil. If you guys can stand to watch it I can make a video of it

There's no suspension switch on this car. Must be another year you are thinking of. There's a switch blank there but no switch. Never was. It's stiff because it's a Touring and it had to be better than a base model.