I found an ad for a 1994 Stone White color Q45, and the pictures are horrible. I'm assuming this is a pure white color, and not the pearl white which I like. Is this correct? Also, what is the correct color name of the pearl white models? I call it pearl white, but I don't know if it is the exact name.

Most of you have read my previous posts on how my wife wants me to buy a 2000 model vehicle or newer, for reliability reasons. Well, i'm at the point of where i'm ready to tell her to f*ck off - i'm getting what car I want. If it's not good enough and she doesn't think it's reliable enough, she can trade in her POS Ford Escort (it truly is a piece of junk), and get her own "reliable" car. We'll see after a few years which one is more reliable, and cheaper to maintain/fix. Her d*mn tie rods go out every 3 years. On Christmas day, the right one went out on the highway going 60 mph. That was fun... NOT!

KH1 = Ivory (Pearl) Quartz

There is no flat white for that year, although I have seen it rarely in other years.

Could it be CK0 = Beige Silk?

I like your new objectives, if you can find one in great shape and low enough mileage. Service history will go a long way towards determining which car to buy, more than color or options, if you are wise.

early year q had a basic white,non metallic or pearl called cotton i believe. boring!

Correct. "Cotton White" was a rare color for the 90-93 models.

Ivory Pearl Quartz ran from 1990-1996.

qship96 wrote:early year q had a basic white,non metallic or pearl called cotton i believe. boring!

Correct. 1991 had 621 = White Cotton.

Is Gniknaves car the cotton white then? I am partially color blind

I got an extended lunch today and drove out to take a look at the car (25 miles away). Unfortunately, we were having a pretty heavy snowstorm, and they didn't allow potential buyers to test drive vehicles in snow, without being preapproved through them for a loan. Sure, whatever. I'm not financing through them anyhow, and I would have raised more of a stink if it didn't take so long to get out there with the snow - I basically had 5 mn's before I had to get back on the road and get back to work. I told them i'd be in next week to test drive it.

Some interesting things I figured out, and maybe I could get some ideas and help. First of all, the first time I started the vehicle (They allowed me to start it at least), it cranked over for maybe 2 seconds, and caught. It seemed a little slow to me, but the 1998 I drove last week started similarly. I let it run for 1 mn, and then shut it off and restarted. Or at least I tried. It turned over, but wouldn't catch. I tried 3 times. I went inside to tell them, and they all looked at each other. Someone mentioned "maybe it's an anti-theft thing. Try locking and unlocking the car again". The salesman went out to do this, as I rolled my eyes. I tried starting it up again, and it took longer to catch than the first time, but it did start. Any thoughts on this?

This may also have a bit to do with the starting - from what I can tell, this Q has been at this lot AT LEAST since Mid August, so 6 months if not longer. The temp outside was around 20 degrees farenheit - nothing horrible. The dealer is very small - they have about 50 cars on the lot. The asking price of this 1994 Q45 is $6,995 (121,000 miles) - nearly $2,000 over the blue book value. The interior was extremely good (I found no cracks in the leather), but there was 4-5 tiny spots on the hood where paint was missing, and there were tiny spots of rust on them (smaller than pebble sizes). Are these easily fixable, or after rust starts is it all over? What are peoples thoughts on the length of the car sitting on the lot? It is in the northern suburbs of our city - we call it hicksville, where people wear ski-doo jackets, drive big pickups, and is the capital meth producing county in our state. It may not be a ride people up there look for, or maybe the dealer just isn't budging on the price? (I'm not at the point yet to talk about prices with them, and it looks like I don't need to be in a rush). They claim it was a one owner vehicle, but they have no vehicle history for maintenance, etc. The VIN # is JNKNG01D1RM261418 if anyone would want to verify this - they say they use carfax on all their vehicles, but I can't trust a dealership to show everything...

Also, what about the AC in 1994's - is it the old freon, or the newer stuff? IS there a good way to test the AC in cold weather? Go from heat to AC? I wish I would have remembered to check to see if it was a Touring model, but I was in a hurry, and the car was a bit covered with snow. I will get a better look next week.

About the starting issue, If it is driven everyday it should be OK. I run the family dealership and I run into this all the time and it's really noticeable on cold days when ran for such a short amount of time. (why did you only run it for 1 minute? Should have let it warm up)

About the one Owner thing. You don't need a carfax to tell that. Ask them to come up with a title or a copy of it. It should say "purchased new" or "Purchased used" on it or just check the miles that were on the car when the title was issued. If the miles were extremely low on the title, it is more than likely a one owner car. If it says it had more than say.......10,000 miles on it, I would start asking questions.

Price, That is a bit high. This car better be showroom PERFECT for that money. I'm willing to bet they want to sell it. Haggle with them and see what happens. I never price over KBB considering that number is crazy too. I would think $5000 is a fair price if it's a nice car.

One more thing. Just because they are small is no reason to not take them seriously. Small dealers have every bit as nice of a car as the big guys. In my case, our cars are better.

In this dealers case, it sounds like they want to make money off of the financing anyway. I don't even do financing. Anybody who wants our cars is Ok to handle that on their own. I just concentrate on having the best car in the area at the best price.

Anyways, I hope everything works out. If it does, you will love the car. I can promise you that.
Modified by Q_SHIP at 3:43 PM 2/9/2006

Yeah, it probably wasn't the smartest to let it run for 1 mn then restart it. Like I said, I was in a rush, and I was questioning the first start. I wanted to get in and ask a few questions before I had to leave.

I have no problem with a small dealership, or a large dealership. i guess my thoughts on the small dealership was that they don't have the high turnover, so they need to sell every vehicle at top dollar to be profitable. I'm no dealer, but I could see at a large dealership if a car sat there for 6+ months, they'd price it to move and get something in there that would sell to make a profit. Does that make sense? I can just see them not budging on the price, and less so if I am not financing through them. I have never bought from a dealership, only private sellers (where I was happy with the listed price), so this is a little new to me.

What about the tiny rust spots? Is this something that could be sanded/buffed out, and repainted? They are very small, so even touch up paint would not be noticable.

Personal;ly Id give 5k if it was all nice and such.

I know Q45's are going well over blue book in my area. They are quite hard to find around here and to find one in good condition is extremely hard.

I paid under 3 for mine, but to be honest, I wouldnt have flinched if it was even 5k. Its all down to your choice and your money. Make sure you have some cold hard cash laying around after purchase if you want to truly keep and experience said car to the fullest.

Good Luck!

the_franchise wrote: i guess my thoughts on the small dealership was that they don't have the high turnover, so they need to sell every vehicle at top dollar to be profitable..

Actually, you can "usually" find better deals at the smaller places. We have way less overhead. We don't have managers making 100k a year. What Im trying to say is these big guys have a big nut to crack every month to make it worth it. I don't know why the small guy that you went to is priced so heavy. Im supprised they are still in business with prices like that. It is a very competitive business these days.

They must be a "buy here pay here" lot that just slams people into a car. Ususally their customers don't care about price. They are just happy to be approved for a loan and be driving away in a car.

First off, the starting thing isn't an issue - normal. The VH45 runs extremely rich at startup, and if you shut it off after only a minute and then try to restart it, it'll frequently be flooded. I'm sure the temps and the long period of sitting also were a factor.

But that price is just too high. As others have said, if this is a peach of a car, then sure, $5000 is a price to consider. For instance, today there's a nice 94 in Texas on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...&rd=1

It's a lousy ad but it looks like a good clean car. These typically go for $2500 - $3500 on ebay.

I'd use that white one as a test driver. You don't really want it, and the dealer needs to get a peek at reality, at that price. There are quite a few Q45s in Chicago - maybe start looking there.

The final factor is always, ALWAYS, the maintenance history of a Q45. Pay $5000 for one that's been meticulously maintained. If it hasn't, you'll be the one who will get to pony-up with the additional $3000 - $5000 it'll take to get it back into highend luxury sport sedan condition.

96Qowner wrote:First off, the starting thing isn't an issue - normal. The VH45 runs extremely rich at startup, and if you shut it off after only a minute and then try to restart it, it'll frequently be flooded. ...

The final factor is always, ALWAYS, the maintenance history of a Q45.

Actually, the cylinder walls are washed free of lubrication by the excess gasoline, thus no compression is possible on the immediate cold restart.

...

Amen.

Just out of curiosity... why would you consider this car over the 1990 model with the updated guides that you mentioned in one of your earlier threads?

At this point 12 vs. 16 years old would be less of a factor to me compared to the mileage and maintenence history... Anything rubber (suspension, hoses, etc) will need to be replaced on either car if it hasn't been done yet at least once.

The A/C should be R134a - so for an ease of servicing issue, that would be one plus for the 94. A minus is the somewhat common broken heater mix door issue - which is a $1000 problem if it happens. That only applies to 94-96 models.

Heath

I have tried contacting the seller of the 1990 model for weeks now, and have received no answer. I assumed it was sold, but I just got word from him this weekend that he was on his honeymoon, and he is coming back into town soon. I will still give that one a look at, but I don't know how much I really like the grill-less look. Besides, the 94 model is the color I really want, and I haven't seen many models of this around. Of course, there will be many more factors in the purchase other than the color, once I get more of a chance to test the car and look at it in detail further.

Q451990 wrote:A minus is the somewhat common broken heater mix door issue - which is a $1000 problem if it happens.

Is this the price to fix w/labor? Is it still a $1000 issue if you fix it yourself?

I saw this quote in another threadQuote »Take your time and always get the Infiniti dealer performed service history first, then have it inspected by a Senior Infiniti Technician if it passes your inspection. Read the buying an early G50 article sticky.[/quote]How much is the average cost of an Infiniti Tech to look over a car? Also, the dealership selling the car does not have any history of the vehicle. If any work was done on this car on any of my 2 local Infiniti dealerships, will they share the records w/me? Also, are the 2 dealerships completely separate? Will I have to contact each one to see if they have records, or do they share information, databases, etc?

the_franchise wrote:1.) Is this the price to fix w/labor? Is it still a $1000 issue if you fix it yourself?

2.) How much is the average cost of an Infiniti Tech to look over a car?

3.) Also, the dealership selling the car does not have any history of the vehicle.

4.) If any work was done on this car on any of my 2 local Infiniti dealerships, will they share the records w/me?

5.) Also, are the 2 dealerships completely separate?

6.) Will I have to contact each one to see if they have records, or do they share information, databases, etc?

1.) See the current thread, although he had the old metal post model. Just exercise the AC/Heat controls to make sure they work.

2.) Depends on the hourly rate and how deep you wan the technician to go.

3.) Then they are not an Infniniti dealer.

4.) If you have a realtionship with a good service writer, you bet. If not, better start one.

5.) Who knows? Call the Secretary of State and check the officers.

6.) Yes and no. The data base is common is common nationally, but the local dealer is not. If the records have been archived at Infiniti, you may have to wait until they are produced. Why you need a service writer in your pocket when you go in. HINT: Start by asking about another Infiniti, even if you do not intend to buy it.

This is the Ivory Pearl with the high gloss 1995

That is a better pic of the color. Below is the pic before I went to look at it. You can see why I had no idea what real color it was. Now that I saw it, I can see the pearl/cream color on the hood in the sunlight. These rims are ugly also. Those 1995 rims are better - was that just an upgrade, or are the 94 and 95 wheels different? I remember seeing those 95 wheels on older models - I think a 1990 once. Maybe they weren't stock either.

Anyway, I am in MN right now, so you can imagine what it looks like here in the beginning of February. Look at this pic, and the green trees in the background. It's been sitting there awhile!

the_franchise wrote: These rims are ugly also. Those 1995 rims are better - was that just an upgrade, or are the 94 and 95 wheels different?

They are the OEM wheels for standard models in 1995-1996. They are not that bad, just no high performance tires available for them.