2006/08 M45 vs 2011 M37 (Higher Mileage)

[jscro626]

Newbie here, almost completely unfamiliar with Nissan/Infiniti besides an Altima I owned in the early 90's so I come to you for a little guidance.

I think I want a 2006-2008 M45 for about $15-17k. I've found a few in the 50-60k mileage range at this price point. I think I want the sport package specifically for the 19 inch wheels. I've always replaced the wheels on my car, but now married with a 1 year old, my wife isn't going to be happy if I drop $1.5-2k on wheels on tires. I'd definitely not be upset by the sports suspension either. My last two cars have been heavily modified, including suspension work.

While looking around for cars though, a couple of 2011 M37's have popped up. These are cars with 75-78k on the clock, both for $19k. I'm not crazy about the looks of the cars with the base wheels, as the wheel gap looks pretty silly. However, I am crazy about the tech inside and the interior looks nicer. Spending basically 20 grand on a car with almost 80k on it seems kind of stupid to me, but if i really step back and consider the whole thing, it's car that's 3-5 years newer with better tech. I only drive maybe 10-12k a year. Maybe I should consider it?

My priority is pretty evenly split between performance, and interior comfort. I'd like my baby to be able to sleep in the car. My current car is a kidney buster due to the suspension setup. Reliability is also paramount. Also, the idea of having a V8 growl coming out of the tail pipes is really appealing. I've had German cars with higher mileage and huge repair bills. While I loved them, I really want to do routine maintenance and that's it. I'd be keeping this car for at least 6 years, maybe longer.

So, what say you?

[Ilya]

As someone who had an 07 M35x and now has a 2011 M56x, I'd go with the older one IF (caveat) you have maintenance records. Older cars that weren't driven a lot, if not maintained, are actually worse than ones that've been driven a bunch IMO.

[Larz]

It's fairly well known that I am also a fan of the 06-09 Ms over the current Ms and the Q70. I have had an 07 and currently have an 09. I absolutely loved both, but the 7-spd gear box on my 09 is a major improvement over the 07. Also, our side mirrors are normal sized and sporty while the newer Ms have big square mirrors that look too large from inside the car (in my opinion). I rather fancy the blue-white color of the instruments over the amber color in the 07. I recommend you look for an 08-09 with reasonable mileage that has been maintained and cared for.

As for changing the wheels / tires .... I completely agree. I went to a 19-inch wheel and 4 of them plus tires and new TPMS were just over $2,000. I got them from Tire Rack as a combo deal (wheels + tires + TPMS). They will mount them, balance them, and install the new TPMS for free. Then ship them to your local tire shop who merely has to install and align. It took about 3-4 days to arrive. I bought 255/19/40 Hankook Ventus S1noble2 and 4 Advanti "Lupo" 19 x 8.5 wheels. Then I found some aluminum OZ wheel cap decals since I couldn't find Infiniti decals and the old Infiniti caps were too small to just swap on. ( I didn't fancy the wheel caps that came with the Lupo wheels.)


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