91 Q45 for $500, prices dropping like a rock, Craigslist

[Victor]

http://orangecounty.craigslist...k=max

[BLACKonBLACK98]

whats really impressive is the axis f50 for sale. i rememeber that car from a few years ago and it still looks good.

payed $900 for my '90... then $5k in repairs. lol.

[Infinitiguy19]

Seems like the more you pay for a used car the less you have to fix right away but there are some exceptions too.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

90-93 q45 = the exception

knowing that you have to rip the engine open as soon as you get it anyway, i don't see why anyone would bother spending much on one in the first place.

unless said person was uninformed of course...

[Infinitiguy19]

90-93 q45 = the exception

knowing that you have to rip the engine open as soon as you get it anyway, i don't see why anyone would bother spending much on one in the first place.

unless said person was uninformed of course...

Kinda meant that but I meant more of: a person might get lucky and get a car with 100K on it and has been maintained like a baby but the owner gets really tired of it and just sells it to who ever buys here first.

[Rex]

The used car market is tough for seller's right now, and any informed buyer of a 90-93 Q45 would require documented proof the chains have been changed or would buy it as a non-op parts car ... which I doubt many sellers would agree to price-wise.

Overall, the used car market is great if you have some cash. I had planned on snapping up a couple cars, but have decided at this point to just set on my funds.

But as the OP noted, Q45's are getting ridiculously cheap in comparison to cars of the same age.

[Infinitiguy19]

And that due to that damn chain guides being plastic and costing an *** load to replace and the high maintenance costs. If only infiniti Issued a recall on those damn guides.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

Kinda meant that but I meant more of: a person might get lucky and get a car with 100K on it and has been maintained like a baby but the owner gets really tired of it and just sells it to who ever buys here first.

we're on the same page but you could easily find a well maintained, low miles q that purrs like a kitten... until the guides snap.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

...and any informed buyer of a 90-93 Q45 would require documented proof the chains have been changed...

more likely would be an informed buyer accepting it as a cost with other associated repairs included rather than searching for an already re-guided q.

afaik it's not an issue that causes a problem until it fails (correct me if i'm wrong) so when i bought mine i just ran the engine for a while, revved it a few times, drove it home, and ordered parts.

[Victor]

I agree Infiniti should have had a recall to fix the chain guide problem for free. Possibly if enough owners had banded together they could have got a class action lawyer to pursue the issue on a contingency basis. I guess one could argue that if a chain guide failure caused the engine to stop working while driving on a busy freeway it would be a safety hazard. Maybe even at this late date a lawyer could win a settlement that made Infiniti retroactively pay for repairs if the owner had it done at their own expense already as a precautionary measure or as a result of an actual failure.

They should also have recalled the Infiniti J30s for the door lock problems almost every owner of an older J30 has experienced, although it might be harder to prove that is a safety issue other than being trapped in your car if there were an accident. The headlight relay problem and dimmer control problem might also be stretched to be safety hazards.

[mr.beeks]

at $500 price you are looking at a parts car or a hooptie..so you either part it out in wich you could make $$$$or drive it till it dies ussually good for 1st driver.

none of us will bother looking at it cause we have experience w/cars.

[Haitian_King]

at $500 price you are looking at a parts car or a hooptie..so you either part it out in wich you could make $$$$or drive it till it dies ussually good for 1st driver.

none of us will bother looking at it cause we have experience w/cars.

Speak for yourself pal. At $500 for a used G50, I'd be all over it if it was closer to me. I figure you can at least make your money back parting it out.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

at $500 price you are looking at a parts car or a hooptie..so you either part it out in wich you could make $$$$or drive it till it dies ussually good for 1st driver.

none of us will bother looking at it cause we have experience w/cars.

yeah ok. since you have so much experience with cars, which i apparently don't, you go pay $3/4/5k for a g50.

i'm going to (read: did) pay under $1000 for a running q with a decent body, extremely clean interior, and no major issues. then i'll spend $621.70 for all 8 injectors and $2100.42 for all under plenum hoses and associated gaskets/ks/harnesses/chain guides and associated parts/spark plugs/and even throw in some new oem brake pads and a couple other misc. parts (i'm sure i forgot a couple things) for a grand total of 3622.12 including the car.

point is you are either going to pay the premium for a perfect car, and still possibly have to do maintenance, or you can get something cheap and spend the same amount making sure it's right. this doesn't apply to every carbut to a 90-93 g50 it definitely does.

the arrogance on this forum never ceases to amaze me.

[mr.beeks]

Speak for yourself pal. At $500 for a used G50, I'd be all over it if it was closer to me. I figure you can at least make your money back parting it out.

OK have you seen how much time and effort it takes to part out and sell a car by parts?

specially w/infinity how long will it take?

I just finished parting out a jetta and it took about close to 2 months or more to sell most of the stuff, still have parts laying around, and not to mention the competition outpricing you on parts.

unless you are really devoted into restoring the car $500 is not a bad price.

at $500 there is a total different market of people, those who saved some money and hoping the car will last for a year without repairs trust me I know those out there that think like that.

[Unnatural1]

I bought my 94 Q45 for $700 with just under 120k on the clock. I basically paid my wife's shop owner for what he had in it in repairs plus $200 or so. The car came with pretty detailed record of maintenance from the last owner. Overall, the Q is in good shape. There are a couple of door dings and spots of touch paint but the paint is glossy. The interior is clean and all the accessories work (including the CD changer).

I changed all the fluids, including a full transmission flush. After a while I noticed an occasional misfire. I checked injector resistance and ended up replacing 4 injectors that were bad or borderline. While I was at it, I replaced the valve cover gaskets with OE gaskets that came with the car!

That was all over a year and a half ago. Today I checked my knock sensors, fuel pump with the lab scope and fuel pressure. Unfortunately, I discovered I have some more work to do. The knock sensors ohmed out at well over 1M ohm and 4.86 volts while the engine was running. I confirmed I was getting 0* ignition advance at WOT. With the FPCU bypassed, the fuel pump gave a questionable waveform and fuel pressure is falling off to around 26-28 psi at WOT (hard to see when driving) with or without the FPCU.

It looks like I've got some parts to buy and some more work to do. It could needs some new tires now and could use a set of belts. But, I've got less than $1500 in the whole thing so far. So...maybe it's a good deal for someone.
Modified by Unnatural1 at 1:01 AM 11/4/2008

[Haitian_King]

OK have you seen how much time and effort it takes to part out and sell a car by parts?

specially w/infinity how long will it take?

I just finished parting out a jetta and it took about close to 2 months or more to sell most of the stuff, still have parts laying around, and not to mention the competition outpricing you on parts.

unless you are really devoted into restoring the car $500 is not a bad price.

at $500 there is a total different market of people, those who saved some money and hoping the car will last for a year without repairs trust me I know those out there that think like that.

In all of the time I've spent here on the board, I have seen first hand how you can easily make $500 from Q45 parts. You're not only limited to other people with Q45's as your market. The G50's MAF and TB are a great upgrade for 240SX guys. They'd love to buy it. Z guys purchase VH's and stuff them into their cars.

But I'm sure you knew all of that in your 8 posts.

[maxnix]

It's nice to have a good shop, the right tools and the skills to maintain one of these cars.

[mr.beeks]

im sure of that how all parts are transferable to cars likeq45suprassentras240's300'sin wich dont get me wrong in wich direction im goingmy point is here is a small number compared to other forumsso if It took me about 2 to 3 months to sell all the parts off my vwand thats a fast forum you post in the AM and by the PM your post will be around pg5 or 6.lets not say lowballers dont want to pay price of parts and think shipping is cheap or free.I will not buy a car just to part it out personally.and to build it up again hells no...

[Haitian_King]

im sure of that how all parts are transferable to cars likeq45suprassentras240's300'sin wich dont get me wrong in wich direction im goingmy point is here is a small number compared to other forumsso if It took me about 2 to 3 months to sell all the parts off my vwand thats a fast forum you post in the AM and by the PM your post will be around pg5 or 6.lets not say lowballers dont want to pay price of parts and think shipping is cheap or free.I will not buy a car just to part it out personally.and to build it up again hells no...

Sentras and Supras?

It just seems like you're making a mountain out of a molehill here. Your experience with VW parts may have little to no bearing on the topic at hand, which is Q45 parts and the merits of purchasing a parts car for $500.

I don't frequent VW boards so I have no idea how part sales go there, however, I've purchased from members of this board and I haven't seen anything half as bad as what you're describing. The market for Q parts here is generally pretty good. Everyone needs spares of something, be it injectors, lights, switches, or in my case even a spare plenum.

I'm not looking to get into a pissing contest here, but I do want to say that it's not a waste of time getting the Q for $500.

[Infinitiguy19]

Personally I would talk them down as far as possible, May be give them some time to see that no one in there right mind will buy it then go back and get it for $100

Never tried it but it sounds like common sense.

But for $500 bucks the engine and transmission have to be somewhat good.

Plus according to Jay or "3Q Jay" Parts go for only 10%-20% of what they cost new, "Most electronics actually go for less than 10% (ECU, TCU, FPCU, head units,…..)"> true or not well on some parts yes and some no but it all depends on how bad they want it.

[Unnatural1]

...But for $500 bucks the engine and transmission have to be somewhat good....

No they don't. You could get just slightly less than that if you sold the whole car as scrap. But, that doesn't take into account the parts individual value.

For $500 you could be getting a pile of rust that doesn't run and/or has a bad transmission.

Of course, my car was only $200 more than that...but I've almost doubled that in repairs.

[mr.beeks]

Sentras and Supras?

sentras w/SER could use throttle body/maf sensor same goes for supras.

vw parts is just an example how fast you could move your parts car.

But im sorry that im all over the place and actually take a pulse of the other markets out there like honda/toyota/subaru and VW is the fastest right now.Yes we always need parts even for reserve heck I picked up an ecu $15 a tcm $15meanwhile other namebrands are selling for a min of $50

so what that tells you is that if you hold your product (infinity) at a high price it will be stuck on your storage for a very long time so might as well sell it cheap.so its good to think out of the box sometimes and have someone w/experience give you some advice if you are planning on making some $$$$so if you had $500 to spend and want to make moneya vw that will rake in close to $2000 at the end of 3 monthsoran infinity that will rake in close to $1200 at the end of 3 months

im not trying to put you down guys but is only facts that im pointing out.

and besides any car could sell for $500 or lessit does not mean that the kbb is $500its just up to the owner to set the price junkyards only pay you up to $150or tax credit.


Modified by mr.beeks at 10:04 PM 11/4/2008