Buying a high mileage M35X - any gotchas?

[avenger1976]

Hi all,

I am new to the Infiniti brand, although have owned and Acura and a Lexus before. I have seen a very very nice 2006 M35X that is fully loaded and equipped with almost all options, which I am interested in. I have taken it for a spin and it seems to drive very well. However, the only issue I see is that it has 160,000+ miles on it. The owner seems to have maintained it well, with regular service.

What I wanted to check with the experts/owners on the forum here is if there are any things I need to be careful about before the purchase? Any potential issues/high ticket expenses that might be coming my way soon as soon as I own it. I am going to get it inspected at an Infiniti dealer this weekend, but wanted to hear from the forum members before I spend the $300 for the inspection.

On the inspection, the dealer is quoting an additional $70 for the compression test on the cylinders. Is that required? The engine seemed to be firing well and having good power.

Any help/guidance is appreciated

~ P

[pedsemdoc]

Avenger1976,

I would start by asking to see the service records to check if there have been any nagging/recurrent problems or issues
1. burning oil?
2. when were the brakes last replaced?-- OEM brakes seem small for a car this heavy and lots of guys have gone to aftermarket pads and rotors, or if you've got the cash - upgraded to the Akebono big brake kit (BBK)
3. have they upgraded the Nav disk?
4. did they do the accelerator pedal/ECM reprogram (factory recall)?
5. Some guys have had issues with the front seat rail breaking and then their seat flopping and shifting during cornering

overall the VQ engines seem to have fewer problems compared to the VK (wrt oil consumption) although, I own a 2006 M45 that has over 100,000 miles (daily driver with highway and city miles) on it and I've had 0 problems with the engine.

I would think with 160k on the clock, you should probably notice issues with the engine when taking the car for a test drive

few folks have had valve cover/seals leak

maybe some M35x guys can chime in if there are specific all-wheel drive issues that have bothered them...

gl with the process, and if you end up buying - Welcome to NICO!!

Craig

[avenger1976]

Hi Craig,

THanks for the reply! I appreciate it. I will remember to check all the things you mentioned.

I just spoke with the Infiniti dealership to which the car has been going for service since it had 41K miles on it (for the last 6 years). The dealership says that the 30K mile service was performed at 130K, tires were replaced at 130K, brakes replaced at 150K, oil changes and maintenance has been regular (although oil changes did slip occasionally). During the last check at 150K, the only recommendation they had was rotors resurfacing, which was done. It seems to have a clean carfax as well

I have a buyers inspection scheduled at the Infiniti Dealership this weekend (is that a good idea???). Hopefully it might throw up anything else that is not obvious. Here is a list of the latest list of service performed (beginning with the last one):

153,253 - Oil and filter changed, Air filter replaced
149,013 - Maintenance inspection completed, 7,500 mile service performed
138,635 - Maintenance inspection completed, Oil and filter changed
130,888 - Maintenance inspection completed, 30,000 mile service performed, Four wheel alignment performed, Tire condition and pressure checked
120,469 - Maintenance inspection completed, Engine oil system flushed, Four wheel alignment performed, Tire condition and pressure checked
116,051 - Maintenance inspection completed, Tire condition and pressure checked
109,581 - Maintenance inspection completed, 15,000 mile service performed, Tire condition and pressure checked
101,653 - Maintenance inspection completed, 30,000 mile service performed, Power steering fluid flushed/changed, Tire condition and pressure checked, Transmission fluid flushed
92,888 - Oil and filter changed, Air filter replaced,
70,595 - Maintenance inspection completed, Oil and filter changed, Tire condition and pressure checked
41,676 - Maintenance inspection completed, 7,500 mile service performed, Engine oil system flushed

[pedsemdoc]

Records look ok...not as meticulous as some of the owners or myself

Did they tell you what all they were going to check for with the Infiniti buyers inspection?
I think I would need to see a specific itemized list of things they were "checking" if I were paying $300.
There are a few folks who'd recommend with high mileage:
flush/replacement of all fluids:
transmission: done at 100k
power steering: done at 100k
oil system: done at 120k

brake system?
Coolant/radiator?
differential? (M35x has front and rear - so both)

they routinely check many items during scheduled visits to the Infiniti dealer (air/engine filter, oil, brakes, coolant, etc) so if the dealer is decent, again you'd think they would have checked or recommended these items in the course of servicing the car.

you may want to state where you live and what "stealership" you are using. Folks might have alternate dealers if available that they trust and have had honest dealings with.

I live near Dallas/Ft Worth - Sewell and Grubbs are both pretty decent. They haven't been overly pushy and have brought certain issues to my attention. I have done quite a few maintenance items myself, but I keep records of those maintenance items and the receipts for any parts/supplies as well.
I tend to go to Grubbs because they are closer to my house.

[DS2009m35x]

I bought my 2009 M35X with 82k; it now has 105k. Every fluid was flushed or changed. Excellent dealer maintenance. Only non-routine issue I have is leaking groaning steering rack.

[avishal26]

I have not had any mechanical issues on my M35x (2006). I have about 105k miles on it now.

With about 160k miles, I would be concerned about the integrity of the control arms, steering linkages etc - hopefully that is all checked in the 'buyer's inspection'. Its not known to be a problem for this car, but 160k miles over bumpy roads can reduce the life of some suspension components.

Otherwise, like others said about accelerator pedal recall, seat rail issue, etc.

Electrical issues I have seen on my M - the headlight auto level (vertical) motor started acting up on the driver's side so I had to dis-connect that. AFS still works like a charm though. Window motors seem to have slowed down slightly but still work. Electric seats work great and so do the ventilated seats on mine. My RPM needle makes some noises when doing the sweep at the beginning lol - hopefully it keeps working. Not sure if this is a concern down in the states - but the exhaust flanges were rusting on one of my mufflers - it actually broke a few months ago - but relatively cheap fix. (this is not specific to M but to any car that is that old with that many miles...)

Overall these early gen M's seem to be made really well - built to last. Not sure if it is at the same level as a Lexus but pretty damn close I would say!