Can't handle the new car decision stress! My baby Q...

[paranoidjack]

I bought my car in 2005 with 72k on it for $21k, in cash. It was the largest purchase I'd ever made, and I saved the money and bought it outright. The feeling I felt driving home that day, at the ripe old age of 24 and never having had any financial support from anyone since I was 18, was amazing! I felt it for years driving that car. Eventually things normalized and she grew old. As with us, she was aging and there was nothing I could truly do about it. Spending weekends and days off to replace knock sensors, a blown engine, replacing bearings, ball joints, struts, tension rod bushings, starter, pulley bearings, exhaust, became the norm.

I don't have that feeling from her anymore!

So this week I've been looking at cars. Maybe a 07 g35, or 05M, Q, or FX. Nothing seems right!

I can't help but think the sales tax alone would fund some nice repairs for her...


DAMN.

[q45touring]

With those miles when you bought it, how long were you able to drive it before problems started arising??? Don't they generally start arising shortly after 80k miles or so?

[elwesso]

With those miles when you bought it, how long were you able to drive it before problems started arising??? Don't they generally start arising shortly after 80k miles or so?

I think it's really hard to generalize on things like that. Most of the stuff there is age related, like hoses, knock sensors, suspension parts, etc.. Usually that stuff makes it to about 10 years old, regardless of miles.

When you have a decent car already, it's almost always more cost effective to fix it mechanically than to buy new. Realistically, you could spend $3k (parts and labor if you didn't wanna do it yourself) and the car would probably be good for a LONG time. Then you think about what you get after you've spent that 3k.

I think my Q has about another 2 years of driving before I'll need to retire it.. I should have over 250k by then, but the rust is starting to get pretty bad.. No rust on the exterior of the car, but portions of the trunk and inner fenders are starting to rot away.

[paranoidjack]

Yeah - the issues have been consistent, but I'm not angry about any of them. They are all routine maintenance for most any vehicle.

Think I'm going to keep her at least until I pay off 4k of credit card debt. Just makes the most sense, though my rust issues are becoming scary also.

Thanks for the input guys.

[elwesso]

On my car I know, I'm not going to fix the rust.. Seeing how the car will have that many miles on it, it's probably best to just retire it and let it's pieces live on vicariously on another car.

I've driven an M, G37, as well as an M5 and none of those cars really did it for me. I don't think Infiniti makes anything that I would replace the Q with, except maybe an M56 but those are still *way* more than I want to spend. Maybe in a few years when they get down into the low 20s...

Honestly, if you want a car that's a blast to drive, does good in the winter for a RWD car, 6-speed, 400HP, affordable, 25MPG... Get a 1st gen CTS-V.. I had one for a little over a year and I loved it, I would definitely rather have that over a G37, for WAY less money. I sold it because a friend of mine wanted it, sold it for what I paid for it after putting 18k miles on it, and I sold it needing a new set of tires.. I also thought it was kind of redundant to have that car and the Q.

[paranoidjack]

Wes, that is a great suggestion! Just looked at some and they're pretty sweet.

My concerns about buying a Nissan with 100k on it and Caddy with 100k on it are very different though...Never owned a GM product that held up from 100k-200k even 1/4 as well as virtually any import.

[elwesso]

Wes, that is a great suggestion! Just looked at some and they're pretty sweet.

My concerns about buying a Nissan with 100k on it and Caddy with 100k on it are very different though...Never owned a GM product that held up from 100k-200k even 1/4 as well as virtually any import.

Honestly the worst part about that car is the interior. The headliner and all the trim pieces around the headliner are cheap. I could NOT get the headliner to stop rattling at idle, that was very irritating. The seats and dash were acceptable, however the buttons on the radio/nav screen have a tendency for the paint to come off, so that looks bad. The seats are actually pretty nice, and the suede on mine looked pretty nice even after almost 100k miles.

I bought mine for 15k with 76k miles on it. Mine had a new trans installed (weird issue, very uncommon for trans to fail), the updated diff, new water pump, battery and fairly new tires, so I think I got a great deal, and for that matter so did my friend.

Basically the major issues with those cars are the motor mounts, the differential, and those engines like to eat water pumps too, but outside of that they're pretty dang solid. Nice thing is all of those issues won't leave you stranded (unless you let them get real bad), and none of the issues are really that difficult to fix. Probably the only mod I would do to that car is a short shifter, the stock shifter is garbage. Even the exhaust sounds great, has a great sound under WOT and is quiet for cruising.

If you can find one that hasn't been wrecked, has the updated diff (only for 04 and 05), and has a decent interior, it will treat you well. Many of the forum guys have 150-200k without any mechanical break downs (engine/transmission).

[BCC93QT]

Can get you a 2013 Legacy Limited leased 42 months 12k/year for $269 with 1k down until 4/30!

[paranoidjack]

.................

[OwnerCS]

How much are you looking to spend and do you like 5-speed transmissions?

[paranoidjack]

I am at 8-15k. I love 5 speeds, but I need the luxury or close to it of the Q. I have grown cushy and don't want to give it up.