Cant decide to buy?

[Griffinity]

After growing up with Nissan 300zx's.

Past years been leasing Hyundai. Im bored with them.

Found a 2005 G35x black on black.
55,000 miles.

Motor runs great. Shifts smooth. Interior 8/10
Rims are corrodded.
Bumpers look 10 years old. Spider effect, many scratches.
Decent amount of light scratches on body.
Needs brake pads within 5000 miles

Drivers seat was mega loud
Dealer lubed it and it got quieter.

Im probably looking at $10,800 out the door.

Too much or spot on?

I know they paid $7,800 at auction then you need to at buyers fee and transport.

1 owner
Clean carfax.

What do u think?

[Kendahl]

Find a competent, trustworthy independent mechanic with experience on Nissan products and pay him to perform a pre-purchase inspection. A source for good shops is the Mechanics Files tab on cartalk.com. Be sure to tell him that the dealer got the car from an auction rather than a trade in. New car dealers send to auctions the cars they don't want to put on their used lots.

Ask your bank for an estimate of a fair price. It would help to know what options the car has. For example, navigation was part of one package and a sun roof part of another. The Kelley Blue Book web site says $10,600 without considering options. Paying too much for a solid car is better than a bargain on a POS.

55k miles is very little for an 11-year-old car. I would have expected something closer to 150k. I'm not happy about your description of the body and interior. My 2008 G37, with the same mileage, looks nearly new. Mine is garaged and not driven on salted roads during the winter which explains why its body and paint look so good. I have it professionally detailed when the interior begins to look grungy. The only visible signs of wear are scratches on the steering wheel from my thumb nails due to my fumbling for the buttons. I suspect the car you are considering spent its entire life outdoors, was driven in all kinds of weather and got little cosmetic care before the dealer cleaned it up for sale.

[Griffinity]

You make some excellent points. I love the advice of overpaying on a solid car and getting a bargain on a pos.
My neighbor is a master tech for a local infiniti dealer. He really likes the 07+ G35 as far as being more up to date, dual throttle bodies etc.

But 55,000 miles is nothing. Car looks great up until 2 feet away you can see the age. No rust, barely any hood chips, just light scratches that are buffable.
Bumpers need respray.
Im sure drivers power seat will go if it can already get noisy.
Brake pads before next winter.

Tires are great. Interior no rips and is very clean.

But almost $11,000 for 11 years old im having trouble with.

[Griffinity]

Also....they are way more fun to drive than i thought.

No nav.

[Griffinity]

Well im set on wanting a G35x.

The current one i was looking at, the dealer only would take $100 off the asking price of $10,800. My final offer was $10,500 out the door, roughly $9,650 plus tax, fees.
Their best was $10,700 with tax and fees $11,750.
I have a connection to finding out prices of the auction and I know the dealer had total of $8,200 in it. ($7,800 at auction plus 3%fee and ship)

No thanks. Great car, but thats quite alot.

The search continues...

[tmf2004]

I'm in the same boat buddy... i'm ready to dump my Optima and get into a G37 or M37.. something with more power and holds value more...

[Fezzik]

You can almost find some higher mileage G37x's near that price.

[Kendahl]

"But almost $11,000 for 11 years old im having trouble with."

According to the Kelley Blue Book web site, dealer price is $18k for my 2008 G37S coupe with Premium and Navigation packages. That's only two years newer than the one you are looking at. I paid $42k back then to buy it new.

Used car prices depend strongly on buyer demand. When I was shopping for my G37S, I came across an ad for the last air cooled model of the Porsche 911 which was produced from 1995 to 1998. The seller wanted $35k for it. Today, it would sell for $60k.

[Griffinity]

Kendahl: You have some valid points. Lots of differences between 2005 and a 2008. Besides 3 years. Most people in the Chicagoland area know that KBB is a small reference to use, but it's not completely accurate. KBB has the vehicle selling in "good" condition from a dealer for $9,480-$9,920.

An 11 year old car, missing key fobs, bad bumpers, alloy peeling rims, is not worth $11,000+. There are many 05-06 infiniti's with 80-100k miles in the 6-9k range. I'm really looking for a 8/10 infiniti. Honestly, if the 05 had the key fobs and the drivers power seat wasnt extremely loud, I'd prolly change the bumpers/rims in a year or two anyway so $10-$10.5k is worth it for the mileage.

They haven't sold it yet, and who knows, I may still buy her. =)

I will find her. I WILL!