Considering a 1995 Q45 in near mint condition.

[Papa_D]

I am the father of a 27 year old who has fallen in love with a 1995 Q45 but has yet to purchase it which is set to happen Wednesday. I have done my fatherly duty in warning her of the pitfalls of a used car purchase of any vehicle as well as those involved with a 15 year old one and the expense of a luxury ride when repair time rolls around.

We have a mechanic that charges next to nothing for labor but parts are expensive as well and since I believe I am failing in getting her to look at something else, I thought I would ask what to look for with regard to any faults with this vehicle prior to purchase.

I realize that a crystal ball would be in order to determine what repairs this particular vehicle will require but after reading the forum a bit, it seems like it is already due for knock sensors and all the hoses and wiring under the intake and was wondering what else it is "due for."

The vehicle is fabulous looking other than a bit of cracking in the drivers side leather and a very small rip in the drivers side seat about half way up and considering it has 224,000 miles on it and you could eat off any horizontal surface, that is amazing in itself.

Don't get me wrong, I am responsible for having her look at nicer vehicles such as the Q because they are generally cared for better than the average Civic or Neon and in my opinion, if you have to pay to fix a used car, it may as well be something you want to keep for a while.

She had a budget of 4000.00 for a car and this one happened to fit in that category at 3900.00 and since the transmission was fully serviced a month ago to the tune of 3000.00, has 500.00 of brand new tires, new shocks all around last year, nearly new brakes and a new battery, I figured that 3900.00 was more than a fair price and the fact is, I believe the gentleman intended to keep it for much longer but is now getting a good deal on a top of the line Lexus that just came off lease.

The used car market in the Orlando area is tough in that price range, filled with sharks looking to sell a 2000.00 vehicle for 4000.00 but this one really seems worth the coin however I don't want her buying a vehicle she will have to spend another 4000.00 on in the next year just to keep it road worthy and was looking for advice with regard to what to expect to have to repair within the next year or two.

Like I say, I realize that all used vehicles are a crap shoot and this one is particularly expensive to repair but I am having a tough time talking her out of it and the fact is, I don't really want to because I love my Nissan Titan and believe that a love for a particular vehicle makes repairs a lot more tolerable but at the same time, I don't want her biting off more than she can swallow over the next year or two with regard to repair expenses.

Thank you in advance, any advice from the experienced Q disciples is appreciated and welcomed.

Here is a link to the car, it looks that good in real life as well, lol.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/...thumb

[qship96]

" since the transmission was fully serviced a month ago to the tune of 3000.00, has 500.00 of brand new tires, new shocks all around last year, nearly new brakes and a new battery, I figured that 3900.00 was more than a fair price and the fact is, I believe the gentleman intended to keep it for much longer but is now getting a good deal on a top of the line Lexus that just came off lease."

SEEMS like a big red flag to me......who puts that kind of money into a car and turns right around and sells it???? Lexus come of lease EVERY DAYPAY to have the car completely checked out, bumper to bumper, there may be an expensive repair the current owner is trying to avoid doing, therefor why it is offered for sale- very, very common reason most "excellent looking" used cars are put up for sale.....owner say enough is enough, and dumps it.

[Papa_D]

Good advice to be sure but to every rule there is an exception and I honestly believe this one to be it. I have been around the block more than a few times and grew up with 4 brothers so when someone isn't being honest with me, I can generally sniff it out in a hurry.

I also called the shop who serviced the transmission and he has known this guy and car for quite a while and the shop is willing to transfer the transmission warranty over to the new owner as well and in the end, I really believe the guy intended to keep it a while longer but he ended up getting a vehicle from his employer as well.

One thing I didn't mention is that this guy lives in a golf course community, one of the nicest in the area, and doesn't need my money. He had a Lexus courtesy car parked in his garage next to the Infinity so his story adds up in that respect because he said Toyota was performing the recall work on the vehicle before he gets the top of the line Lexus.

He is also a car guy, does his own detailing and has pictures of automobiles adorning his shop and you could literally eat off the garage floor so this isn't your typical "want to get rid of a used car" guy one might run into, shoot, he even took photos of the car being worked on at different times and honestly loved this car.

As far as having a mechanic look at it, if it sounds great, isn't leaking fluids, passes a safety inspection, has no warning lights on and drives like a dream, what's to look at, It wouldn't throw codes with no warning lights would it?

I appreciate the advice to be sure but I honestly wouldn't know what to tell the guys to look for if they can't pull codes and visually the car is perfect, what would you have them look for specifically if it was you?

[Q45tech]

Having spent almost $49,000 for repairs and mainteances over the past 20 years, that averages $2500 per year but peaked at $6,000 and $7,000 during midlife [1998-1999].

Labor costs 45-50% of the repair bill on average vs MSRP parts.

Normally a 10 year old car is only worth 10% of new MSRP or $5,000.A 15 year old car is worth around $2,000.

We have done hundreds of prebuy inspections on pristine exterior/interior 90-96 Q...............everyone of them has need at least $3,000 of mechanical work.

I wwould pay a dealer master technican 2 hours to go over every system to find the hidden faults!

[Papa_D]

When I called the local Nissan dealer that i do business with, they said they would do a safety inspection for 45.00 which sounded good and all but if it's a safe vehicle, what's the point was my thinking.

A full on inspection sounds great but if everything works and there are no tell tail signs of the vehicle being in need of repair, I just don't know what they would do.

Are there some specific diagnostics that I can have them run that find concealed issues such as compression check and what not? I just want to be very specific with the dealer as far as what I want checked out so as not to miss something important on this particular vehicle as I am unfamiliar with the typical issues.

[Papa_D]

I just called the local Infinity dealer who said they would do a free safety inspection and a more thorough inspection for 99.00 but when I asked him if that would cover something like compression checking the engine, he said no, that would be a separate inspection for things like that or transmission pressure tests and so on.

When I asked him what he would check beyond the 99.00 inspection testing if he were going to purchase the vehicle, he said he wouldn't really know where to begin and that he would test whatever I wanted but that there was nothing specific he would test such as compression without a reason to do so.

Is this the typical answer or are there more thorough pre-purchase inspection regiments at different dealerships and what would you gentlemen have tested specifically if you were going to purchase this car?

[qship96]

Personally, if it were me- I would not even consider a 15 year old, 200,000+ mile old luxury car.......I would shop for the newest, low mile car within my alloted budget- much more life LEFT in the vehicle that way, with lower operating costs- but thats me. At 15 years and 200K, all the cheap miles have already been used up.

[maxnix]

One really needs an Infiniti (no letter y!) Senior Technician to inspect it - i.e., one who was trained on the car at its introduction in 1989. There are few left. If today's senior techs may have only at the very best limited experience.

Quite frankly, if your daughter does not have a $6K kitty after purchase, I would discourage. If she has enough interest to get on these boards and search and read the next 24 hrs. prior to purchase, then as a father I would consider subsidizing her as it is a much safer car than a Civic. But if she has no interest in learning how to maintain the car, it will be an expensive nightmare, although not as expensive as a German V8 nightmare.

[Papa_D]

Personally, if it were me- I would not even consider a 15 year old, 200,000+ mile old luxury car.......I would shop for the newest, low mile car within my alloted budget- much more life LEFT in the vehicle that way, with lower operating costs- but thats me. At 15 years and 200K, all the cheap miles have already been used up.

I know what you mean and although I looked at thousands of cars and ran over 200 Autocheck reports, most of them around here in reasonably good condition came with 9 or 10 years of age and 100,000 miles or more and are generally of inferior quality to begin with.

A 1998 Camry with 180,000 for 4500.00 is not uncommon for a well maintained one in this area and the "poser auction" vehicles aren't bringing a lot less so it's a really crappy price point to try and shop for something that may not need a transmission put in fairly soon.

What I advised her was to get a vehicle that was cheap and have a motor put in it and possibly even a transmission because people around here with a fairly good car are way too proud of them price wise. I suppose much of that can be attributed to inflation but you don't get much for 2,000.00 around here and not a heck of a lot more for 4 because it seems as though anyone with a car worth anything is trading it in and a 4,000.00 car turns into a 6,500.00 car on a dealer lot in a hurry.

I thought I had spotted a great deal on an 80,000 mile 2004 Avenger and it turned out the guy disguised himself as a private seller and had purchased a unibody damaged vehicle at auction and was reselling it so that was a bust.

I would also love to help her out a bit and boost her buying price to 7000.00 but being laid off right now and the economy still being in the crapper doesn't make me want to expend any cash I don't have to at the moment so she's stuck in the 4000.00 nightmare shopping range for now.

If anyone knows of a good grandma vehicle that's been well maintained in the area I am all ears but it seems that these days, those vehicles are tending to stay in the family as fewer and fewer want to take on a car payment in this economy. I got pretty desperate for a while and at one point, I even toyed with the idea of ambulance chasing in the retirement communities but didn't feel right about that, lol.

[Papa_D]

One really needs an Infiniti (no letter y!) Senior Technician to inspect it - i.e., one who was trained on the car at its introduction in 1989. There are few left. If today's senior techs may have only at the very best limited experience.

Quite frankly, if your daughter does not have a $6K kitty after purchase, I would discourage. If she has enough interest to get on these boards and search and read the next 24 hrs. prior to purchase, then as a father I would consider subsidizing her as it is a much safer car than a Civic. But if she has no interest in learning how to maintain the car, it will be an expensive nightmare, although not as expensive as a German V8 nightmare.

Sorry about the Y, lol. I have given her all this advice which I appreciate and will leave it up to her, but given the used car market right now, I can't say as I would blame her for throwing caution to the wind and buying this Q based upon all the junk that's on the market in Orlando.

A lot of people are hurting and one way to make money is to jump on a good vehicle as soon as it hits the paper or Auto Trader and there is certainly no shortage of that around here. Typically in the past if you had 4000.00 to spend on a vehicle, it was likely you would use that as a down payment and buy a new one but these days, that may not be the case either and if a buy here pay here place gets a good car, they jack the price 2000.00 and put it on their lot and will finance it which a private seller isn't going to do.

I don't remember used car shopping ever being this painful though and although part of it is certainly the price point, I think part of it is the economy as well and a lot more folks hanging onto some of the good used vehicles out of necessity.

[Papa_D]

Well I talked to her one more time and it seems she is intent on rolling the dice and since it's her money, I can't say much about it. I am afraid I have been a poor influence because I am all too willing to turn a vehicle into a hobby and my last Titan was a real good example.

I took that pig and had it running a 13.85 in the quarter mile which is a real testament to the ferocity of the Q motor platform, the granddaddy of the 5.6L in the Titan these days. I put the Nismo headers, some JWT cams (pre VVT), an UpRev tune, some high flow cats, Zoomers exhaust and a TruTrac differential for posi and was off to the races and having witnessed all this, I am afraid she has been tainted, lol.

Here is the video of the Titan Dyno day which I won two years running and yes, I am the guy in the background yelling "hit her hard, whip it" so as you can see, I am not the best example of how to get longevity out of a vehicle or how to spend wisely on transportation, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYXEKXtTDo

[3Q Jay]

sounds like you and your daughter havealready decided yes. see if the guy will let you take a road trip to Brevard and bring it by. i will give you a critical review.

[Papa_D]

I really appreciate that, it's generous of you to offer but after trying to talk her out of it one more time with no luck, I had to settle for a sale contingent upon it passing an inspection at the local Infiniti dealer.

I imagine it will pass with no problem but I wanted to make sure the vehicle will at least pass the basic safety inspection and I can't blame the guy for not wanting it out of his sight prior to purchase, I know I wouldn't want someone driving around my baby until I had some cash in hand in case something happened to it.

She paid for it today and we pick it up tomorrow, have 48 hours to get it inspected and if it won't pass, I will give it back to him which at this point, I think would break my daughter's heart. We spent about two hours tonight compiling a repair list based upon all his records and I know now why it drives so well after seeing the extensive list of suspension components that have been recently replaced.

I hope she gets many more trouble free miles out of it but the last thing I told her was to plan on replacing it in two years or fixing a whole lot of electrical and rubber parts after that if she's lucky enough to make it that long with no major repairs.

I am grateful for all the advice and I will try to get her to join the forum after I familiarize her with the vehicle some more but she is kind of shy when it comes to technical forums but I will encourage her because I'm sure you folks would make the lady welcome, Thanks again guys.

Best regards,Brian D., AKA Papa_DPresident of the IRC VK56 - International Racing Club for the VK56 engine(Yes, it's silly to race a a big fat brick but some of us just can't resist, lol.)

[maxnix]

Electrics in this generation (other than unmaintained alternators) are not bad at all.

A good shop with a tech that knows the G50 should be able to lay out at least $3K of upcoming work. Did anyone inspect the ATF (PA & AT), brake fluid or look into the valve covers at the varnish level?

[TellarHK]

I'm not one of the "Plan to spend $3K a year" types that are so common on this forum, but I agree that there's a lot to take into account when it comes to buying a Q of this age. The condition of the one discussed here sounds very similar to my own Q, only with another 90K miles on the odometer.

If the price tag were closer to $2K than 4K, it'd be a no-brainer. At $3,900... Well, as the saying goes "You pays your money, you takes your chances."

It sounds like you've told your daughter about all the possible pitfalls, and she's decided it's worth the risk. So good for you, and I hope she enjoys the car.

It may take more money to fix when things _do_ go wrong, but fortunately a little basic maintenance and a close watch on problems before they bloom into something bigger will go a long way to minimizing the chance of what really is inevitable at this age.

[Q45tech]

Peoples standard vary. I assume anyone who buys a 90-95 Q45 wishes to have it perform, ride, brake, and handle at least as well as a brand new one.

Whether the AC is as new or or takes 5-10 minutes longer to cool or never reaches 35-40F at center vent usually adds annual cost to the $3,000 down and $2500 per year.

Without a removable HVAC filter extra frequent work in cleaning evaporator, fan, and HEATER CORE takes serious time, especially on those with more than 100k.

[goody90q45]

I really appreciate that, it's generous of you to offer but after trying to talk her out of it one more time with no luck......

Now that the Q is in the family you and your daughter should take the time to meet up with Jay. I've met him a few times and he is a very pleasant and knowledgeable multiple Q45 owner that can show you how to do easy diagnosis and preventative maintenance that will keep your daughter's Q running as nice as his stable of Infinitis.

Pour a bottle of Redline S1 Fuel Injector cleaner in a half a tank of gas and take the drive to Cocoa Beach on a day when a rocket launch is scheduled. Jay knows a little about those also.

[Epod]

While you are at the Infiniti dealer getting the inspection, see if you can sweet talk them into printing a complete maintenance history. They may not be willing to, since you aren't quite the owner yet, but it can't hurt to ask. If you see that it's been to the dealer regularly during its career, that's a good sign that the owner was willing to spend money to have experts keep it in shape.

Also, if you see that it's had some of the expensive jobs that can come with age (the under plenum hoses, injectors, etc.) done in the last 50k, you can take comfort knowing that you probably won't need to do those again for a while.

If you end up with the Q, this forum can be a great asset.

[Lady Q]

hi papa, you can buy mine, its listed in the for sale part of this forum, and has only 93 k miles,

rob

The car was for me. I like your car and it looks really nice. I already bought the car and absolutely love it. I however did not have $4500 to spend only had $4000 so that is what I got.