Considering an I30

[Camaro95]

Greetings everyone.

Recently my precious 1995 Camaro has become very ill and will unfortunately need to be euthanized unless a suitable heart donor can be located.

Since owning that baby, my circumstances have changed a bit. It's a great car, fun to drive, excellent for road trips but unfortunately not really suited to hauling groceries or child seats and babies. I'm taking this oppourtunity to change my vehicle type to something more cozy practical.

Prowling the used car lots, I have come across a number of vehicles, namely a 1999 Honda Accord EX, a 2003 Mitsubishi Galant LS, 2004 Galant ES and more recently a 2000 Infiniti I30.

The I30, in theory is definitely the better deal asking only $5800CDN where as the Accord and LS are $9000 and the ES closer to $12000.

What kind of things should I look out for the in the I30? How well will the I30 serve me in the reliability department?

Unfortunately I have not had the chance to take it for a test drive as the snow was really beginning to come down. I understand Infiniti/Nissan attempted to market the I30 as a sports sedan as opposed to a Luxury Sedan. How does it drive? Does it have enough power to feel fast like a sportyish car?

Thanks.

Jared

[DevonD]

Nissan markets the Maxima (or I30) as a 4DSC or 4 door sports car. A maxima SE will have a little bit tighter suspension but I bet the I30 is still sporty enough. I can tell you that the I30 is without a doubt faster and sportier than the other cars you mentioned. And with winter tires it does better than most other FWD cars I have seen. Some maximas came with a limited slip diff. I would imagine it was also optional on the I30’s. Even without the limited slip diff my I have never been stuck in my car. Though you get heavier snow than us here in Alberta I’m sure it will be great.

As for reliability you don't really have much to worry about. The VQ engine in the Maxima and I30 is the only engine series to be on the wards top ten engines list since the creation of the list. Something like 15 years I believe. They are great cars and I love them. But a 2000 for only $5800 is pretty cheap. I would take it out for a good long drive and have a thorough inspection done!

Welcome to Nico and good luck with the car search!

[Rosati]

Your gonna wanna go w/ the I30 Touring Pkg then

Tighter Suspension and lower ride , plus an aero kit and spoiler and much nicer rims

Def worth the $ Plus an extra 5 hp than the max but heavier ; )

[gwr0407]

Hi Jared,

I purchased a 2000 I30T with 140,000 klms. on it and I've been very happy with it. Problems have been few and mostly related to age / wearing which has to be expected on an older vehicle. Ball joints wear a little prematurely but other parts seem to hold up very well. There was also a problem with pinging/knocking which I understand is common with the 3.0 and 3.5 liter engines. I solved most of it with colder spark plugs but the real answer seemed to be synthetic oil which also allows me to use regular fuel rather than the recommended premium. The performance is quite good but that's just my opinion. I'm located in Mississauga so I'm using the car in similar weather conditions. Hope this helps. Greg

[Crusher103]

U will love the car for its mix of luxury and its power that it has, it will be nothing compared to ur camaro(assuming its a Z28 or higher), but compared to its japanese competition nothing really stacks up to what it brings to the table

[MCovington]

I have an 01 I30 purchased about a year ago. They are good cars. I checked out a 01 MAxima SE but bought a I30 instead. The Maxima is sportier and a little tighter. The I30 is more of a sport tourer. The rear springs are too soft and bottom out with people in the back seats. I would look for a I30t model .The exterior is better and the wheels are 17". The interior is the same. I will give this I30 to my son in 2 years and I will get me a I35 or I30t if one can be found with low miles. They are getting hard to find.

[Camaro95]

Thank you for the replies. They have been quite helpful. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for the weather prohibited me from making a thorough test run. Turns out the amazing appearance was the best part of it. It had considerable rust underneath including all over the exhaust and cat converter. And wheel bearings in the front two wheels were on the way out.

A little too much work as far as I can tell. I'll either get him to fix the Cat atleast or drop the price enough. If he refuses either, or other problems are found... I think I will just rebuild the Camaro. It will save the guess work and the time.

Any other comments or suggestions would be really nice!

Thanks.