G37 Owners Must Read!!!

[CougarRed]

StevetheTech wrote:

"Instead of debating the cost v benefits anyone looking to this thread should really consider purchasing an Infiniti Elite maintenance package. It covers ester with no question and will pay for itself within the first 30k."

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How much does that cost, Steve?

One of the reasons I purchased the G37 is because it is so easy to maintain WITHOUT going to the dealership.

I change my own oil. Each oil change costs me $6 for a PureOne filter plus the cost of the oil of my choice. Which will NEVER be Nissan Ester oil. You couldn't pay me to use it. Usually, my oil will cost between ~$15 and ~$35 for 5 quarts. So, ~$20-$40 per oil change.

The engine air filters are an easy 2-minute Do It Yourself (DIY) project. Parts vary. The Wix filters are the cheapest at $7 each, and OEM are $17 each. So $14 to $34 per air filter change. Infiniti recommends this every 15,000 miles on their Premium plan, or every 30,000 miles normally. Haven't gotten there yet. I'll do it every 10,000 - 15,000 miles.

The cabin air filter is a 20 minute DIY project. You simply have to take off the glove box door to get at it. Wix makes a $15 cabin air filter. Infiniti recommends this every 15000 miles. I'll do it every 10,000 - 15,000.

Tires are supposed to be rotated every 7500 miles. Discount Tire does that for me for free.

I replace my own wiper blades as needed at $25 per pair (RainX Latitudes purchased from Amazon).

I figure with 8 oil changes, 3 air filter changes, 3 cabin filter changes, 4 tire rotations, and 6 wiper blade replacements, I'm out ~$600 MAXIMUM in maintenance over the first 30,000 miles unless I need: 1) brake work, or 2) to replace my tires. For me, 30,000 miles will be about 48 months.

Steve - can you get me an Elite Service plan for $150 a year that covers all my oil changes, air filter changes, cabin filter changes, tire rotations and wiper blade replacements?

I do plan to take my car to the dealership every 30,000 miles so they can inspect everything for me unrelated to oil, oil filters, air filters, cabin filters, tires, and wipers. Aside from that, I don't ever plan to take my car to the dealership.

[SteveTheTech]

I do not personally deal with selling of maintenance contracts. If I were to take a stab in the dark I would say it is about $1500 for a 60k contract, whether that is ever in the ball park would really depend on a few variables. There is a sponsor on Nico that deal with extended warranties and maintenance contracts.

I cannot imagine $600 for 30k of maintenance. Although I may not agree fully with your time tables or products at least you are doing it. If you are saving so much money on the servicing why not buy a case of Nissan OE filters with a bag of copper crush washers? They have the anti drainback valve the engine really likes, most generic filters do not.

Also be careful if you are thinking of doing your own coolant flush. At least 28inHg needs to be applied to the cooling circuit for at least 30 seconds before refilling the system.

[Poyzinous]

My dealer (Infiniti of Thousand Oaks) quotes a $29.95 price for an oil/filter change. That is not close to the prices mentioned in this thread. Do you suppose they are not using the Nissan oil? You can bet I'll ask when I have my first oil change.

definitely not ester. Synthetic blend at the very best.

I change my own oil. Each oil change costs me $6 for a PureOne filter plus the cost of the oil of my choice. Which will NEVER be Nissan Ester oil. You couldn't pay me to use it.

I do plan to take my car to the dealership every 30,000 miles so they can inspect everything for me unrelated to oil, oil filters, air filters, cabin filters, tires, and wipers. Aside from that, I don't ever plan to take my car to the dealership.

You wouldn't use free Ester Oil? That's ignorant, and a weak argument.
Having your vehicle serviced regularly at the dealer is good because you get work done right, you have little to no responsibility for work failures, and good dealer history means much higher likelihood of goodwill work done at little or no cost to you on expensive items when the warranty is up. A benefit potentially worth thousands

[SteveTheTech]

Yeah but for $600 that is a risk that might be worth the savings.

But yeah Cougar I would keep as much in the form of records as you can.

[g37man]

The best thing to do is buy your own oil say Mobil1,take it to the dealer and let him change the oil
using your choice and putting in the Nissan filter.

This gives you the benefit of using the dealer in case there is a problem,you will get a credit
for the oil you bring against the cost of the oil change the dealer will charge.

Is it cheaper than doing yourself,no! but for a few bucks more,it is on record with your
dealer,any problems he will be responsible,plus I hate removing the flap that covers the G37
engine underneath and he will check other items while the car is in the shop.

My dealer charges $54 plus a complete inspection,buying my Mobil1 5 Qts at Walmart
cost about 22 for Mobile 1 and around $27 for Mobil1 EP credit $17 for the oil Infinit uses
so total change runs around $59-67 and I don't have to get under the car.

Now do I trust the kid changing my oil,I watch him do it at a distance and ask questions
of the mechanic working on my car,they know me and they know I am a nut when it comes
to my G37.

[tanpapabear]

II think the most important thing that Infiniti could do is to fix this problem that seems common amongst many G’s that have been purchased or leased. We had a 2007 G35 that had no noise at all. We traded it for a new 2010 G37 lease in June. The noise started in September and finally in November after a few tries to the dealership they were able to hear it. They asked us to bring the car in for a few days as they claim they have not had this noise before and needed to identify it. The car went in on the 22nd of November and as of today the 28th of December the car is still in the shop. Yes, we have had a loaner but not equal to what we are paying for each month. No navigation, no XM, no auto start and actually the first loaner had no Bluetooth until we demanded a different loaner. With all this being said, they replaced the right side head thinking this would solve the issue but instead had a timing issue that now requires the entire engine to be replaced. The current mileage is 5583. We have tried to work with Infiniti consumer’s affairs but without any success other than being told a few more days. They did offer an extended warranty yesterday on a lease car that will not need extended warranty. Today we have made arrangements with a “Lemon law” firm and they will now deal with the situation. I truly am very disappointed with Infiniti on their handling of this situation especially at the corporate level. Lack of return calls and no compassion or care for the situation. To top it off I drive a 2009 Infiniti M35X coming up on the lease in 10 months. How many driveways have two new model Infiniti’s sitting in them?

I would have kept quite on this issue but when the consumer’s affairs specialist hung up the phone on me yesterday I thought I can not sit quietly any longer. I truly believe this noise issue is a bigger issue and others are not coming forward. And to top it off I thought last week in the loaner G37 from the dealership we heard the same noise to confirm my finance just told me it is just as loud in the loaner now too. If the oil is the issue then why in the loaner that belongs to the dealership now making the same terrible noise and why would they replace a head and now engine to fix the issue?

We leased another Infiniti (3rd within 4 years) thinking this was again another premium quality vehicle to find so much differently. I will look forward to see what the outcome is with the Lemon law in the state of NJ as corporate Infiniti left me no option!

We are saddened by this as we like our cars very much….but not this embarrassing noise and most importantly how Infiniti consumer affairs is handling this situation.

[SteveTheTech]

That sucks....

Welcome,

But this really isn't the place to vent. Please try the General Discussion forum.

Good Luck.

Keep calling until you get the answer you are looking for. Hang up and call back if you don't get the right answer. The issue is now completely out of the hands of the dealer (that happens once you called CA) so for anything you are going to need to go through corporate.

[Xyrium]

Why is this a sticky? It contains far too much false information.

[audtatious]

Why is this a sticky? It contains far too much false information.

What information is false?

[Xyrium]

I think CougarRed's post says it all, but especially the "requirement" to use this oil or have your warranty voided. Maybe it should just be cleaned up a bit if it's going to be a sticky.

[SteveTheTech]

Lame first post.

Not a bad point.

This thread has been stuck years and it shows the evolution of the ester debate. Other than that the technical information is sound and remains true. Wording in the manual has been contested for years, but no one doubts the efficacy of this product. The primary point of contention comes from the unit price. If the oil where $10 less it would still be debated on these forums.

Our forum tries to make information hard to miss....unlike others.

[audtatious]

I think CougarRed's post says it all, but especially the "requirement" to use this oil or have your warranty voided. Maybe it should just be cleaned up a bit if it's going to be a sticky.

Paul, if you (or another member) care to create a thread synopsis to be added to the first post then I'd gladly add it. I personally have not followed this thread, might be time for me to do my own documentation.

[PalmerWMD]

OK I have not gone over the entire thread, but I wish to add a couple things anyway, hopefully the below makes sense and isn't too jumbled:

a) yes as has been speculated here any ester based oil is a group 5 and this is what this is if it is inndeed a ester base stock.
b) This oil came out originally for the VQ37 since it is a hotter running engine than the VQ35.
The REASON Nissan Went to an ester based oil is because it wanted a popular EPA test friendly 5w-30 viscosity grade oil and STILL be able to have great protection for a VQ37 in a sports car application which is the 370Z.
the more you stay with a thin oil (for a performance application 5w-30 IS thin, despite its wide distribtution) the more you need to go to a high tech oil to have thin film break resistance and oxidation resistance, because this is hard to accomplish with a 5w-30.c) other engines such as many VW and Audi engines have the same need and VW corp solves this by recommending 40 weight s(or in the past even thicker) oils wherever it can .
d) The gent who asked about his G35: no need for you to use this oil unless you do aftermarket turbocharging ,supercharging or anyting else that significanctly alters the oils behaviour in your engine.
e) I have to check with the Nissan Serv Dept but I seem to remember that it is strongly recommended for the 370Z's (perhaps near mandatory) who have the VQ37 engine. They are sports cars and as such are expected to to be run harder than a GT that the G37 is, and yet these 370's are expected to be filled with a 5w-30.
This application was likely the original reason for coming put with this oil.
f) You can duplicate the performance of this oil with any group 5 oil (Redline , Motul) or some of the better group 4 oils. For most applications this will we be overkill.
You can also duplicate this oils performance by going to the next thicker grade at a less high tech oil ( group 4 or even group 3) which will then be cheaper, (and lose a fraction of an mpg in a typical city short run cycle)
g) I have a VQ35 aftermarket supercharged and use a Mobil 1 0w-40 in winter and sometimes year around. (When I'm broke I use Valvoline 10w-40 Durablend year around.) I NEVER use a 5w-30, but I know I could use a 5w-30 IF it was a group 5 oil.

In summary: great oil but not needed for every car or even every VQ :
a VQ35 or even VQ37 will run great and be protected great by M1 0w-40 (group 4) or similiar.

BUT if you autoX and dont have an oil cooler on a VQ37 this or a similiar oil is almost mandatory if you stay with a factory recommended 5w-30 ....(but if you go to a 10w-40 or some such grade a less high tech and therefore less expensive oil will protect equally.)

Hope this wasnt too jumbled and made sense to folks and this doenst mean I am not recommending this great Nissan oil I just wanted to explain the how and why a bit.

Fred..

PS: the EPA mpg testing cycle is heavily scewed toward short trip and cold(ish) running fuel economies.
As a result OEMS give the EPA cars with as thin oils to test.
the EPA tells the OEMS they have to tell their users to use a given viscosity if they want to use it in the testing cycle.
This is the reason for OEMS are telling users 5w-30 is the only or at least the preferred oil (some go even thinner).

I have the memo somewhere on an old computer on pdf...

And this is what drives some of the oil spec requirements now of some OEM's which will often mandate a thin running for fuel eoconomy when cold and add this to thier spec sheet what an oil must meet, so publsihed OEM oil spec sheets often are not only specs for protection as most people seem to tink but for fuel economy...

[SteveTheTech]

The REASON Nissan Went to an ester based oil is because it wanted a popular EPA test friendly 5w-30 viscosity grade oil and STILL be able to have great protection for a VQ37 in a sports car application which is the 370Z.

It has nothing to do with the fact that the VQ37 has VVEL?
Huh... Interesting theory.

[PalmerWMD]

Ester based oil do fine with VVL but thets just one feature and one they share with other group 4 oils (tho ester is usually better but this also depends on oil viscosity, oil temperatures used and other factors)

The main advantage of them is the ability to provide a higher resistance to film tear, than group 4 (and of course anythign else below) for a given viscosity.

[SteveTheTech]

Yeah that sounds interesting. I'm guessing your a BTOG fan?

I think it has allot more to do with the VVEL.

The patented Ester formula is only a small additive in a coconut (? this is a really old thread my memory is a little foggy) derived oil in this case. Most of us just use it now as an additive. There is no doubt that it works at adhering to the internals of the very complex valvetrain and to degrease the likelihood of damage on initial startup caused by low oil pressure. It is not a miracle but cheaper than some of the bottles of crap people dump in their cars.

[audtatious]

Fred knows his oil....

[PalmerWMD]

Steve: I read a lot of your posts laely and learned a lot from them.

Matt: Thanks

[SteveTheTech]

We are all here to exchange information and ideas and help make sure people have as much good information about their cars as possible. You are a respected member of this group and I like the ideas you bring to this conversation.

This thread and others in their hayday burned me out on the great oil debate, but it is good to exchange ideas about this still relavant topic.

The companies stand on this has changed but I really think that there is something special about this oil.

If you have never had a chance to feel it open a bottle and check it out.

There was one time (idk if it is mentioned in this thread but...) we replaced an engine in the 37 and after having it sit for about 1.5 months there was still a sheen of oil on the cams. It had only had ester. I've used this in clients cars with VK motors that sit for a while to try to aid the clacking noise on startup and it seems to work. It is no fix but it helps a bit.