Just Bought a 2000 AE

[my12by60]

I am loving the car so far. The color is pewter, which I like, and the mileage is 101K. I have a fairly complete history on the car, which has been in Phoenix for its entire life (so zero rust). First owner was a guy that had it on a lease and put on about 20K miles with receipts for oil changes every 3K. Off to a good start. The next owner, however, was a lady that was a bit slack on the maintenance and cosmetic care of the vehicle, although she did complete some of the more high dollar repairs that I am glad to have out of the way including (most recent first):

rack and pinion
oxygen sensors
power steering reservoir and hoses
alternator
radiator and hoses
front and rear brake pads
front tension rods, shocks, struts and strut bellows
blower motor
power steering pump

Hitman referred me to a good mechanic who looked over the car yesterday. He said the rear shocks were leaking and pointed out some oil leaks. I decided to use some degreaser on the engine today with a light hose rinse to clean off some grime and better understand the source of the oil leaks. When I took off the engine cover, I saw quite a bit of oil (moist and built up) around what I believe is the called the right vtc solenoid. This is the item that is directly beside the oil fill cap and that looks like a spark plug socket with a wire harness connection coming out of the top.

Is that part known to leak oil somehow?
Does the leak mean the part or just a gasket or sealant needs to be replaced?
Can anybody direct me to a link for the part and/or gasket?

Are the rear shocks an easy DIY job or is more involved due to the fancy Q suspension?
Do I need just shocks or do I need the combined shock and coil over (excuse my ignorance)?
Any product recommendations for me? Not looking for the best, just a solid replacement part at a good price.

I remember sitting in the first Q45s when they hit the lot at Infiniti of Scottsdale in 1990 and really liking the car. The cost was just too much for a young guy back then. I bought this car for $3,500, which may have been a bit high based on all the little projects that I have had to do including:

Completed:
hood struts
antenna mast
rebuild center vents to synch rear air fin movement (little plastic connecting sticks had fallen off)
fuel filter

In Process:
replace fog light with broken lens (bought one on ebay for $30)
shim up sunroof to eliminate wind noise a highway speed (not sitting flush to roof gasket)
3 door checks (only rear passenger door holds its open position)

To come:
oil and filter and install Fumoto valve (Mobil 1 5w-30, Mobil 110 filter)
rear diff fluid
transmission fluid (I think I will do the multiple drain and fill method using the pan bolt to dilute the new fluid in)

Original spark plugs are still in place. I think I will save that project for later as the car seems to be running good and I read quite a few posts here stating how long the plugs can last. And I am not touching on some of the cosmetic work that the car needs: both bumper skins dinged up quite a bit, driver seat base has tear in the leather, and a few other blemishes. Overall, the car looks good at a distance of about 15 or 20 feet. This is a great forum and I have been learning a bunch by reading up. Thanks for any help with my questions above.

[94Q45Beast]

how many miles on you Q?

[my12by60]

101,500

[AZhitman]

Congrats!

You did just fine at that price. The rear shocks are an easy DIY - You'll need a spring compressor, or you can just pull the struts and take the assembly, with your new shocks, to a local shop to have them swapped into the struts.

Have you pulled down the Factory Service Manual yet? Here ya go: www.infinitiservicemanual.com

[94Q45Beast]

101,500 with the maintenance done so far....you scored a fair deal, its a good time/mileage point to change the Valve Cover Gaskets. here's a link where you can purchase OEM

This one is from Circle Infiniti, I had a really terrible experience buying my Valve cover gaskets from them for my 94, sent me defective gaskets and refused to do anything about it. Buy at your own risk .....$53.95

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-FACTORY-OEM ... 6w&vxp=mtr


This also is a genuine OEM valve cover gasket for the 2000 Q45.....$24.56 at 19%off, shipping is 7 bucks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/INFINITI-132706 ... QA&vxp=mtr

[3Q Jay]

REPLACE VALVE COVER GASKETS (PREEMPTIVE) GSKT, ROCKER INF#13270-6P000
GSKT, ROCKER INF#13270-6P010
most likely whats leaking around the VTC solenoid.
suggest 0w-30 M1 AFE, yes even in arizona. been running only that in the fgy33 for 5 years now, and she loves it.
if you do replace plugs, be prepared to replace all 8 coil pax soon after.

[my12by60]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I am wrestling with whether to fully commit to the car that I just bought a couple of weeks ago (I'll call it the Pewter) or stop where I am at with it and purchase a white 2000 AE (call it the White) that came on the market (Phoenix Craigslist) last week. If bought the White, I would just relist the Pewter on Craigslist for $4K or so given the work and maintenance that I have performed.

The seller on the White has his Craigslist ad down right now or I would post the link. He is in Hawaii for a vacation and does not want to deal with calls when he can't show the car. But says he will give me first shot at the car when he gets back in a week and relists. The White has 80,000 miles. His father in-law bought here in Phoenix then he got it from the father in-law about 6 years ago. The seller says that that car is perfect -- paint, interior, mechanicals. I have not seen it yet but I plan to at which time he says he will show me the maintenance history. He wants $6,900 and says he is firm.

The Pewter has spent some time outside of a garage. The paint is not bad, but far from perfect. Everything works in the cabin except the heat, which I did not plan on fixing as I don't need it here in Phoenix. The rear seat is good but the both front and passenger seat bottoms need recovering. Calling around that will probably cost $300 to $400 if I use a modern vinyl, which I think looks pretty nice.

The Pewter drives, rides and shifts nicely, even with what I believe is the original factory transmission fluid still in the transmission. Mechanically, the main issue with the Pewter is the oil seeps. The oil seeps seem to be at the valve covers and front timing cover. Replacing those three gaskets is a big hours job at a shop and expensive. I have been studying the valve covers and it looks like I might be able to handle that myself. The passenger side looks fairly accessible and that side shows much more leakage than the driver side. The driver side valve cover looks like quite a few more things need to be moved to gain access. I don't know how much is involved with getting at the front timing cover gasket, but that may be beyond what I should attempt.

The ask of $6,900 on the White seems a bit high, even if the car is perfect with a good maintenance history. Here is a link to a recent ebay sale for a 2000 AE that seems very similar to what my local seller has for sale.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Infiniti-Q45-IN ... 2045387070

This is a Florida car that looks clean as a whistle with 75,000 miles and it sold for $6,200. The ebay car looks very similar to the White in terms of claimed condition.

I could keep the Pewter, fix the seats, DIY the valve cover gaskets, and I would have an imperfect but nice car and be in it for about $4,000 plus a bunch of sweat equity. The bumper skins are pretty beat up. I don't know how much it would cost make those look nicer. Maybe another $500 - $750? That would put at under $5,000 invested with quite a few of the major mechanicals taken care of.

Or I could see if the White seller would take the same $6,200 that the ebay car sold for. I would have a cosmetically nicer car with lower mileage in exchange for the extra investment. I am the type of guy that keeps his stuff for a long time. So I am leaning toward the white if it checks out mechanically. I am curious to see what major components, if any, have been replaced.

Any feedback on which seems like the better option?

[AZhitman]

Tough call. People can say "firm" until their fingers fall off - no one's gonna drop $7k on a 16-year-old Q45. His price will come down when he gets no calls.

If you go with the Pewter car, I can refer you to a good paint guy with awesome pricing.

[my12by60]

Since I have been looking at Q45s for sale (about 3 weeks), the most expensive listing I have seen was a guy in PA who had a year 2000 with 16,000 miles on the odometer. He was the second owner and said the first owner had a garage full of cars, many of which were barely ever driven. He was asking $16,500 on autotrader! I would post the link but the ad is no longer up. The ebay sale of the FL car at $6,200 makes the Phoenix seller asking $6,900 appear somewhat reasonable. But if none of the major components have been replaced yet, then some big dollar repairs may be lurking for the next owner of the White car.

With the Pewter car, at least I know the whole front end has already been upgraded. The power steering system and hoses and radiator and hoses are also nice to have done. I also like the Pewter color better than the White.

Can you provide a phone number for your paint guy? Maybe I can send him some e-mail pictures and he can give me a rough idea on cost? Does he also do any light body work? Only the plastic bumper skins need some attention. The rest of the body is not perfect, but it is close enough to not worry too much about on a $3,500 car.

[my12by60]

Congrats!

You did just fine at that price. The rear shocks are an easy DIY - You'll need a spring compressor, or you can just pull the struts and take the assembly, with your new shocks, to a local shop to have them swapped into the struts.

Have you pulled down the Factory Service Manual yet? Here ya go: http://www.infinitiservicemanual.com

The door jamb says my car was manufactured in 12/99. I assume that means I want to download the 2000.0 vs. the 2000.5 FSM. Also, I tried to download the 2000 version, but I am unable to get it done. Is there some common error that tech simpletons such as myself make when trying to download?

[AZhitman]

Nope - Did you open it all the way (into the various sections)?

When you get the pdf open (that you want to read), just save it.

[AZhitman]

Yep. Body, paint, and mechanical work - he's got an entire crew.

623-2ZERO2-2SIX25 Damien (tell him Greg from NICOclub sent you).

[HansCC]

Anyone up for this one? Lowest mileage I have seen in quite awhile. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Infiniti-Q45-/1 ... 1764542765

[my12by60]

That one is a better value than the guy that wanted $16,500 for his 2000 AE with under 20,000 miles. Black on black is a no-go, however, for me here in the desert of AZ. What I don't know about these old but ultra low-mileage cars is whether some major parts are still ready to fail just from age as opposed to use.

[HansCC]

I have one - a 1999 with 40k - and these cars last - check out the other part of this forum for tips on long term care - and yes - buying a garage kept low mileage older car can always has potential for issues with old seals etc. but that is a chance you take - with Nissan - I have had older nissans and they run and run as long as you do the regular care for them.

[my12by60]

Hans, how many years have you had your 1999? That is some really low mileage. Does the suspension show any signs of being ready for replacement or is everything still tight and riding nice? How about any oil leaks?

[AZhitman]

Here's the deal: Of the cars you posted, it's a crapshoot. You're gonna be doing maintenance and repairs on both. They're high-end luxury cars, and NO ONE spends a lot of money on maintenance unless they're keeping the car for 300k miles. You could buy the low-mileage one and lose the AC compressor a week later (big bucks), or the high-mileage one could crap its trans in a day (also big bucks). Buy the one you like to look at and sit in, and restore it to as-new condition.

[my12by60]

Now that I am driving and working on the Pewter car, I am leaning hard toward keeping that one. I really like the fact that the front suspension (struts, strut knuckles, rack and pinion) has been done already as those are some high-ticket parts. The power steering system and cooling system have also been done.

I am having the two front seats and the console cover reupholstered (premium vinyl, not leather, seat bottoms only, backrest leather is still nice) for $235 tomorrow. That will take care of the interior.

I called your contact, Damien, and he said he could clean up the exterior (bumper skins, spot of clear coat oxidation, touch-up paint, etc.) for $500. So I am planning on getting the car to him for a day sometime next week.

Between these two steps, the cosmetics of the car won't be pristine, but the car should look pretty nice both inside and out.

I have spent about $300 so far on DIY maintenance supplies (diff fluid, trans fluid, engine oil/filter, air filter, cabin filter, fuel filter) and DIY repair parts (hood struts, antenna mast, door checks, light bulbs).

Adding it all up, I will have about $1,000 into the car that I bought for $3,500 and I should have a nice looking ride with all of its maintenance up to snuff. The only major remaining items on the table will be rear struts (DIY with $300 in parts) and valve cover gaskets and timing cover gaskets. The gaskets may be a big one because I don't think I have the DIY game to take on the project. But it is not an urgent project either. So I may drive the car for a while as I continue to learn about it. Then I will clump a bunch of other mid-life projects along with the gaskets (spark plugs, coil boots, EGR clean, etc.).

Thanks again to you (Hitman) and the rest of the board for helping me along with contacts, knowledge and advice.

[AZhitman]

Awesome - Can't wait to see pics!