LOW SELF-ESTEEM: Another reason why Q resale values are sucky...

[Skibane]

Since having bought a Q, I've noticed quite a few of them being driven around town - and most of them are in nasty shape! This trend seems to apply across all 3 vehicle generations - they all tend to be unwashed (let alone seeing a recent coat of wax!), many of them have bald, off-brand, unmatched tires; and more than a fair share of them have long-unrepaired body damage or missing trim. I pulled up next to a muddy, dented '95 earlier this evening that obviously had no air conditioning (windows rolled down, with the slobby-looking passengers panting in 95 degree heat).

WTH is wrong with these people? Have they no pride or self-respect?

I have an acquaintance on another board that is a long-time Nissan tech - Says that he has worked on quite a few Qs over the years, and ALL of them looked poorly-maintained.

Is this a chicken-or-egg-came-first kind of thing? Do Qs have crappy resale value because their owners are apathatic, or are their owners apathetic because their Qs have crappy resale value?

[elwesso]

People buy them because they are cheap cars. I mean, how can you get a car that looks that nice for that little money... They think they bought a $5000 car, not a 50,000 car, and treat it like a $5000 car....

It is sickening. I never see Q45s around me, which I think that is good because theyd surely be rotten...

Admittedly, my Q looks like garbage. I havent washed it in WEEKS (granted it hasnt rained in WEEKS), and the carpets are fairly dirty... But I can get away with it!!

[cccpman]

Mine has some minor dmg, the paint isnt that great right now, but im no slob. Basically every part that warranted replacement got it, plus plenty of love and care is going into the car. I bought it as a POS but it is coming up in the world. I would assume some others are in the same boat (I see about 25 Infiniti's a day, maybe a Q once every 3 or 4) - the reason the paint isnt brand spanking new, and the tires dont have $900 rims, or a coat of wax is because the repairs on getting the engine and transmission like-new drained my bank account. When I get more money im sure that will change

elwesso is right, you buy a car for $500-2000 your going to treat it like a POS (because for the cost of repairs you could have several POS)

[Skibane]

I've owned a few POS vehicles in my time - and didn't feel any compulsion to take of them.

However, owning a nice car - and allowing it to turn to crap - is something I'll never understand.

Cost of a self-serve car wash: 75 cents!

(BTW, I see plenty of folks who take tremendous pride in their sub-$5000 vehicles. In one week, the average high school kid probably lavishes more time and attention on his first car - a 12-year-old $4300 Honda Civic - than the average Q owner devotes in an entire year!)
Modified by Skibane at 10:32 PM 8/13/2007

[maxnix]

Like Q45tech says, when they have $6K deferred maintenance on a car they paid $3K for, they give up. Happens to everything, Lexus, MB, BMW.

But at least they can say they are driving one until it augurs into the ground.

[tkd_q45]

I hang my head in shame as my 94 G50 is covered in dirt that's over a month old! I work really long hours often through lunch and have ave 3 hrs commute (round trip) + come home to wife and child. Unfortunately I cannot afford a maid and have many house chores to once I get home (in fact I should be washing dishes as we speak!). I choose to be an engaged parent/spouse which leaves precious little time for much else. To make (my free time) matters even worse, both sides of my family live in town.

[Skibane]

Like Q45tech says, when they have $6K deferred maintenance on a car they paid $3K for, they give up. Happens to everything, Lexus, MB, BMW.

Most of the large Lexus/MB/BMWs I see around here are MUCH better-maintained than the Qs.

In fact, the only other luxury vehicle that seems to be in the same league as the Q for lazy owners is the J30...

[Q45man1]

Yeah I've seen quite a few G50 unwashed and poorly maintained. I washed my cars every week and clean the interior. I'm embarrassed to be seen driving in a nice but dirty car. I've already spent over $3K to be have it top condition.

[superuber]

get a $100 beater and save your Q!

[silver2k2]

I always say if you dont take care of your "beater" then you dont deserve anything better and probably dont deserve your beater.

Point is those people even if they had a 2007 50k car they would treat it like crap and it would soon look like the 94 Q does.

From what I have seen (while looking for my Q )people can get the Q to limp along for a while when doing nothing but adding gas and oil

I love the adds that brag " Havent needed to do anything for 2 years, its a great car"

[Q45tech]

Why I recommend that members put aside $250 per month [$3,000 per year] even though nothing major goes wrong..............because it will.

Even give your Q it's own bank account and special decorator checks.

For some reason the extra $2,000-$2500 LS command for an equal year vehicle separates the class of owners.

However we see our share of trashed LS, GS, ES [especially ES].

[ScottJackson]

I have a friend whose dad buys a nice car every 3-4 years. It's usually something not too classy like a VW Jetta or the current Hyudai Accent. Anyway, it stays decent for a few weeks to a month and then it starts going downhill in a hurry. He does the paper route in this rural area and drives all the gravel (crushed limestone) roads. So they're literally caked with dust inside and out. He usually manages to pop a few tires so there's mismatched tires all around and at least one spare tire rim on at all times. Then, when winter comes and the doors freeze shut, he just pulls on the handle until the door either opens or the handle breaks. If the handle breaks he tries the next door. The last car, the Jetta, was a very nice little car with about 90K miles. After a year no doors would open from the outside. One window was broken out and replaced with a piec of plastic sheeting taped in place (last door handle broke so a window was broken intentionally). That car would leak a little oil from the oil pan gasket. He would add a quart of oil when the oil light would come on, and not when it would flicker, but when it would stay on. It never had a single oil change. The Accent is getting the same way. Broken door handles, a window motor went out so a window has plastic in it, driver side mirror busted off but hanging on and flopping around by the wires inside it, bungee cord for an inside door handle with hooks that are tearing out the sheetmetal, never had an oil change in the 30-40K miles he's had it so far... It's absolutely disgusting.

[Jesda]

*sigh*

Q45s deserve much better.

[Haitian_King]

Ain't it the truth.

I swear, there should be mandatory Q inspections by Q experts. If the owner is unfit, they should be stripped of Q privilege and be forced to drive a Ford Probe.

[silver2k2]

That would make them even harder to sell then they are now

[Haitian_King]

Harder to sell to people that don't know the value of this car.

When I bought mine, my uncle regaled me for hours with stories of drug dealers in Brooklyn driving Q45's. Apparently if you had a G50, a second-gen? Maxima, or a Toyota Cressida, you were big time.

Recently I saw an old Wu-Tang video I think, and there was a silver G50 featured prominently.

Idiots look at the year and abruptly pass. Everyone thought I was crazy for purchasing a 15 year old car. But they don't know the history of this car and how great it was to find a sub 100k 92 G50.

[greg_atlanta]

A ragged out Q still looks better than a lot of cars. Tinted windows hide a lot of flaws. My Q is in good shape, but I'd never spend money on body work on a 15 year old car worth a grand or two.

Owning a MB, BMW, or Lexus doesn't guarantee all drivers of those cars will fit in a certain demographic. If the choice is new upholstery or putting food on the table, I hope they choose the food.

[Skibane]

From what I've seen, the choice among the local Q owners isn't so much between "new upholstery" and "food on the table" as it is between "spending 75 cents on a self-serve car wash" and "investing it in on a six-pack of Mickey's Big-Mouths instead"...

[Haitian_King]

If I don't use my spray-on "Waterless Wash" in my driveway early in the morning (which I did two days ago and my Q looks like black gold), I take my Q to the Automatic Touchless Car Wash. I sit in the car and the machinery rotates around it. Not even touching the car. I find it does a decent job for 6 bucks. The gigantic blowdrier needs work though. It doesn't get all the water, so I have to park and wipe off excess water, or it'll streak/spot.

[AlphaKilo470]

It's funny that you mention the upkeep of Qs. Around here, lots of the Q45s look nice but I see plenty of J30s in varying states of decay. My favorite being this one I saw at a Taco Bell drive through where the lady had to open the door since her windows obviously didn't work.

I actually bought a '94 J30 from a guy who pretty much never washed the car, always parked outside and let the car sit under a tree for a year. Oh yeah and he wrecked it once in 2003 and the repair job wasn't exactly professional grade. Needless to say, I've put a boatload of work into my J30 and it still looks like crud (clearcoat? what clearcoat?) but the inside is nice and it drives great. I just thought it was interesting that I'm not the only one who's made the observation about the upkeep of the average Infiniti.

Oh yeah, I did see a '97 Q45 on the road a few weeks back with a spare rim on, mismatched tires, dirty paint and some other visible flaws and it had a for sale sticker in it. Man it'd sell for so much more if he actually spent 5 minutes washing it and then doing something about it having a spare rim on.

From a personal standpoint, buying a beat up luxury car with sucky resell value and spending a few times it's worth fixing it up can provide a better value than buying a newer luxury car for alot more money. It's also easier for people with less disposable money since costs are divided among different things. I figure that if I can get my J30 (which I paid $1200 for) back to new condition for less than $2000, then I'll have done exceptionally well given what the car has to offer.
Modified by AlphaKilo470 at 7:52 PM 8/21/2007

[Haitian_King]

My friend had a silver J30t. That car was amazing. I loved it. It was so freaking fast. I had never realized how quick Infiniti's were.

[AlphaKilo470]

Yeah... I decided I just had to have an Infiniti of my own after the time when I was in 7th or 8th grade (sometime in 2000) and my neighbor gave me a ride to school in his '97 J30. I just never would have imagined buying an Infiniti as my first car.

I also once drove an FX35 with the technology package for a couple of minutes and was impressed with it. Just like all the other Infinitis I've been in, it was a pretty fun drive.
Modified by AlphaKilo470 at 9:00 PM 8/21/2007

[Haitian_King]

Awesome. I'd like to add a J30 to my car collection. I'm thinking of keeping an all black theme. A black J30 would be sweet.

[AlphaKilo470]

Yeah, black seems to suit most Infinitis pretty well. I think the black on black color scheme makes my J30 look all the more aggressive. It's also worth mentioning that blacks an easy color to keep looking nice and clean.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p...t.jpg(don't those headlights look creepy?)

http://img.villagephotos.com/p...h.jpg

[Q45tech]

At thhe local Buy Here weekly pay here lot the LS cost $2,000 more down and $17.50 per week more...... way beyond their average customers capability.

USED to bring in the suckers who are then steered to the Q's/J for an even better deal.

The down payments are usually equal to what the lot paid at the auction.They HOPE the car breaks so they can repo and resell it a few times.

http://sekurus.com/images/beackon.htmTo date, about 200,000 On Time systems have been sold. Dealership, leasing business and finance companies buy them..........Before, about 170 customers out of 500 were behind on their car payments. That number is now in the mid-50s, said Commisso, a managing partner at First Choice.

The dealership installs the device in every vehicle leased to someone with bad credit or no credit.

[q45vh]

haha i'm only 17 and i try to take care of my q45 (92)!!! i jus gave it a wash and wax yesterday!! i still can't figure out y my sunroof doesn't tilt anymore!! overall i enjoy my q45!!

[Da Dark Jedi]

I see alot of Q's everyday on the South Side of Chicago. The age group vary and the cars are well maintained and careed for. The car wash here is in the range of $2-$3, and every Saturday you'll see em at the wash. I would say people here take pride in their cars no matter what their age or the cars age.

[StarPD]

Awesome. I'd like to add a J30 to my car collection. I'm thinking of keeping an all black theme. A black J30 would be sweet.

I think J30s are the most underrated cars in the business, but there aren't many for sale. Seems the owners just keep on keeping them. A few years back, about 3 years after they were discontinued, when I got a loaner from the dealership, I asked if they had a J30. They only had an old beater, a loaner that had 57,000 miles on it that they used as a runner for the parts and service departments. Paint was faded, upholstery was beat up, it had been puked in and God knows what else. I wanted to see how they held up though, so I took it, against their suggestions that I take a newer loaner. I was amazed. It ran like a striped ape, and didn't have a squeak or rattle in it anywhere. It rode and handled like a new car. It wasn't until Infiniti brought out the G35 that they had anything like the J30. It was a GREAT car!

[CrimsonQ]

Its sad that there are so many beater Q's around my way.I cant even get an offer of over $2k for my car, when they can go down the street and get the ragged one for 1500. bastards.

Cleanliness should be next to "mo money"

[Jesda]

I'll second everything said about the J30. It really is a unique, beautiful, and very luxuriously appointed car. I would argue that there's even more attention to detail in the J than in the Q.